China Trip - Day 2 Flight to Jiuzhaigou

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We were at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport to catch an evening (17:05) flight to Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport. The distance is about 240 km or 40 min. flying time.

Due to the fact that Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport is at an elevation of 3,448 m (11,312 ft), we were warned beforehand that some passengers may experience symptoms of altitude sickness. There were vendors selling Tibetan herbal medicine in miniature bottles packed in paper boxes.

The first aid center at the Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport also has small canisters of oxygen and Tibetan herbal medicine for sale.

Some of our tour group members bought the herbal medicine but I didn't buy any as I'm not sure if I will develop any allergies or adverse reaction to the medicine. The herbal medicine was to be consume before boarding the flight.

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The plane we were going to board at Chengdu Airport.

“Chengdu Jiuzhaigou Huanglong 9D 7N - Day 2 Flight to Jiuzhaigou”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Malaysia Daily Photo blog by Autumn Belle @ http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com

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Window view of the massive mountain ranges (cloud or snow covered) before touch down at Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport.

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Seconds after I came out of the plane and walked onto the connecting passageway, I experienced severe altitude sickness. It was a very unpleasant feeling of dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath. Deprived of sufficient oxygen, I thought I was going to faint. For a moment, I panicked and thought I would not be able to survive the trip to visit the 'fairyland' of Jiuzhaigou. Oh, what a feeling of dismay at just the start of our tour. Luckily, I suffered only for a few minutes.

Later I was to learn from other passengers that they felt the same too but at different level of severity. I saw a middle aged lady with a canister of oxygen in her hand and being helped to stand and walk by 2 relatives. She looked really pale.

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Oh boy, I was really glad that I could walk out of this airport and into fresh air feeling okay again!

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In the distance we could see horses and yaks grazing on the hills. 

This was also the scene that greeted us when the plane was landing and travelling along the runway.

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Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport is also known as Jiuzhaigou Airport (九寨沟机场) or Jiuhuang Airport.

This airport serves two major places of interest; namely Huanglong, 53 kilometres (33 miles) away and Jiuzhaigou, 88 km (55 miles) away. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

At 3,448 metres (11,312 ft) above sea level, this is the third highest airport in China after Qamdo and Lhasa. It started operation on September 28, 2003

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Our tourist bus.

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Yay, I am now on my way to Jiuzhaigou at altitudes of 2,000-4,500m above sea leavel!

The journey from the Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong airport to Soluxe Hotel will take about an hour.

Vegetation were sparse and consisted of grass, wildflowers, small trees and bushes here and there.

I saw many cosmos plants growing wild in the coutryside.

As the bus is going downhill from Jiuzhaigou Airport at 3,448 to Jiuzhaigou Valley, I notice that the driver need to stop at a certain station after some time, let the passengers get down the bus while they sprayed the bus body with water, an action to cool the braking system, I guess?

For comparison, our Mt Kinabalu in Malaysia is about 4,095m above sea level and Genting Highlands 1,860m.

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Rivers and streams with swift and clear running water and mountains of Christmas trees.
That's the shadow of our bus reflected in the picture!

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The pretty Tibetan countryside.

It was still bright even though it was already 7:30 pm.

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We stayed at the Soluxe Hotel aka Jiuzhai Sunshine Hotel. The hotel is located in Zhangza village, Zhangza town at the edge of Jiuzhaigou Valley. 

There was a night market just next to the hotel.

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The street vendors here sell foodstuff, warm clothing, scarfs, fruits and daily provisions.