The Fall of Jiuzhai Valley National Park and Huanglong Scenic Spot(October 2024) 九寨沟和黄龙景区的秋天 （2024年 10月）

I returned to Jiuzhaigou （Jiuzhai Valley National Park） to experience its beauty in the fall. Even though only at the end of October, the weather was so cold. On the day before my arrival, there was a light snowfall with temperatures feeling below 0°C. Despite the chill, the park’s entrance was bustling with visitors waiting for it to open early morning—remarkable given that it wasn’t peak tourist season. Jiuzhaigou now limits daily visitors to 30,000, so we had to book our tickets online days in advance to secure our spots.

I spent two days exploring the park. On the first day, we followed the left branch of the Y-shaped route, starting from Swan Lake and making our way down to the Resting Center. On the second day, we began in the primeval forest and walked down along Zhezhawa Valley. The fall scenery in Jiuzhaigou was strikingly different from what I had seen in spring and summer. While the autumn foliage wasn’t as vibrant as I had hoped, the lakes, streams, and waterfalls were breathtaking.

On the third day, we visited the Huanglong Scenic Spot, about 50 miles away from Jiuzhaigou. We hired a local guide to take us there—a decision that proved invaluable. Without him, we would have missed some incredible viewpoints for snow mountains along the road to Huanglong. He also managed to find us a free cable car ticket, which we couldn’t secure online earlier.

We took the cable car halfway up the hill to the scenic spot and then walked down to explore. Huanglong Park is a natural wonder, featuring golden trees, multicolored pools, and mineral-rich formations visible through crystal-clear water—similar to those in Yellowstone National Park in the USA, but more compact and more attractive. Along the way, I also spotted some local birds in the bushes.

Experiencing Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong in the fall was truly unique. For a comparison with other seasons, feel free to check out my earlier posts (Jiuzhaigou, July 2009 and June 2017 九寨沟, 2009 年 7 月和2017年六月）.

再次来到九寨沟，来体验它秋季的美景。尽管才十月底，这里的天气已经很冷。在我到达的前一天下了一点雪，气温仿佛已降到零摄氏度以下。尽管天气寒冷，但公园入口处一大早人山人海，等待开园，这在非旅游旺季实属少见。九寨沟现在每天限制游客数量为三万人，因此我们提前几天在网上预订了门票，才确保了入园资格。

在九寨沟待了两天。第一天我们走了“Y”字形线路的左侧，从天鹅海一路下到诺日朗休息中心。第二天，我们从原始森林开始，沿着则渣洼沟一路走下来。秋天的九寨沟景色与我之前在春天和夏天看到的截然不同。虽然树木的色彩没有我预期的那么绚丽，但湖泊、小溪和瀑布的美景依然让我叹为观止。

第三天，我们去了距离九寨沟约50英里的黄龙风景区。我们雇了一位当地人带我们前往。这一决定非常明智，否则，我们会错过沿途一些非常精彩的雪山观景点。这位向导还为我们找到了免费的缆车票，而我们之前在网上没有预订到。

我们乘坐缆车到达半山腰的观景点，然后一路步行下山，观赏沿途的景色。黄龙风景区是大自然的瑰宝，金黄的树木、大小不一的彩池、清澈见底的水下矿物沉积，与美国黄石国家公园的风貌相似，但更集中更有韵味。在下山的途中，我还在灌木丛中看到了几只当地的小鸟。

秋天的九寨沟和黄龙风景区是一次截然不同的体验。如需对比其他季节的景色，可以参考我之前的帖子 （Jiuzhaigou, July 2009 and June 2017 九寨沟, 2009 年 7 月和2017年六月）。

Map of Jiuzhai Valley National Park 九寨沟地图