Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area

Situated in Songpan County, north-west part of Sichaun province, theHuanglong valley is made up of snow-capped peaks and the easternmost ofall the Chinese glaciers.

In addition to its mountain landscape, diverse forest ecosystems canbe found, as well as spectacular limestone formations, waterfalls andhot springs. The area also has a population of endangered animals,including the giant panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys.

Huanglong Scenic area has two parts: Huanglong and Muni Gorge. HuangLong includes Huang Long Valley, Danyun Gorge, Snow Treasure Peak,while Muni Gorge comprises two scenic spots the Zhaga Waterfall and theErdao Lake. The special character of the area which extends over 700square kilometers results from formations of talpatate which give aspecial color to ponds and beaches. With a background and of highmountains, snow covered peaks, valleys, waterfalls, lakes and forests,these talpatate scenes are quite spectacular.

Huang Long wins its fame for its magic landscape of lime formations,made up of 3400 multi-colored and uniquely-sized ponds, interlace alongthe valley. These amazing ponds are paved with golden lime deposit andcover nearly a half a square. Not to be excluded there are also fivewaterfalls, four stalactite caves and three ancient temples, and all inthe same valley, which looks like a dragon surging down from snowcappedpeaks of Mt. Minshan.

The scenic area provides a variety unique and wild scenery such asthe Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) Ravine, at foot of the Xuebao Peak in theMinsha Mountain; it is 3.6 kilometers long and 30-170 meters wide. Thesection from the Fuyuan Bridge at the entrance to the Yuyu Pond is3,160-3,574 meters above sea level and its surface is a thick layer oflight yellow talpatate. In the sunshine, the ravine looks like a goldendragon winding its way through the forest.

In the ravine there are a variety of talpatate scenes, talpatateponds, beaches, waterfalls, caves and dykes but the colorful talpatateponds are the most attractive; they come in different shapes, sizes andcolors and there are 3,400 of them in eight groups.

Other attractions are Huang Long Temple (Yellow DragonTemple),Colored Terrace-Ponds, Huang Long Cave (Yellow Dragon Cave)etc. With so many wonderful views gathered in one place, Huang Long isnot only the treasure of China, but also the treasure of the world.
Included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1992.