Huanglong means Yellow Dragon, a picturesque description of the travertine (a) valley formed of old glacier, at the North Western part of Sichuan, China. It is a world heritage site(1) famous for its calcified ponds, lakes, shores, falls, springs, caves, snow-caped mountains, canyons and forest (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f).
Access is made difficult by winding mountainous roads with frequent landslide and slippery frozen road surfaces. Lucky are those who make it to this tourist spot. On the way to Huanglong, one passes the snow-caped main peak of Xue Bao Ding(雪宝顶,) at 5588meter above msl.
As one walks up, as I did in 2004 when the cable car system was not yet built, one meets many ponds, such as the Welcoming Pools(迎宾池) which is a system of travertine ponds formed by flowing water containing calcium carbonate in solution over thousands of years. Golden Flying Water Fall(飞瀑流辉) is another spectacular sight.
Body Rinsing Grotto (洗身洞,) is an 1 meter high, 1.5 meter wide cave at the bottom of a 40 meter wide travertine cliff over which water flows. This fall was frozen and looking like a crystal white wall during our visit in late spring and the cave was hidden behind the ice walls.
Golden Sand On Earth (金沙铺地,) is an 1,500 meter long 70-120 meter wide gold colored slopping travertine formation with thin film of water flowing over it. Bonsai Ponds (盆景池,) is a name given to a complex of nearly a hundred shrubs filled travertine ponds of different size and shapes that looks like terraces near Golden Sand On Earth.
Mirror Pool (明镜倒映池) is so named because of its reflective capability. Pool of Tiny Waves (潋滟湖) is nearby as a competitor. Yu Cui Cai Chi (玉翠彩池,) was the highest point we managed to reach within the time limit set by the tour guide. We loved to go further to see the Wu Cai Chi (五彩池) though we were quite exhausted by then, but that may land us in trouble- stranded due to adverse weather and difficult navigation in the evening. Literally translated, Cui Yu Cai Chi means Jade Green Colorful Ponds. It is a complex of many fairly large ponds that appear jade green to our eyes. We understand the Wu Cai Chi further up the hill is even more beautiful, as you can witness from the photos by others.
We couldn’t ask for more. We made it, to me, in the first attempt. Many tourists didn’t make it to Huanglong, many only after several attempts. Huanglong is still as mysterious as its name to the outside world due to its accessibility.
Dec 2007 by Hiew
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