Yes - this is what I was thinking - a full day to see the park, staying the night before and after outside the park with whatever extra time the flight schedule provides. I definitely like US parks, and would love to see China's best offerings of the type.

Weighing against Xi'an and Chengdu (i.e. probably have time for 2 of the 3--I realize Xi'an is a bit further than Chengdu, but once you're going to the airport in China, the day is blown, and anything you get back is gravy).

Ok, I say go for it. Jiuzhaigou is different than anything else you'll experience in China, definitely worth it for that alone. Plus if you fly in, the flight in is amazing.

My time at Jiuzhaigou was purposely limited to
Day 1: midday arrival, get settled, look around the village
Day 2: buy ticket and explore the Park
Day 3: leave for Chengdu

There was absolutely no way I was going to splash out for two days’ worth of costly tickets, and at any rate my legs and stamina would not hold up for two consecutive days of long hiking in the Park (the curse of middle age, one needs long 48 hour recovery times after serious physical exercise). So, one well-planned day would have to do it. While it really does take two days to see everything in Jiuzhaigou park, IMO a one-day visit can still be very productive if one is short on time, cash, or strength.

Tickets for most of the year (= peak season) are RMB 220 per person per day with NO provision for a second day at discounted cost. However, in the winter off season (around mid-November through March), one-day tickets are only RMB 80, and a two-day option (successive days) is only an extra RMB 20, for total of RMB 100--but you have to buy the 2-day option up front. Eco shuttle bus ticket for inside the park is RMB 90 at all times of the year. Practically speaking, nearly all travelers will need this bus ticket, though when I was there, I didn’t see anybody checking for valid entry or bus tickets once inside the park. In high season with the crowds, not sure how they could make this happen, so theoretically, it might be possible to forego buying the bus ticket and use the buses anyway. Your gamble to take.

From careful advance reading of various websites and forums about the specific locations in the park, ways to see them while minimizing contact with the Chinese tour bus crowds, and looking at photos, I came up with the following. It is helpful to refer to a map while reading this, see http://www.jiuzhai.com/language/english/map.html

Battle Plan:

1) With only one day and not enough time to do everything, I sacrificed right off the bat, seeing certain parts of the Park that were of less interest to me and which were (in summer which is pretty monochromatic) likely to just get boring and repetitive: The far section of the Rize Valley from the Virgin Forest down through Grass and Swan Lakes—forget about. Also, the entire section of the Zechawa Valley above the Nuorilang Tourist Center, except for Long Lake and the Five Coloured Pool at the end of the road, which I’d do by shuttle bus. And the spur road leading to the Zhara Valley, which the shuttle buses and most other tourists don’t go to.

2) Get an early start. I ate breakfast in my room from supermarket provisions purchased the night before, and was out of my hotel by 06:30 and a short walk to the ticket booth by 06:45, with already about 100 people there in 4 queues, not too bad. Ticketing center open promptly at 07:00 and I had my entry and shuttle bus tickets and was through the turnstiles by 07:10. Note: the early birds are almost totally small groups of friends and families, the big tour bus groups generally don’t show up until after 08:00 or 08:30.

3) Plan a route that was different than the typical Chinese tourist groups take, particularly the big group tours. To the extent possible, hike the mountain (inner) path rather than the more noisy sidewalk and paths by the bus road.

4) Plan a route that went primarily downhill. Too much stress on my cardio system and my quads to do much uphilling. Downhll would result in sore calves later but that I could handle.

