Huanglongsi
Huanglongsi, China, and the neighboring ravine to the north, Jiuzhaigou, are two outstanding natural resource areas on the Tibetan plateau. Both areas are national parks and have recently been designated by the United Nations as World Heritage Sites for their extraordinary natural scenery. Jiuzhaigou (Ravine of the Nine Stockade-Villages) is named after the rural Tibetan communities (sde dgu) that populate the area and is most notable for dramatic waterfalls and glacier-formed lakes. The limestone geology of the area, combined with hot spring algae growth, has produced an incredible range of colored waters (turquoise, green, yellow, and milky white). Formerly the domain of giant pandas, much of the area was heavily logged in the 1980s. Red pandas, golden monkeys, takins (large ruminants), and water deer are said to still populate the region, but vast areas of rhododendron, wild roses, clematis, and wild ginger are more easily found.
Yellow Dragon Temple (Chinese: Huanglongsi) is a Taoist monastery located in Sichuan Province, China, 35 kilometers from the county seat of Songpan. Because it is located so high (3,430 meters) in the Minshan mountain range, the temple was previously known as the Snow Mountain Temple (Yueshansi). The temple is situated at a pass into a forested valley surrounded by glaciated peaks (up to 5,000 meters) and dotted with over three thousand natural pools of various-colored water, from which the Tibetan name of the temple, Gser mthso lha khang (Yellow Pool Temple), is derived. The existing structure was founded in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and is the rear, and only surviving, of three halls built at that time.
Further Reading
Gyurme Dorje. (1996) Tibet Handbook: With Bhutan. Chicago: Passport.
Kanamaru, Atsushi. (2000) Mapping the Tibetan World. Reno, NV: Kotan.
Sichuan sheng Aba Zangzu Qiangzu zizhizhou difang zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, ed. (1994) Aba zhou zhi (Aba Prefecture Gazetteer). Vol. 3. Chengdu, China: Minzu chubanshe.
Stevens, K. Mark, and George E. Wehrfritz. (1988) Southwest China off the Beaten Track. Chicago: Passport.
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