2025-12-05 Jiuzhaigou
First day in one of China's premier National Parks
Despite an early breakfast and start to get to entrance to the National Park, and it being off season and a Friday, there was what seemed to be an enormous crowd ahead of us when we got dropped by the driver from the guest house. (We were driven in a Lynk&Co 900, one of these luxurious cars, with massaging heated seats for all passenges and super well appointed).
The crowd was organised into about 12 queues, with one reserved for non locals. To get in, you have had to prebook your tickets, and all you have to do is show your ID card (locals) or passport (the rest), just like for train travel (paper , tickets are so last century). Unlike the train, today we didn't get our passports scanned, instead a super fast guy punched in the passport number, which was much faster. The queue moved quite quickly, but I had enough time to chat to a nice couple from Malaysia while waiting. We got a green tick to allow us in, then we queued again for one of the constant stream of buses that were whisking people from the entrance to the Tourist Centre, about 14 km along the valley. (see map here) You could get off here (most stayed on the bus) or you could stay on and get taken one one of two valley forks that continue into the park - it is a lucky dip which one you get to do, as the buses split here. We went towards the Arrow Bamboo Lake and Waterfall.
The bus drive in primed us for the spectacular scenery, but once we got out into the freezing but beautifully clear day, it was stunning, with mountains and the amazing clear water and pristine lakes with the aquamarine colours.
We basically walked (along with hundreds, maybe thousands) of others, downhill back towards the tourist centre, hopping on and off a bus a few times. Everything was super well organised, the people were good natured and more interested in getting the perfect selfie or tik-tok instagram than in us - I think that I only saw one or two caucasion couples today. Again Isaac was a bit of a hit with people. Once he stopped to complain about itching, and two ladies stopped offer some kind of ointment, and seemed very concerned. Another woman offered him some oreos when he was having a whinge about being hungry. Apart from the tourists, there were lots of staff about, keeping things clean and tidy, and there were toilets with hot water located strategically along the valley.
It was a good day out, and we finished by having dinner at a local restaurant where we had walnut flower, mushrooms, greens and toasted barley bread, a fusion of Tibetan and Chinese, and very delicious.
(Note that the photos are in reverse order)
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