My Route, Morning:

--Shuttle bus from entry all the way up to Rize Valley. My observations square with mnredfox’s above: the early morning shuttles go only to Rize Valley not Zechawa, where the shuttles start later.
--Requested and granted a drop off at Arrow Bamboo Lake. About half of the people on my shuttle got off before me, at Mirror Lake. The rest seemed to be heading all the way up to the Virgin Forest. I was the only one off at Arrow Bamboo.
--Started hiking at 07:45 and headed from road over the crosspath to the inner trail. For the next hour, there was NOBODY else around except a worker or two. Hiked all the way down to Nuorilang Waterfall, completed by 11:45, total of four hours. Interspersed in places were walks on the plank paths leading to the road, to get some additional viewpoints.
--During the four hours, only encountered sporadic other hikers on the inner trail, mostly couples, small groups. No big tour groups. At the base of the waterfalls (Panda, Pearl Shoals, Nuorilang) maybe a couple dozen people in each place doing the usual clowning around and taking photos of each other, but nothing overly crowded or obnoxious. Most of my photos have nobody in them (unless I purposely wanted them to be).
--At some places, I could hear the tour bus groups in the distance after about 09:30 or so, but they never seem to venture far from the bus stops and the road way. Again: walk the inner plankway and find some peace.
--This ended up being my favorite part of the park and I think the most scenic.
--At 11:45, I headed to the Nuorilang Tourist Center for a snack and a brief rest, purposely wanting to get in and out before the lunch crowds showed up. The restaurants at the NTC are very expensive, offering up some a la carte and also buffets for RMB 60 or 98 or 138 per person. I wasn’t that kind of hungry so went to the cheapie snack area and had a sausage on a stick, some corn on the cob, chocolate from my pack stash, and plenty of water. At 12:15, I finished up and got out of there, just as enormous tour bus crowds were piling in for lunch.

My Route, Afternoon

--Took the shuttle bus DOWN the hill to Rhinoceros Lake, then started hiking again at 12:45, and trekked the inside route again, all the way down to Bamboo Shoals. This was a much easier downhill hike than the morning route, a bit shorter and flatter gradient, and also IMO less impressive scenery, though many more wildflowers and birds in this section. Similarly to my morning hike, the number of people on this lower section was incredibly sparse, and I had a nice peaceful time of it.
--I was surprised that I reached Bamboo Shoals so quickly, about 2 pm-ish. This included taking diversion crosspaths here and there towards the road and then back to the inner path again. I am not a particularly fast hiker/walker but just very steady. Peeked a little at the Shuzhang Village which is on the way (have to cut across the road) but it seemed a bit overcontrived and tarted up for tourists so I didn't linger. Most of the Chinese groups get to this lower area after 3 pm or so, on their way out of the park, so it was pretty empty when I took a look.
--I noticed very few shuttle buses going up or down between 12:00 and 13:30.
--At about 2 pm or just after, I got to the Bamboo Shoals bus stop (which only goes DOWN to the entrance area), so had to go down then get another bus heading back up to Nuorilang.
--The plan was to take the shuttle bus all the way up to the end of the other (Zechawa) Valley to Long lake, see that and hike to 5 Coloured Pool, then shuttle back to the entrance and likely call it a day.
--At this point the wheels fell off the Plan somewhat, as at 14:30 there was a HUGE queue of about a thousand people trying to go up to Long Lake also, and not enough buses for about 10 minutes. Fortunately, some military-uniformed types were marshalling the front of the queue an counting people off for buses. Still, it took about 30 minutes to get a bus up.
--It’s a long ride (18 km) from Nuorilang to Long Lake, so I didn’t get up there until about 15:!5. Ah, finally, found the Chinese crowds. Lots of small groups and big tour groups with hats and flags. Hawkers trying to get you into those silly dress-up minority costumes for a photo session. Most disconcerting. The lake was beautiful though, and worth the effort to get up there. It was somewhat more peaceful at the lookout down by the lake, as most of the Chinese didn’t want to hike down a lot of steps and then back up. Brief respite from the masses.
--Unfortunately, the overcast that had been present all day decided to turn to rain, light sprinkles, but enough to send most of the Chinese scurrying for ponchos and umbrellas, and also quickly heading for the path to 5 Coloured Pool.
--I managed to find a pleasant, partially protected bench and with umbrella, just rested for awhile and tried to let the bulk of the crowd get ahead of me. When maybe 50-100 people were left looking at Long Lake in the rain, I got moving and headed downhill to 5 Coloured Pool. Unfortunately, there is only one path with a zillion steps, so no real alternative path to avoid crowds. It felt a bit like a parade.
--Reached 5-Coloured Pool which is very pretty, but also a huge crowd scene (with open umbrellas). As it started to rain harder and with a darker sky, I’m afraid at least 2 or 3 of the 5 colours didn’t quite get expressed in the photos. Boo. Only spent about 10 minutes here but would have liked a bit longer.
--Then the parade of people continued to the bus stop. A madhouse, with no marshals, security, or workers directing the queues. Just pushing and shoving and fighting to get on buses, despite the fact that there were dozens of buses queued up and ample space for everybody. Deciding I didn’t want to be caught up in the worst of it, I waited a bit and maneuvered my way so I wouldn’t get crushed. But seriously, I witnessed animal-type behavior and it put a sour note on what had been an overall decent day.
--Once I did get on a bus and fortunately got a seat, it went all 32 km back to the entrance. I exited the park at 17:15, so 10 hours inside.

