Nine Villages Valley in China is its best-kept and most beautiful secret

IS THIS China’s best-kept, and most beautiful, secret?

Lying in the southwest of China in the Northern Sichuan province, hidden in a national park is the Nine Villages Valley (or Jiuzhaigou) home to nine Tibetan villages scattered throughout a natural wonderland.

With scenery you wouldn’t normally associate with China, the spectacular area is made up of blue, green and pink lakes, incredible waterfalls, unique wildlife and humbling mountain valleys.

Covering over 700 square kilometres, the valley is one of China's greatest natural assets, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997.

While popular with domestic tourists, Nine Villages Valley is relatively unseen by western tourists due to its remoteness, limited accessibility and the government’s determination to conserve this pristine area. Located in the Min Shan mountain range in Northern Sichuan, the area was first settled in the 1300s by a group of Tibetan pilgrims looking for refuge and was untouched for over six centuries.

A lumberjack accidentally discovered the valley in 1972 and the mountains slowly began to open to tourists as accessibility improved. Snow capped mountains are offset by pristine turquoise, green and pink lakes below and the scenery is often compared to that of the Swiss Alps or Canadian Rockies.

Wendy Wu, founder of Wendy Wu tours that specialise in China and Southeast Asian travel, says the Nine Villages Valley is one of the “crown jewels” of China.

“It is a national park made up of mountains, forests, lakes, valleys and waterfalls. It is a combination of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Swiss Alps and the Turkish pools, only more colourful and more stunning.

“The BBC Holiday program featured the area in 2007, and the film crew that have filmed countless breathtaking places around the world, all agreed that Nine Villages Valley is the most beautiful place they have ever been,” she says.

Wendy Wu’s 23-day Dreams of Nature tour includes a visit to the Nine Villages Valley and other stunning natural landscapes in China including Zhangjiajie — the backdrop and inspiration for the movie Avatar.

The Northern Sichuan Province is also accessibly by direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu, Chongqing and Hangzhou followed by a bus ride to the Nine Villages Valley.

Whether it's the snow in winter, the brightly coloured leaves in Autumn or the tranquil lakes of Summer the Nine Villages Valley is a photographer and nature lovers heaven.