Jiuzhaiguo – The Fairyland
Jiuzhaiguo is initially the sole reason we decided to take this trip in the first place. My mom, who heard about it from my aunt, decided that before she gets too old to travel, she will go to Jiuzhaiguo. What I knew about Jiuzhaiguo before I left for China was just one word: beautiful. And it seems like it’s a good enough reason to go to any place! But, what I know about Jiuzhaiguo after I left China is two words: breathtakingly amazing.
Literally meaning Valley of Nine Tibetan Villages, Juizhaiguo boasts natural beauty unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It lies in a mountainous area of Minshan, and it consists of 3 valleys: the left, the right and the middle valley (according to my tour guide, David. 
). Along the valley, there are numerous multi-level waterfalls and lakes with incredible clarity and colors. Some of the lakes (or ponds, if you will) has 5 colors, each of which clearly separable from the other instead on just mixed into a brown color.
One of the lakes, the Arrow Bamboo Lake, is the place where the movie Hero was shot. If you remember the scene where Jet Li was fighting on top of a very beautiful lake, with mountainous background – that’s it.
Because of its natural beauty that’s almost unwordly, Jiuzhaiguo was also called the Fairyland. It’s multi-colored lakes, the picturesque mountains, the splendid waterfalls, and the difficulty to reach this place really makes Jiuzhaiguo lives up to its name.