If I Had a Do-Over...

In retrospect, my morning battle plan was perfect, but I goofed my afternoon battle plan. After my midday snack, I should have immediately headed up to Long Lake and 5 Coloured Pool while much of the crowd was eating lunch. Could have been up and through there and then back down by 13:30 or so, and made a better time of it. Then after that, heading down to Rhinoceros Lake to Bamboo Shoals, then picking up the bus to exit. This miscalculation earned me a self-administered Duh! Head Slap for Stupidity. So, learn from my mistake. That said, I still got to see everything I really wanted to see.


Additional Thoughts and Tips

Homework. Try to do some in advance, and whether your visit is one day, two days, or more, have a Battle Plan going in, that matches what you want to see with your physical abilities. You’ll have a better chance of optimizing your experience.

Crowds. Workers and taxi drivers I’d talked to the previous day, said things were busy but typical for mid-July, and estimates were about 10,000 people per day visiting. Which is considered a good crowd but not extreme. They also said things would continue to get busier as summer went on, and into early fall where National Day week would be absolutely jammed, then gradually reduce until crowds fell off in early November. Tip: (Given previously but bears repeating) To minimize your contact with big annoying Chinese crowds, don’t follow the standard route they do (yes it’s very predictable) and hike the paths away from the roads. If there were really 10,000 people in the park the day I went, 9900 of them were by the roads and the bus stops, and 100 of us were scattered along the inside paths.

Summer. Frankly, in some ways not the best time to be at Jiuzhaigou, mostly due to 1) possibility of rain and certainty of at least some overcast; 2) haze conditions for photos; and 3) no impressive colorations that you see in the fall. Mostly, lots of greens (foliage) and blue/turquoise (lakes). But still very pretty. If your choice is going in summer vs don’t go at all, then certainly come in summer. But if you have a choice, go in fall, even after peak colors. My second choice of season would probably be winter. There is one upside to summer: because the area had been getting quite a bit of rain, the volume of water going through the shoals and the waterfalls was tremendous, and quite impressive.

Summer weather: with the overcast, surprisingly cool and comfortable for hiking at this altitude. If the sun is out, it would be hot in the open—another reason to take the inner paths which have a lot of shade. Regardless of weather conditions, take sunscreen!

Sunscreen. Not just for summer. I forgot to reapply half-way during the day and got a bit of a mild facial sunburn, despite hiking much of the route in forested shade. Altitude magnifies the effects so even in cool/cold season, your skin needs protection. Bring it with you, hard to find in China.

Toilets. Really good and well signposted. I think in the last two years, a lot of effort has gone into providing toilets in various places around the park. Plenty of Western-style thrones with automated biodegradable sanitary seat covers. Take your own toilet paper or tissues though (ladies, ahem). Also hand sanitizer or prepackaged antibacterial hand wipes.

