Shoals | Blue Lapis Road

DAY 5 – PEARL SHOAL FALLS (珍珠灘瀑布), MIRROR LAKE (鏡海) & NUORILANG FALLS (諾日朗瀑布), Jiuzhaigou (九寨溝), China

Just a short walk from the incredible Five Flower Lake came the next highlight of Jiuzhaigou, the Pearl Shoals Waterfall (珍珠灘瀑布). We approached the falls from its upper level, where shallow water flowed on a vast area of rocky shoals. We followed the path to a 40m cliff where the Pearl Shoals Waterfall finally revealed its side to us. A large group of spectators concentrated on the stair adjacent to the fall. We slowly walked down to the bottom of the fall to admire its 160m length. The water flow wasn’t thundering, but the sheer scale of the waterfall was impressive and could be enjoy from a number of viewpoints. Matched perfectly with the surrounding landscape, Pearl Shoals Waterfall looked surprisingly peaceful despite its scale.

We followed the stream water of Pearl Shoals Waterfall eastwards to another tranquil water body, Mirror Lake (鏡海). The turquoise water and autumn foliage at Mirror Lake provided a peaceful break from the excitement of Pearl Shoals Waterfall. A brief sun break gave us a moment of warmth as we leisurely stroll along the lake. The distant snow-capped mountain finally revealed itself behind the clouds. Under the sun, the colours of the autumn foliage appeared more vividly, casting colourful reflections on the lake surface. We walked the full length of Mirror Lake from west to east, crossed the road where shuttle buses ran, and walked down a stair to another prominent waterfall, the Nuorilang Waterfall (諾日朗瀑布). Roughly 32m in length, “Nuorilang” in Tibetan means “grand and magnificent”. It was already 1:30pm when we reached Nuorilanf Waterfall. We didn’t stay for long at Nuorilang and decided to embark on the journey up the other section of the Park, Zechawa Valley at the left branch of the “Y”.

Shallow water ran over the rocky shoals, like a plain of flowing water.

Shrubs and rocks dotted over Pearl Shoals.

The water gradually ran down the shoal to the cliff edge and eventually became the Pearl Shoals Waterfall.

Pearl Shoals Waterfall as seen from the stair adjacent to the falls.

The sky was clearing up and we could see the snow mountains beyond the waterfall.

At the base of Pearl Shoal Waterfall, water streamed down the rocky landscape into a series of small waterfalls.

Watching hundreds of small streams running down the cliff of Pearl Shoals was a pleasant experience despite the crowds around us.

Looking back to the Pearl Shoals Waterfall as we slowly walked across the shore.

All streams of the waterfall running down the cliff converged into a small river flowing away.

As we walked away from the main Pearl Shoals Waterfall, series of small waterfalls continued to run down the cliff.

Silence returned as we left Pearl Shoals Waterfall behind and reached the Mirror Lake.

The sun finally came out and we could enjoy some moments of warmth.

Despite the autumn foliage hadn’t reach its peak, we still enjoyed taking photos of the occasional red and yellow leaves.

Jiuzhaigou National Park is actually surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Brief moments of sun breaks allowed us to have a few glimpses of the magnificent peaks.