Jiuzhàigou - Crowded National Park(s)

If you ask Chinese people about the most beautiful places to visit in China, the national park of Jiuzhàigou is a name you will hear quite often. Therefore it’s no wonder that the crowds here are of epic proportions as well. That does not mean that you could not find calm spots. Inbetween the major sights there are pathwathys to hike along which are only used by few tourists – most of the Chinese visitors prefer to be taken by the bus from one attraction to the next. But still the sheer number of other people pushing you around dimishes the beauty of this otherwise amazing park.

Jiuzhàigou features numerous of waterfalls and mesmerizing blue and green lakes. At this time of the year the yellow and orange leafs of some trees add further colors to the mix and while the colored trees are nothing special for a person from e.g. central Europe, the Chinese here seemed to be very impressed, photographing the leafs a lot.

Personally I enjoyed another nearby national park – Huánglóng – much more, which I had visited on the previous day. Less so because the park itself is more impressive – it’s not, especially if you have been already in Pamukkale in Turkey, which features more impressive travertines – but because the much lower number of tourists here allowed me to enjoy the scenery much more.