Situated 400km North of Chengdu, Huanglong became a World Natural Heritage Site in December 1992. In ancient legend it is believed that some 4000 years ago, a yellow dragon helped Xiayu - the king of the Xia Kingdom, channel floodwater into the sea, creating MinRiver. With a bit of imagination the golden shade of the water looks like a dragons tail, hence the Chinese name meaning Yellow Dragon Valley. Huanglong's elevation is around 3000meters, and contains over 3000 colored ponds, with jade color water running down the over-lapping terraces, finally flowing into eight pond groups.

With the FuYuan Bridge serving as the Yellow Dragons tail, and the Five Colored ponds as its head, the body of the dragon is around 3.6km's long, with a drop of 400meters. Close to Huanglong Valley is Xuebaoding, a mountain sacred to the local Tibetan's.

Fuyan Bridge: It is located at the entrance of Huanglong Valley. Walk along the trails from here to the Five Colored ponds, taking in the waterfalls, temples, and lakes whilst listening to the birds singing and humming.

Xishen Grotto: The second terrain of Huanlong Valley lies around 1,273meters from Fuyuan Bridge. The Grotto is 1.5 meters wide, and 1 meter high, with the entrance covered with flowing water. Buddhist and Taoist Monks have been frequenting the grotto since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to fulfill there religious desires.

Huanglong Zhongsi Monastery: Constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Zhongsi Monastery is a Buddhist temple around 3,456 metres from Fuyuan Bridge. With five halls named after Buddhist masters, the architecture of the temple shows a co-existence between Taoist and Buddhist cultures.

Five-colored Pond: Containing the largest number of ponds, 693, Five Colored pond lies 4,166meters from Yuyuan Bridge covering an area of 21,000m2. One of the most beautiful areas of Huanglong, the sunlight reflects the green water in different primary colors such as red, and purple. During the winter, when everything is covered in a blanket of snow, at five colored pond you will still see magnificent reflections of the sky in the water.

Time to visit Huanglong
Early spring Huanglong is still with a lot of snow and the lakes are frozen. But late spring  head to Summer, the ice on the mountain begins to melt, making the waterfalls all the more richer and impressive, with the flowers in full bloom, it becomes a impressive time to visit Huanglong. Autumn is the best season to see Huanglong, no rain, with the tree leaves turning red, and the lakes more bright and colorful. At winter time, around early November Huanglong will be blocked due to snowfall. At this time, most of the tours will visit Munigou instead.

Know more about Huanglong Park http://www.huanglong.com/main_en.html