Drinking Water. NEVER be without water, regardless of time of year. I’m a big water drinker and lose huge amounts with physical exercise, so took 1.5 liters in my daypack, most people can probably be OK with a liter or less. There are little rest pavilions also scattered around the park, and most have a counter with basic snacks, water, juice if you need replacements on the way. Nuorilang Tourist Center has a more extensive selection. However, things are marked up, like RMB 5 for a 550 ml bottle of water that costs 1.5 or 2.0 RMB in the village supermarket. Strike a balance between carrying enough to sustain you without breaking under the weight (water is heavy of course) and then replenishing in the Park along the way.

Altitude. I didn’t have trouble with this, but for 10 days prior since Xining, I had been at similar altitudes so was completely acclimated. Particularly if flying in from Xi’an or Chengdu, assume that you will feel some mild effects and just take it easy and slow. Fly-ins might well benefit from planning 2 days in the park area rather than just one, in case you feel a bit ragged the first day and have to move at reduced speed.

Hope this helps somebody! Now a little bit about logistics outside the park....

Jiuzhaigou was a stop on my overland Xining-to-Chengdu-by-bus Tibetan Amdo route. I can add the following detailed information:

Transportation Inbound from the North

I stayed the previous night in Langmusi, which is a very small town on the Gansu-Sichuan border. There is no easy, inexpensive way to get from Langmusi to Jiuzhaigou, a distance of about 330 km. So pick easy/expensive (private car) or harder/inexpensive (bus). Failing to find a private car with an extra seat heading my way, I took the bus part way and then switched to a succession of private car then taxi, as follows:
1) Bus Langmusi to Ruo’ergai (Tibetan: Zoige), nominally leaves 06:30 but waits a bit for more passengers, my bus left at 07:00, RMB 22 per seat. Not full up, and I was only foreigner. Takes 2 hours (less if your driver doesn’t poke along like mine did). Arrived at Ruo’ergai bus station at 09:00.

2) Shared private car Ruo’ergai to Chuanzhusi, which is the town at the turnoff from the main north-south highway 213 to provincial highway 301 leading to Airport and Jiuzhaigou. RMB 300, of which I agreed to pay RMB 150 for expediency and two other Chinese passengers from my Langmusi bus, also heading to JZG in a hurry, split the other half. Car took 1 hour 45 minutes to do this route, arrived Chuanzhusi 11:00. Note: there are public buses Ruo’ergai to Songpan (via Chuanzhusi) at 10:00 and 14:30 for RMB 45. When I arrived at 09:00 at Ruo’ergai the 10:00 am bus was sold out (as is usual) and I plus the two Chinese didn’t want to wait around for the 14:30 bus. So we joined forces to get moving immediately. The driver wanted RMB 700 to go all the way from Ruo’ergai to Jiuzhaigou, but we thought we could do better if we took him only part way then switched again (definitely true).

3) All the public buses from Chuanzhusi to Jiuzhaigou for the day had already gone, so it was time to share again with my two Chinese “buddies,” we got a taxi for RMB 150 total or 50 apiece. Takes 1.5 hours to Pengfeng Village which is at the park entrance and where I was staying.

So, arrived at Jiuzhaigou at my lodging at 12:45, exactly 5.75 hours from when I’d left Langmusi. This is considered excellent time—worthy of “Amazing Race” status! Total cost to me; RMB 244 = RMB 44 bus (22 x 2 seats for me) + 150 my share of car + 50 my share of taxi.

Note #1: Chuanzhusi is the town at the turnoff from the main north-south highway to Jiuzhaigou, and is the staging town for the Jiuzhaigou Airport and for visiting the Huanglong area, it has grown up quite a bit in the last couple of years and looks like it has a lot of decent places to stay and get fed, should you need to stop somewhere on the journey. So if heading the same way I was, no need to go down highway 213 beyond this point to Songpan, then have to backtrack.

Note #2: The scenery from Langmusi to Chuanzhusi is lovely. North of Ruo’ergai are some of the largest upland grassland plateaus I’ve ever seen. This time of year, the local Tibetan Golok nomads are moving their livestock from pasture to pasture. So many times, your vehicle will be stopping or slowing for yaks, sheep, goats crossing the road. The Tibetan nomads are on horseback—real Tibetan cowboys and cowgirls—and you can see their summer tent homes scattered all across the grassland. From Ruo’ergai to Chuanzhusi, the scenery is valley and mountain, also very pleasant. The road is safe and in very good condition.

