I recently enjoyed a very pleasant trip from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou.Jiuzhaigou it self is simply stunning...the mountains are just amazing to see.The waters too are really beyond words.

However,just thought that I would like to advise the following points:

1.By road from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou took a very long time,we departed Mianyang at 7.00 am and despite driving with only a lunchbreak and three 10 minue stops for us to use the facilities we did not arrive in Jiuzhaigou until 17.00 !

2.The road to Jiuzhaigou is not a highway...it is long,winding and at times a little bit boring - some parts of China always look like a 'work in progress' with many building sites or river pojects that are not pretty.

3.Jiuzhaigou is very high,I am not sure about the actual hight abouve sea level - but as a consequence it gets cold at night,so don't forget to take some warm clothes.

4.The return journey...for those of us that have travelled in China and seen the standard of driving - well,you know that it is at best a worry at worst terrifying.The road back to Mianyang is sometimes inspiring - but after about 4 hours it begins to follow the path of a river.The road is single carriageway and on this part as it twists,climbs and falls as it follows the river's way,sometimes you are very high,with only a low crash barrier to stop you should anything happen.

But...the road follows the river for 3 agonising hours ! The driver may be very experienced but as we know there are many things that can cause an incident...a truck having a wheel changed on a blind corner...or a farmer taking his frightened horse to somewhere..just around a blind corner...I have to tell you that this was the worst ever raod journey I have taken and as I have said it lasted 3 hours.I am not a religious person...not easily scared... but I promise you I prayed to God to get me to safetly.

So,the moral of the story is please,learn from my words and my experience and fly to Jiuzhaigou - you will not regret it !

A few more tips...

7) Follow the wooden plank roads. When you follow the plank roads, you will see more of everything, and everything in this park is worth seeing.
8) If you only have one day, see the main valley, starting at the "virgin forests" and working your way down. There are more colored pools on this side of the park, and more places to walk.
9) Don't get stuck with what you don't want, because it will probably cost you dearly. We were at a restaurant, and ordered eggplant. I come back from the bathroom, and there is a pot of soup on the table. They said they gave us this since they were out of eggplant. Fortunately, I had already seen that the soup was 168 Yuan on the menu, and sent it back, ordering a cheaper dish.
10) This park is absolutely worth visiting. I couldn't believe how beautiful and unspoiled it was. If you want to see the natural beauty of China, this is the place to go!