kilometers (21.75miles) off the entrance of the valley, it provides a retiring place for the visitors. The whole temple consists of three small ones: the front, the middle and the rear temples, which mark the head, the waist and the tail of a dragon respectively, coming all the way down the valley. The front temple has been almost ruined. The middle temple has five halls remained, in worship of Goddess of Mercy, and 18 arhats. As for the rear temple, it enshrines the Dragon King.

On the 15th of every sixth lunar month, the day when yellow dragon was said to achieve his Buddhahood, a big temple fair will be held in the rear temple. At that time, local people of different groups come to attend it, praying for good fortune and bumper harvest. And also young people find it the best time to tell sweet words to their lovers.

Terraced Colored-Ponds
Dotted upward along the valley, the 2300 ponds come into 8 groups, such as Guest Greeting Ponds, Flowing Pools of Waterfall, Potted Landscape Ponds, Fragrant Ponds, Jade-bathing Ponds, etc. The last group, the Five-Color Ponds are the best of all, which perch highest atop the valley, back of the rear temple. Amid it stand a pair of stone towers, stone house with up-curved roof, which has been there since Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Due to varied depth of the ponds and all kinds of mineral pigments or deposits on the bottom, the water reflects a variety of charming colors.

Huang Long Cave (Yellow Dragon Cave)
The cave, 10 meters (32.8 feet) afar behind the rear temple, is filled with stalactites. In winter, there are icicles and ice waterfalls hanging inside. Left of the hall in the cave, there are three sitting Buddha statues of Ming dynasty (A.D.1368-1644). Now all of them are coated with a thick layer of lime deposits.

To travel Huang long, it will take 3-4 hours to look around and about another 3 hours for a round trip along the valley. Since there is no transportation in the valley, visitors must walk all the way, it proves to be a tough trip, still with its high elevation.

Huang Long Valley is a scenic spot lying amidst southern part of Minshan mountain range at Songpan county in the northwest plateau of Sichuan province. It is about 400 kilometers (154.4 miles) away from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, neighboring Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area with an elevation of about 3,100-3,500 meters (10,170-11,483 feet). The scenery unfolds in a limestone valley, which is 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) long, 300 meters (984feet) wide, and 700 square kilometers (270.2 square miles) in area. The legend says, about 4000 years ago, yellow dragon helped Xiayu, a king of Xia Kingdom (21st -16th century B.C.), channel the flood water into the sea, and opened Minjiang River, a main waterbody irrigatinThe calcium carbonate deposit spread looks like golds, shinning under the sun. Chengdu plain for centuries. Hence later generation built a temple in honor of the yellow dragon and the valley was named Huang Long (Yellow Dragon in Chinese).

Huang Long wins the fame for its magic landscape of limes formation, made up of 3400 multi-colored, differently-sized ponds interlacing along the valley; calcareous fluid with bottom paving with golden lime deposit, covering 80,000 square meters (95,680 square yards), plus five waterfalls, four stalactite caves and three ancient temples. All of them gather in the same valley, which look like a dragon surging down from snowcapped peaks of Mt. Minshan.

Besides, the local people, composed of more than 20 nationalities, especially Tibetan and Qiang groups, turn out to be another attraction to visitors, together with vast virgin forest occupying the area. In 1991, Huang Long entered the Natural Legacey Lists of the World. Huang Long Valley is reputed as fairyland on earth.
Huang Long Temple (Yellow Dragon Temple)
The temple lies at the foot of Snow Treasure Peak, the major peak of Mt. Minshan. With a distance of 35