Cowing Around: China: Jiu Zhai Gou 四川-九寨溝

After Huang Long, it was a 3 hour ride to Jiu Zhai Gou, so we spent a night at the hotel before heading to the site. Being at such a remote place, with the known lack of resource and inaccessibility, it’s hard to imagine the luxury that we had at the hotel. It’s a long story I guess, so let me explain this a little.

Jiu Zhai Gou used to be an unknown place. Back in the 70s, Jiu Zhai Gou area was used for logging until a researcher visited the place and was so impressed by the land that he wrote a letter to the state official to plea for preservation of the area. It worked and the government turned it into a preserved land and it became a national park in 1984. The lives of the locals have always been rather harsh, however, Jiu Zhai Gou and Huang Long brought much wealth to the area.

Jiu Zhai Gou means 9-village gorge. The 9 villages are Tibetan villages inside the preserved area. Since the government took over the land, the locals lost their lifestyle of farming and provide for themselves. So the government gave them exclusive rights to set up businesses within the preserve selling services and souvenirs. Over time, they got smart and rent those spaces out for a hefty sum, therefore don’t even have to work! The government also gives each money considerable sum as compensation for taking their land, much like how the US government subsidizes the native Indians. The locals therefore aren’t poor at all. Tourism also helped the region prosper. Other than the subsidized money, they rent rooms to tourists and guides. Once there was only one inn in the entire area, there are hundreds now and still unable to accommodate all of the tourists. There are five star hotels, and a 7 star hotel is just about to open. The hotel we stayed in is owned by Holiday Inn. It’s huge, lavish and world-class. It’s hard to imagine being able to enjoy buffet in a hotel dining hall in such deep mountainous area. It almost felt… wrong.

Well, one bad thing about the hotel is, even at this freezing temperature, they don’t have indoor heating. The locals are used to it, and since we are the last group to stay at the hotel before they close for the season, why bother?

So now, back to Jiu Zhai Gou. It’s a big place. It reminds me of Zion National Park in Utah. Both are valleys. You can’t drive in the park, but the buses will take you to the various sites and trails. Both are very well maintained and both are gorgeous. The only main difference is, Jiu Zhai Gou is pack with people. China, 1.4 billion of them, scary!

Even with the crowd we had to fight to snap photos, this is considered very mild because we are at the end of the season. The tour guide said they usually have to fight with twice as many people and the entire place is like a human conveyer belt. For it, it’s always like a war zone having to deal with so many people, I cannot imagine a single bit of enjoyment if we are here during the peak season.

People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People People x 1.4 billion!!!

Jiu Zhai Gou is located at a lower altitude, so high altitude sickness isn’t a problem here. The mountains are very sharp-looking, since this entire region, much like the Himalayas, are newly formed mountain range, therefore are still sharp and edge unlike the Appalachian in the American South East. The water here has an unique green tone to it. Actually, the water is crystal clear. It’s the algae on the bed of the lakes that makes the water look green. The water itself has high content of mineral so it is not safe to drink.

Jiu Zhai Gou to me is mostly about the natural beauty. Being with a tour group and only a day to enjoy the place hardly gives me any chance to experience the local culture and understand the real lifestyle. It’s really just “touch-and-go”, not my preferred way of visiting a place.

In any case, it’s definitely a once-a-life-time kind of must-visit place on this planet. I just wish the crowd is not as over whelming, to give the place the calm that it really deserves.

One of the bigger Tibetan villages now nothing more than a tourist trap.

Very unique formation of vegetation and landscape, called "Bonsai in the water" because of the plants that grow out of the water, each has its own characteristic like a Bonsai plant.