Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic Area

Jiuzhaigou lies in Jiuzhaigou County, part of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in northern Sichuan. It is a World Natural Heritage site defined by alpine lakes and waterfalls.

That is enough background.

Scenery this beautiful needs no introduction; it can speak for itself. It also more than made up for what we’d missed at Huanglong the day before.

Sunlight moved across water so clear that forest, mountain, and reflection seemed to share the same depth.

Where the wind left the lakes alone, the mountains appeared twice—once above the shore and once beneath it.

Water slipped through the forest, then gathered itself into broad curtains over the rock.

Between one view and the next, the boardwalk kept threading through the mountains.

Fresh snow had turned the upper slopes white, while spring was already returning below.

All right, that is enough of my brief career as a landscape poet. The photographs can take it from here.