First – The background info on this thread is very helpful. I highly suggest reading through it as much of it is very useful.
About us – Family of 4 who can speak Mandarin. We have no language barrier issues.
We self-toured Huanglong/Jiuzhaigou. Landing into JZH, we booked a private car to transport us from the airport to Sheraton Jiuzhaigou. 2100 for transporation from airport to Sheraton and driving to Huanglong as well.
Altitude - I had previously been in Mexico City a couple weeks earlier so I was well adjusted to about 7k ft in elevation. However, we did feel mild effects upon landing. After a night's sleep, the altitude went away. Driving over Huanglong, I believe the road reaches around 11k elevation and I could feel the altitude change. However, the park itself is not that high.
To arrange the driver, we contacted the Westin Xian Concierge desk – one of my family members had stayed at this hotel and the concierge staff knows him very well. However, I would say that if you contact the Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Concierge, they are fantastic too.
From JZH airport to the Sheraton, it takes about 2 hrs. No stops at any traditional chinese medicine shops. Drive was good, though we encountered heavy rain make the roads unsafe. Driver went slow and we arrived safely.
We choose to stay at the Sheraton for its convenience to the park. The hotel has 2 buildings and as a Plat member, we got upgraded into a corner suite with both rooms in the main building. The hotel itself is not 5-star level like Las Vegas – I would put it at 3.5-4 star. It is clean, but old. The furniture has shown its wear. The lounge was closed though. Service was good and the breakfast variety was great with lots of different options from traditional chinese food to european pasteries. Wifi was slow, but we are situated in the the mountain range. I would have no issues staying here again. Intercontinental Hotel and the Hilton are also international chains in the area, but they are quite far away from the JZH entrance.
Jiuzhaigou Park was amazing in person. You can purchase tickets at the park entrance. The Sheraton also has an automated ticket purchasing machine if you have a UnionPay credit card. From the entrance, you line up to take a park bus into the park. The park bus system is rather confusing. Our park bus dropped us off at the Virgin Forest stop in the Rize Valley (very back end of the park). From there, the bus will stop along the way as you make your way forward toward the entrance. My suggestion is to ride to the Virgin Forest, then hop back on and and hit every stop for the lakes. As far as we understood, you can’t stop at the lakes going into the park. There is a fork in the middle where there is a tourist center – you can connect here to take the bus to Long Lake in the other valley. Spend a full day here and see as many lakes as you can. The park is gorgeous. We did the park in one day. Arrive early (we got there around 7:30am) to beat the crowds! From the Sheraton – you can walk to the entrance.
On departure day, we left the Sheraton around 9:30am for Huanglong. Our driver made two stops – first was a traditional medicine shop where we were given tea samples – no fee. He told us that he need to get road permits to drive up to Huanglong – not sure if this is actually needed though. This shop was in the town right next to the airport. The other stop was on the way up to Huanglong where a bunch of tourbuses stopped as well. Lady in a nurse outfit came out to discuss the dangers of high altitude and asked if we wanted to buy “high oxygenated water.” Seemed like a load of BS and we declined. Continued our drive to Huanglong with no further stops.
Huanglong. You buy tickets at the front entrance and take a gondola / cable car to the mountain top. From there, you walk on a wooden deck and view the pools. You buy a one-way ticket up and walk down to view all the pools. The walk is not very difficult, but be prepared to walk a lot. You have an option to walk up from the bottom, but I strongly recommend against it. In my opinion, Jiuzhaigou is more beautiful than Huanglong. When we were there though however, it was very dry and the lakes at Huanglong were dry.
Happy to answer any questions.