Transportation Outbound to the South

The most common land route is bus Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu on Highway 213 that passes through Songpan and Wenchuan. The official timetable has buses leaving at 06:30, 7:00, 8:00, 8:30, and 10:00. In high season however (and July falls in that), there are a LOT more buses added on to fill demand. The day I left there were also 07:30, 07:40, 07:50, 08:10, 08:15 buses, maybe some more between 09:00 and 10:00. Cost is RMB 145 per seat and as usual, I bought two seats for comfort and to keep my valuables and breakables close. Highly adviseable to purchase a seat a day in advance (I purchased mine two days in advance and got my preferred front seats). The biggest, nicest “luxury” buses were the 06:30, 08:10, 08:15, and 08:30 departures, the others used somewhat smaller buses though still OK. Ask at the time you buy, so you can get the best equipment.

Timing: 8 to 10 hours. TIME WARNING #1: Though you might get lucky and get to Chengdu 8 hours later, there is a good chance that it will take longer. While the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the journey goes smoothly and quickly (with nice scenery), there is serious road, bridge, and tunnel construction going on between Wenchuan and Dujiangyan, where they are extending the high-speed expressway and fixing damage from the 2008 earthquake. . On a 20 km stretch, it took us two hours to get through. The backup of vehicles north and southbound was nearly 10 km each direction. On the day of my journey, the driver told me it would take 10 hours and I didn’t believe him. But he was right. He said it’s typical though some days the construction is either resting or not affecting traffic too much—just luck of the draw. I suggest if you take this route in 2012, that you allow 10 hours and then if it takes less, be pleasantly surprised. Be careful about scheduling a same-day flight out of Chengdu. My bus left Jiuzhaigou promptly at 08:10 and did not arrive at Chadianzi station (well, near the station) until 18:00. It would have taken nearly another hour to find vehicle and get to airport. If you must schedule a same-day flight, safest to make it a 21:00 or later departure. Better yet, spend the night in Chengdu and remove the stress.

SAFETY WARNING #2: Right now is rainy season, and the road is more unsafe than in the spring or fall. This is because of 1) potentially wet roads, and wet + muddy road surface where careful driving is a must, also 2) loose rocks coming down, some of them big. Heavy rain can loosen the mountainsides up and the potential for slides is there. I did see freshly-fallen rocks on the road, and not all locations have rock-catching barriers (or barriers that would be effective for large boulders and slides). The most dangerous part is the Maoxian-Wenchuan-Dujiangyan stretch, and there are many “Geological Hazard Warning” signs along the roadway if you look closely.

If you can afford to fly the Chengdu-Jiuzhaigou (or vv) stretch, particularly during the rainy season (all summer through August, maybe early September), I strongly suggest you consider doing so. It was a non-starter for me since I could not afford the RMB 1300 all-in pricing, and unfortunately this is not a route that sees meaningful discounting.

Conditions for the road journey will eventually improve, so if planning a trip in 2013 or after, check for updates as this will one day be a nice ride. Once the Wenchuan-Dujiangyan high speed expressway section is complete and linking into the Dujiangyan-Chengdu section, the entire journey from Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu might take more like 6 hours total....but my guess is it will be 2014 before we see this.

