Special Trip photos – Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, 2012/11/04

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In 2011 we made a scouting trip to this part of northern Sichuan, and in 2012 we made our first group visit to the area. It wasn't the smoothest first visit – we had a lot of problems with flight cancellations and changes about a month before departure, and ended up making it a five-day trip instead of four.

We visited the beautiful blue lakes of Jiuzhaigou National Park and Huanglong National Park, and explored two of the ancient towns in the area. In this part of Sichuan there are a lot of Tibetans, and the Qiang ethnic group and Muslims have also lived here for a long period of time.

On the first day we were in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, where we visited Wuhou Temple and Huanglongxi ancient town.

The next day we flew out to Jiuzhaigou, travelling on the next day to Huanglong and Songpan.

Songpan is an ancient town was first settled during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), and rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD)

This was our first time travelling to northern Sichuan province, to visit its most beautiful blue lakes and interesting towns in Sichuan: Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong and Songpan, which were originally built during the Tang Dynasty 618-907 AD, and rebuilt in the Ming dynasty 1368-1644 AD.

On the extra day of the trip, we made a visit to Munigou National Park to take a look at the waterfalls and forests there, and then it was back to Chengdu for our flight to Beijing.

Huijie took a lot of photos on the trips; below you'll find her favourites.

Our group, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

We spent some time in Chengdu, and visited Wuhou Temple on the first day of the trip. In this photo we're listening to our tour guide's explanation about this temple.

A red wall, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

Red walls along the path and green bamboo outside the walls.

temple, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

Wuhou Temple features large gardens full of greenery.

temple buildings, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

One of the main temple buildings.

food street, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

Two Tibetans were shopping at Chengdu's Jinli food street.

Shadow Puppets, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

Colourful shadow puppets.

An old lady, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

We took a walk about the ancient town of Huanglongxi, and spotted an old lady was selling some flowers.

Huanglongxi, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

Small shops line this street in Huanglongxi.

An old lady with prayer beads, outside of her house at dusk.

walking around the town, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

We took a break by this nice-looking building.

school kids, Beijing Hikers Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, Nov04, 2012

We visited in the afternoon, and it seems we were about just as school finished for the day. We saw a lot of local kids and their families walking home – quite interesting to see the life of regular folks in the area!