Jiuzhaigou is stunningly beautiful right now~

Oh my god, Jiuzhaigou looks like this now It's really, really, really beautiful. This spring is my second time entering the valley, and staying inside the valley this time was very convenient and even saved me a ticket! Dining: 1. Breakfast included at a homestay in the valley: Baozi, eggs, corn, spicy cucumber, plain steamed buns, cornbread + the landlady also made authentic butter tea for tasting! 2. Breakfast at a restaurant outside the valley entrance: Intestine noodles for 15 yuan + 6 xiaolongbao for 13 yuan + plain rice porridge for 3 yuan 3. Dinner included at a homestay in the valley: Four dishes and one soup (two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and one soup) 4. Lunch at Nuorilang Restaurant: Hamburger set meal (35 yuan), Tea Hundred Ways (about 3-6 yuan more expensive than outside), boxed meals (35 yuan for two vegetables and one meat or 60 yuan for two meats and one vegetable), and many other choices (buffet for 60 yuan/person or instant noodles for 15 yuan per bowl) 5. Specialty food: Tomato yak hotpot outside the valley entrance (258 yuan for a four-person set meal + two men and two women eat all-you-can-eat beef) 6. Specialty food: Eating Sichuan cuisine in Guangyuan, Sichuan - spicy rabbit meat, grilled fish, tender chicken feet pot (three main dishes and two side dishes for 240 yuan for four people) Best spots for peach blossom viewing: 1. At the Sparkling Lake parking spot, get off and walk back a few dozen meters to find a huge peach tree with drooping branches, perfect for capturing the scene of peach blossoms shading the water (I got off at Rhino Lake and walked all the way to Reed Lake, which took 3 hours) 2. At the intersection of Shuzheng Waterfall and Shuzheng Group of Lakes: There are two walkways here, one above and one below. Walking on the upper one can give you a drone-like overhead view 3. Reed Lake: It's recommended to walk as there's no parking spot. You can only get there on foot. The tour guide on the sightseeing bus will introduce it, and there are peach blossoms along the way, which are also very beautiful (I feel Reed Lake is not as beautiful in spring as it was in winter of 2022) Transportation: Wuhan-Qianjiang high-speed train 1h Self-driving from Qianjiang takes 17h (including 1.5h rest at service areas) with 6h on mountainous national roads (4h of which are driven at night) Self-driving costs: Highway tolls 569 yuan one-way + 1278 yuan for fuel round trip = 1874 yuan Experience of self-driving vs. joining a tour group: Self-driving: Plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, rich dining options, leisurely lunch at Nuorilang Restaurant, buying pomelos from a Qiang uncle for 5 yuan per jin without rushing out of the valley, and getting plenty of sleep at night (Self-driving trip with four people from April 3 to 6, 2024) Joining a tour group: The time for sightseeing is also acceptable. You can stay in Jiuzhaigou for 4-5 hours, quickly tour one line of the Y-shaped route, and then take a bus for about 2 hours to the restaurant and accommodation. Joining a tour is also recommended, especially since the bus departs directly from Chengdu to the scenic area, allowing you to sleep and rest on the bus. I've joined two large groups before, and if you want to visit many attractions at once, I recommend joining a tour (Experience of joining a tour to Jiuzhaigou during the Chinese New Year in 2023) The western part of Sichuan is really suitable for all-season tourism, with different beauties in each season: snow-capped mountains in winter, peach blossoms in spring, and colorful forests in autumn. I'd like to call it a paradise on earth.