Other routings and options out of Jiuzhaigou

--There are separate buses that ply the same route as far as Maoxian, Wenchuan, or Dujiangyan, in case you are not going to Chengdu in one fell swoop. Generally they leave about 07:30 and will use smaller craft. Wenchuan, which looks like it’s been completely rebuilt since the 2008 earthquake, actually looked pretty nice if you needed/wanted to break up this journey with an overnight and see a few sights in the area such as ancient Qiang villages, etc. Expect few or no English-speakers, though.
--There is another route to Chengdu that uses Highway 205 southeast through Pingwu and Jiangyou, approaching Chengdu from the north expressway....but I was told the road there isn’t in better condition and time is still about 10 hours. Buses for this scheduled for 06:30 and 07:20, RMB 101 but doublecheck as this is a less traveled route.
--For the Xi’an bound, there is a JZG-Guangyuan bus using highway 301 to the east, leaving 06:30, RMB 88. Road is not in good shape, and very winding, a barf-o-rama special but it will get you to the railhead at Guangyuan. Flying is of course better, if you can afford and get a seat on a flight.
--For the Lanzhou-bound, one bus at 07:00, RMB 237 and takes 12 hours. Road is good all the way up, except a bit of minor patching going on around Hezuo in Gansu province.

Jiuzhaigou—Where to Stay

Most of the comments on this forum center around staying at the Intercontinental, but unless you have a lot of points to burn, IMO it is a horrible location and a bad idea except maybe in low season. If you need “luxury” then the Sheraton is a much better location, as it’s only a 15 minute walk to the Park Entry. Overall, the locational choices go like this:

Farthest away: Intercontinental. West of the park entrance, 30 minutes away by car, and nothing else around so you are effectively marooned. You’ll need private driver or taxi to do anything, and this adds up. WARNING: in high season, there is a huge backup coming from the west. At 08:00 in the morning, the backup of inbound vehicles from the park entrance to the west was approximately 2 km long. So if staying at the IC in high season and heading to the park entrance, you must leave the hotel and head for the Park by 06:30 or you will get mired in incoming traffic in Pengfeng. I suspect it is not too bad in winter/off-season. (Note: this hotel is sometimes listed as in Zhangzha Town but in reality, it is not, it is by Ganhaizi area).

Next Farthest away: Any hotel listed as being in Ganhaizi or Jarpo Town, such as the Holiday Inn. Still too far away and isolated. I see no redeeming reasons to stay in these areas.

Reasonably Close but Still Needs Car: Zhangzha Town. Several km up the road from the Park entrance but not walkable. Lots of newer hotels, shopping plazas, etc set up here and looks clean and spiffy. Might be an option to stay, though most reports I’ve read from people who have done so, say next time, they’d want to stay closer to the park entrance. And looks like lots of big Chinese tour groups are staged at the hotels in this area.

Closest of All: Pengfeng Village. Bulk of Pengfeng is just to the west of the entrance, Sheraton, bus station, and some other places are to the east of it. Generally a maximum 15-20 minute walk to park entrance and could be less depending on hotel you choose. Plenty of restaurants and shops around. Good thing is being able to get to where you need under your own steam, without need and expense of a car/taxi. Sheraton is obvious upscale foreigner choice, but there are plenty of large and small Chinese independent hotels around. I stayed in a nice private double with ensuite at the newish “Green Youth Hostel” for RMB 268—overpriced by Chinese standards but not by those of JZG. And it had good aircon and reliable 24/7 hot water with good pressure, plus spotless and comfortable beds. That’s about as good as it gets in this town.

IMO, Jiuzhaigou is a place geared to separating the tourist—Western and Chinese alike—from as much money as possible. Generally, you pay more and get less value for goods and services than most other places in China. And even the supposedly more upscale places have their warts. The entire area suffers from an attitude of “We don’t give a d@mn about quality standards since people will come anyway.” Might as well spend as little as you can get away with on the ancillary stuff since it's all going to be deficient in some way anyway, and focus your efforts on what you came to see—the Park itself.

jiejie,thanks for adding to this thread with your very detailed and useful info. Just curious, where did you stay? I saw your transportation methods but didn't find your hotel...

