Brief information on Long Lake  

Long Lake is the most splendid and deepest lake in Jiuzhaigou. At an altitude of over 3,000 meters, the lake measures an impressive 5 km in length. There is no visible tributary around the lake but the water source is the melted snow from the South Peak and the waters of surrounding mountain streams and brooks. It is a wonder that the Long Lake neither runs dry in the winter and spring, nor brims over the bank in the rainy summer and autumn. Local Tibetans call the lake “a magic gourd that will never be poured full or dried up”.

Long Lake is dark blue and surrounded by range upon range of green hills. The opposite mountains wear white armor upon the arrival of autumn. In midwinter, the whole lake forms an ice layer over 60cms thick, so strong that even a truck can travel on it. Long Lake is considered the mother river of all other lakes, rivers and streams in Jiuzhaigou. Because there is no means of exit, the lake’s excess water either vaporizes into the air or seeps into the earth, thus becoming an important water source for other lakes here.

The peculiar cypress
There is a cypress on the bank of Long Lake with an odd shape. On one side of the tree, the branches and leaves are rich and abundant, but on the opposite side, the trunk is bare. The tree is known as the “Peculiar cypress that resembles a one-armed old man”.

According to tradition, long ago, Jiuzhaigou was ruled by a demon and all the people were in deep blue sea. An old brave hunter from a remote mountain came to the lake and fought the demon. He succeeded in driving away the demon but the brave hunter lost one arm during the struggle. In order to prevent the devil ever coming back, the old hunter, armed with a sword, stood on the bank of Long Lake day and night. He guards Jiuzhaigou still.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Long Lake if you plan to visit Long Lake and have language problems.

   

Location: Jiuzhaigou Valley