九寨沟
This sounds weird but sometimes I just have the mood for writing English only.
The first time I read about Jiuzhaigou was when I was studying for my HSK5 test. It was super super boring, honestly, I mean the test. Like I had to do listening and reading exercises with the same format for hundreds of times. The only interesting part was that those readings featured lots of China's natural hesitates. And Jiuzhai Valley appeared for no less than 3 times I guess because I saw it so frequently that I had to google what it looked like.
So I realized why Chinese people are so proud of the valley.
Jiuzhaigou looked like the letter Y and generally, people with 1-day itinerary will follow the ride side of it only. So did us. There were so many beautiful lakes and waterfalls that you might need time to just stand there admiring the natural beauty.
We decided to go to the farthest destination which was 深林 before coming back to the main station near the gate along the route. It was a spruce forest that I had never seen in my life. Aww, this is when I'm so helpless with my writing skills... Generally, the forest gave me a mystic impression urging me to want to go inside to see what it really looked like in the heart of it. That somehow reminds me that forest in Spirited Away, ha:D
On the way back, there were lakes coming after lakes. We decided to walk for most of our trip to capture the best of those lakes. As for now, I no longer remember all of the lakes' names but I can say some of them are 熊猫海、五花海and珍珠海。They are truly stunning and I love the water there so much. It was the turquoise blue and the water was crystal clear that I could see the dead trees at the bottom of the lake. I wondered how many years they had been there...
Views from the waterfalls, on the other hand, were breathtaking. Standing from the peak of the waterfall and looking down to it stream was so amazing. Then, I could follow the steps and enjoy those tiny water bubbles. So cool and fresh! It felt like I could be there for hours just enjoying the falls.
The highlight of Jiuzhaigou for me was a random lake that I really can't recall its name now. It was so large that all I saw was just water and the trees and mountains far away. There was even snow on the top of mountains and when the sun shone above it, those mountains top looked like goldened. The water was like a huge mirror reflecting those trees, mountains and the blue sky. What can I say here? Marvelous!
Everyone told me that summer wasn't the best time to visit Jiuzhaigou, but I think I was happy with that trip. I wasn't able to see those autumn leaves but I tried to imagine how beautiful they become when the autumn comes. And I was lucky because I was there right before the earthquake occurred which damaged a large part of the park.
Now I'm home and I gotta say that I do miss that turquoise blue. It left a so deep impression on me that I would automatically make a comparison of it with any lakes that I randomly see on the Internet. Like after that trip, I've never set any expectations to lakes in Vietnam anymore because I know they all can't beat my beloved lakes in Jiuzhaigou. Will definitely come back in some day in the future, maybe an autumn day, huh? Even if Jiuzhaigou is no longer Jiuzhaigou that I saw, I will.
-Phuong 🐯