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Previously called Dzitsa Degu in Tibetan, Jiuzhai Valley or Jiuzhaigou
National Park is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous
Prefecture of Sichuan Province, South Western China. It was declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and it belongs to the category 5 in
the IUCN system of protected area categorization. Jiuzhai Valley
literally means “Nine Village Valley” and is named after the nine
Tibetan villages scattered throughout the park. The nine Tibetan
Villages of Jiuzhai Valley are He Ye, Jian Pan, Ya Na, Pan Ya, Guo Du,
Ze Cha Wa, Hei Jiao, Shu Zheng and Re Xi. The superb landscapes of
Jiuzhai Valley are particularly interesting for their narrow conic karst
land forms and spectacular waterfalls and lakes. There are over 220 bird
species found in Jiuzhai Valley as well as a number of endangered plant and
animal species, including the giant panda, Sichuan golden monkey and the
Sichuan takin. The main religion practiced by the locals is the
pre-Buddhism Bon or Benbo-Sec religion. It was introduced to the Aba
Prefecture in the 2nd century B.C. It was
integrated with primitive local wizardry into the Benbo Sec and became
dominant in the 6th Century Longda can be
pieces of cloth (many small pieces of cloth connected by string) or paper
with scriptures written on them. The paper longda are thrown in the air,
while the cloth ones flutter in the wind or by rivers. The idea of both the
longda and the longer guoda is that the wind or water will set the prayers
free.
Religious banners or “guoda” in local Tibetan, for different
purposes, vary in length from several to dozens of metres. These
are blue, white, red, green and yellow each representing the
sky, cloud, life, the natural world (plants, trees, grass) and
soil according the five element theory. It is said that families
of service men in the Tufan Period (Tang dynasty 617-907 AD)
hung them as army banners on their gates to honour the family.
Later these army banners turned to be of religious implications,
and were the integrated product of Mizong religious culture and
that of the central plains of China. The Jiuzhai Valley
religious banners area an entegral combination of the
five-element throry and Mizong incantation, a proud creation of
Tibetan Buddhism.
Traditional food and drink is an important of Tibetan culture. In and
around Jiuzhai Valley visitors will have the opportunity to sample many of
these culinary delights. The most common drink that visitors to Tibetan
houses / homestays will have is yak butter tea, Zanba, Qinke wine, Yak meat.
Jiuzhai Valley belongs to the Songpan-Ganzi geocynclinal area, right on the
front segment of China's secondary topography. On the strongest fault line
of landform transformation, Jiuzhai Valley descends from its high south to
the low north, with a variety of kind features including mountains, valleys,
lakes, waterfalls, streams and intermontane belts - a typical landform of
alpine valleys. Mountain ridges average in altitude between 3,500m to 4,500m
(11,482 – 14,763 feet), the highest is the Ge'erna Peak at 4,764m (15,630
feet) and the lowest Yangtong at 2,000m (6,562 feet). The entire national
park features crisscrossing valleys and overlapping mountains of crust
transformation and evolution. All above will be subjected to our
confirmation |