8 August 2008
Jiuzhai Valley and Northern Sichuan Tourism, Official Re-Opening:
Although Jiuzhai Valley or Huanglong National Parks in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of northern Sichuan did not experience any significant damage as a result of the May 12th earthquake, the national government restricted access to organised tourism to most of the northern Sichuan region. During this time Jiuzhai Valley and Huanglong National Parks continued to welcome tourists that travelled independently.
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1 September 2008
New Jiuzhai Valley National Park english language website:
Welcome to the new version of the Jiuzhai Valley National Park website, we are adding new content constently, so please check back again soon. We hope you enjoy it!

Park Information

General

Previously called Dzitsa Degu in Tibetan, Jiuzhai Valley or Jiuzhaigou National Park is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, South Western China. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and it belongs to the Category 5 in the IUCN System of Protected Area Categorization. Jiuzhai Valley literally means Nine Village Valley and is named after the nine Tibetan villages scattered throughout the park. The villagers have lived in this region for many generations and they still hold onto many of their traditional ways of life. The human population of the park is just over 1,000 which comprises of over 110 families.

The superb landscapes of Jiuzhai Valley are particularly interesting for their species of narrow conic karst land forms and spectacular waterfalls and lakes. There are over 140 bird species as well as a number of endangered plant and animal species, including the Giant Panda, the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey, the Sichuan Takin and various orchids and rhododendrons.

Jiuzhai Valley is part of the Min Shan mountain range on the edge of the Tibetan Pletau and stretches over 720 sq km (72,000 hectares) with an extra buffer zone of 598 sq. km (60,000 hectares). The Min Shan Mountains are one of southwest China’s most important biodiversity typezones. The elevation of the park ranges from 1,990m (6,529 feet) at the entrance to 4,764m (15,630 feet) on the mountain peaks and the series of forest ecosystems are stratified by elevation.