What's on in Jiuzhaigou, China through the year

Busy — Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in China, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Rule

  Daily cap and passport tickets

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  Forty-one thousand people a day from 1 April to 15 November, twenty-three thousand through the winter, sold online against a passport. There is no ticket window at the gate and no walk-ups. Source ↗

Still on: Winter season (16 Nov – 31 Mar)

Busy — Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in China

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter season (16 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter season (16 Nov – 31 Mar)

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Season

  Snowmelt and full falls

  15 Apr – 15 Jun · usuallyHigh water

  Nuorilang and Pearl Shoal run hardest as the snow comes off the ridges, and the lakes hold their colour before the summer rain stirs the sediment.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Snowmelt and full falls (15 Apr – 15 Jun (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Snowmelt and full falls (15 Apr – 15 Jun (usually))

Busy — Summer break in China, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Summer break in China, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — National Day Golden Week, Autumn colour

• Holiday

  National Day Golden Week

  1–7 OctCrowdedBook early

  The worst possible week to try this valley: the cap is full, the shuttle buses queue inside the gate, and the road up from Chengdu takes most of a day. Source ↗

• Nature

  Autumn colour

  5 Oct – 5 Nov · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Larch and beech above water that is already an implausible blue, for about three weeks. The daily cap sells out for every one of those days, often weeks in advance.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Autumn colour

• Season

  Winter season

  16 Nov – 31 MarOff-season shutdownClosures

  The ticket almost halves, the waterfalls freeze into blue ice and the crowd disappears. The trade is snow on the mountain road in, which closes without much notice.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Autumn colour (5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually))

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Daily cap and passport tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter season (16 Nov – 31 Mar)