Second to last paragraph in my logistics post. Booked a place on elong.net. I stayed at a place in Pengfeng Village called the "Green Youth Inn" (or "Greenfield" Youth Hostel). Took a chance since info on the internet looked decent, and it's only been open a year-ish...so how downhill could it have gone! It's in the congested part of Pengfeng that has a bunch of alleys going off the main road, but after 11 pm it's quiet and I appreciated not being right on the main highway. I got a "deluxe" twin (two bed) room #213 in the adjacent building, and I think one of the nicest. Very clean (including the carpet), decent size room for one or two people, great air con self-controlled, decent bathroom with good 24/7 hot water and good pressure and no stinky drain smells. Shower was one of those non-enclosed areas, but in my bathroom it was in the corner, had good drainage so didn't wet the rest of the room down. Also hand held shower and rainshower. Supposedly free wifi in room, but I used my 3G dongle when I needed internet. RMB 268 per night (no brkfst), but in off season I'm sure it goes down. I gambled but knew that if the place was not up to snuff, my early afternoon arrival would afford plenty of time to walk down the street and find something else. It's high season in JZG but not totally packed out, there were plenty of vacancies in most places still. (ETA, looks like I got lucky with timing, just checked them right now and their rates have increased to RMB 368 for this week and later, when they have space) :-O

Eating places in Pengfeng:

1) First afternoon for late lunch I tried a local Chinese place in Pengfeng with tablecloths and all that. They were pretty unfriendly and acknowledged then ignored me. Got up and walked out. Ended up in a more downmarket diner-type noodle joint that was pretty good. (There are a bunch of grubby ones, so you need to be selective.) And cheap.

2) The first evening, I ate at Star Cafe behind the Sheraton. Like being next to the little river, but the food was overpriced and not too good. I think this is a place that typical in China, gets a good name and then goes downhill. Along the river but closer to the park, are piles of little restaurants that put tables out by the waterside...most of them were probably much better...but I think few with English menus.

3) Second day was in the park so no formal lunch. Ridiculous prices at Nuorilang Tourist Center sit-down restaurants....and I suspect the food isn't all that great since the audience is captive and they are mass-feeding. Physical exercise kills my appetite for awhile, so I was OK taking a couple of power bars, crackers, chocolate along in my pack, then getting a cheap snack of things on a stick (hot dog thing, corn). Pot noodles are available also.

4) Second evening I tried a different Chinese restaurant with the tablecloths and all that. Same chilly reception, despite speaking Chinese to them. What is going on in this town? It's not like these restaurants had lines out the door, they really seem to not want to deal with foreigners. So I got up and walked out, and went to a Tibetan restaurant that's roughly in the middle of Pengfeng West, on the second floor. They often have a staff member outside and downstairs working to drum up business. It was outstanding food, though on the pricey side but generous portions. I spent RMB 120 for two dishes + beer and it was enough for two people--couldn't finish it all. COLD beer, good service and some English speakers on staff, too. (Staff is primarily Tibetan, not Han). Probably best place to eat in the village...I seem to have misplaced their business card but will try to find later.

Bottom Line: Jiuzhaigou is just not a gastronomique's place. Most restaurants are barely trying. They do have some good holes-in-the-wall with great snacks and stuff, so my advice is not to waste your money (except at the Tibetan restaurant) and just stay mostly downmarket....you'll do just as well. And Chinese restaurants with diner-style and no tablecloths are friendlier than the places that look spiffier and more upmarket, at least to foreigners.

I knew I missed, thanks for repointing it out to me. ^

I've been researching flights in/out of JZH recently. Indeed JZH/CTU seems to get very little discount if any. However, JZH/CKG appears to be a lot more reasonable. If the final destination is elsewhere in China the connections from CKG also appear to be superior to CTU.

In general, for a given time period (let's say summer/fall busy times):
1) Most expensive route: CTU-JZH and vice-versa, often all-in's of RMB 1200-1300+ each way.
2) Next most: CGK-JZH and vice-versa, much more reasonable and can often find this for under RMB 1000 all-in each way. Sometimes under RMB 900 if you book about a month in advance.
3) Cheapest: XIY-JZH and vice-versa, About 830 all-in each way and that's with a full economy fare. This despite the fact that it's the longest distance.

I had an XIY-JZH ticket for this trip but cancelled it when I decided to put Jiuzhaigou after the Silk Road. It's true, routing to/from JZH through CGK or XIY can save some cash.

This might be a good option for an intra-China award redemption.

ex:

SHA-CTU (layover)-JZH-CTU-PVG

Wow, people have always told me that the park entrance fee is on the steep side, but I was thinking more along the lines of y120; y220 is approaching Disneyland territory. Is it a private enterprise, per chance? (This would explain a great deal.)

No, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site and has involvement directly from the Central Government, not just left to the locals.

Anybody who knows me, knows how cynical I've become about the ridiculous hikes in entrance fees around China, particularly over the last 2 years. Lots of sites that frankly, just aren't worth the fee and whose upkeep and presentation don't reflect where all the revenue stream is going. So I was prepared to be very irked at Jiuzhaigou.

However, once I actually got inside and saw how well the infrastructure was planned, executed, and maintained...and that the high entrance fee was actually being used to keep the place up and improved...I was OK with the RMB 220. There is obviously some sort of accountability going on at this park and the funds are being put to good use. There are also huge tracts of land that are part of this park that most tourists never see, but which also have upkeep costs.

I think The Powers That Be need to hold the line at RMB 220 though. If anything, I feel that the RMB 90 ecobus fee should be lowered (maybe to half that rate). Not sure why it is this high, unless they are using it to actually pay off the bus purchase debt.

I do think they should come up with a reduced-rate Second Day Pass for the on-season, say for maybe an additional RMB 80-100. (They have one for the off season at very low rate.) The incremental revenue would outstrip the incremental "burden" of those minority of park goers who would exercise that option. They could have a separate queue for this requiring presentation of the previous day's validated entry ticket. Most of the users would be foreign and Chinese independent and small group visitors. The big tour bus groups appear to roll in and roll out in one day, and that sort of scheduling isn't likely to change.

Entry and bus fees aside, where one can save money is by taking in your own snacks (and to some extent, drinks/water), and avoid eating in the expensive Tourist Service Center in the middle of the park. And don't blow a wad on overpriced hotels that won't do anything to enhance your stay.

Jiejie,
Thanks for a very detailed trip report to Jiuzhaigou.
I will be visiting Jiuzhaigou the first week of September and have been struggling whether I should also visit HuangLong on this same trip. What is your thought on HuangLong?

Also, is there store or market around the hotel area to buy a sandwhich or something the night before to prepare for lunch in the Jiuzhaigou Park the next day so that we can sort of just having pinic in the park?

Huanglong gets mixed reviews and particularly from foreigners. My research determined that for me personally, it was of much less interest. Strike one. And it takes another full day in a bit different direction than Jiuzhaigou, and I would have had to stage logistics for a night in a different location (Chuanzhusi rather than Jiuzhaigou itself). Strike two. Finally, I had been on the road hard traveling for nearly one month and was tired, and knew I would use my entire quota of hiking ability and stamina in one day at Jiuzhaigou. Strike Three. Huanglong got the heave-ho. However, others with more time, stamina, and/or cash might come to a different conclusion and particularly if fall colors have started. Huanglong has a separate entrance fee of RMB 200 for the day, plus cable car fee of RMB 80 (peak season except winter), so it's not a cheap date.

There are plenty of small supermarkets and restaurants in Pengfeng Village which is where the park entrance is located. I stocked up on non-perishable goodies the night before, plus a starter stash of water. There are a LOT of hotels/hostels in Pengfeng. The next closest area that also has a lot of hotels is Zhangzha town a few km away, it also has some big supermarkets for stockup.

Note: There is no xray or WTMD to get into the park, so no security/confiscation issues there. Take a small daypack with your eatables, sunscreen, tissues, etc. Again, there is a cheapie snack area with an open (covered) table area at the Nuorilang Tourist Service Center inside the park; the selection isn't great, but you can augment your stash with something quick and hot, without having to deal with time and expense of the indoor sit-down restaurants.

Thank you for sharing you view on Huang-long, Jiejie.

All things set aside, if the option is either a 1-day at Huang-long or SECOND-DAY at Jiuzhaigou due to limited schedule, what would you or anyone pick?