Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou: A Living Tibetan-Qiang Ancient City, a Visual Art Feast

Traveling through thousands of mountains and rivers, one cannot forget the earthly paradise of Jiuzhaigou. Jiuzhaigou, a fairy-tale-like peerless secret realm, is divine and beautiful for its mountains, and vivid for its waters. Its beauty has long been world-renowned, attracting countless visitors. However, only 6.6 kilometers from Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area lies a 'living' Tibetan-Qiang ancient city, known to few. Here you will find an ancient caravan culture, a Thousand Buddha Cave that feels like a journey through time, and authentic Tibetan-Qiang song and dance feasts. This is the Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area, a '5D Tibetan-Qiang Folk Custom Expo Park' that encapsulates the millennia-old civilization of Jiuzhaigou in Aba Prefecture.

Today's travel is far more than just seeing mountains and water; people pay more attention to the stories behind the beautiful scenery. The beauty of the Tibetan-Qiang region is often associated with beautiful myths. To understand the origin of 'Jiuzhaigou', you must not miss 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou', an epic Tibetan-Qiang performance.

The Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area, located in the mountain-and-water blending Jiuzhaigou style district, is a paradise for immersive interactive performances. The one-hour-long 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou' features 300 performers, tens of thousands of sets of mechanical equipment, and high-tech means such as sound, light, electricity, and gas, presenting the folk culture of the Tibetan and Qiang people in Jiuzhaigou in a 360-degree panoramic performance. It is no exaggeration to say that Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou is a living Tibetan-Qiang ancient city.

Entering this living Tibetan-Qiang ancient city, you can see landscapes unique to the Tibetan and Qiang ethnic elements, such as thangkas, prayer flags, stupas, Tibetan watchtowers, Qiang watchtowers, and Tibetan villages. It replicates the most essential parts of Tibetan-Qiang folk culture, allowing visitors to feel the strong local customs of the Tibetan and Qiang people.

Watching 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou' is like dreaming back to the ancient land of Western Shu a thousand years ago, accompanied by mysterious and beautiful Tibetan-Qiang songs and dances, traveling through one fantastic era after another. The entire 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou' performance is divided into five chapters: 'Legend of Jiuzhaigou', 'War Song of the Ancient Qiang', 'Marriage of Han and Tibetan', 'Boundless Love', and 'Heaven and Earth Auspiciousness'. It narrates the past and present of the Tibetan and Qiang peoples, interspersed with beautiful myths, clashes of swords and shadows, scenes of prosperous times, and true emotions after natural disasters... This 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou' performance, which breaks artistic boundaries, is both a visual feast and a soul-stirring 'documentary'.

Talking about the origin of Jiuzhaigou, a legend has been passed down locally. It is said that the celestial fairy Sema and her sisters, envying the love and beauty of the mortal world, secretly came to earth and met the brave Tibetan youth Dage and others, and then the young men and women fell in love. The Heavenly Court was furious, sending a thunderbolt that turned Sema and Dage into two snow-capped mountains, the fairies transformed into lakes, and the Tibetan youths became nine villages. From then on, snow mountains, lakes, and Tibetan villages have been intertwined, never to be separated. This is 'Legend of Jiuzhaigou'. This chapter, using a blend of reality and illusion, presents this poignant mythical love story, giving a 3D visual effect of 'people swimming in a painting, the painting moving with people', full of fun.

As time flows, amidst the hail of bullets, the brave and tenacious national spirit of the Qiang people took shape. On one side are thrilling combat scenes, on the other are touching love stories, and the two merge to narrate that turbulent era. This is 'War Song of the Ancient Qiang', as exciting as an action movie.

In the resplendent hall, bells ring, songs and dances flourish, and people are amazed by the prosperous scene of the Tang Dynasty. Princess Wencheng went far to Tibet for a marriage alliance, promoting economic prosperity and ethnic harmony between the two regions, becoming a celebrated story recorded in history. This is the delightful 'Marriage of Han and Tibetan'.

If we were to pick the most brilliant chapter among the five of 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou', I think it must be the heartfelt 'Boundless Love'. When time turns back to that afternoon in 2008, a massive earthquake struck the land of Shu, splitting mountains and cracking the earth, collapsing high-rise buildings, breaking up countless families. This performance uses three true stories as the main thread, telling of familial love, romantic love, and great love among people under heartless natural disasters. The brave People's Liberation Army soldiers, selflessly standing firm on the rescue front line, jumped from helicopters and formed a human chain bridge to rescue victims. The emotionally charged performance brings tears to the eyes. For a Sichuanese person, it is even more empathetic and unforgettable.

When these moving stories gather here, the epic songs spread across the land, the beautiful landscapes reappear, and the Tibetan-Qiang region ushers in 'Heaven and Earth Auspiciousness'. A giant Tibetan white stupa descends from the sky, accompanied by colorful prayer flags floating from behind the audience, and the entire performance draws to a close. Under this auspicious stupa and prayer flags, the entire audience rises spontaneously, putting their hands together to make wishes, hoping for happiness and well-being.

'Songcheng Eternal Love' has the reputation of being one of the world's three famous shows, and now there are Eternal Love performances in 11 cities across China. Each city's Eternal Love Scenic Area includes a wealth of outdoor performances. At the Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area, there are unique Sichuan-style performances such as 'Sichuan Opera White Show' and 'Kung Fu Panda', recreating the spectacular scenes of Sichuan opera face-changing and fire-spitting, and showing the lively side of the national treasure giant panda.

Deep into the Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area, one immersive interactive performance after another follows. Here there is the hilarious 'Hi! Yak', telling the story of a yak's courtship. There are also 'Tibetan Ground Drum Dance', 'Snowy Tibetan Song', 'Ethnic Flash Mob', 'Fashion Style Show', 'Guozhuang Carnival', and 'Tusi Mansion Arena Marriage Challenge', showcasing Tibetan-Qiang ethnic costumes, music, dance, and wedding forms.

At the entrance of the scenic area, there are roly-poly dolls offering khata to welcome guests, Qiang soldiers standing guard to show the majesty of the Tibetan-Qiang king's city, and an ancient-style Western Sichuan street, as well as uniquely Tibetan prayer wheels, white stupas, and prayer flag prayer sites. From realistic scenes to cultural performances, it fully displays the brilliant folk culture of the Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups.

The Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area is not only a kingdom of performances but also an adventure park. Whether day or night, visitors can immerse themselves in a sea of joy. Challenge the prayer flag rope bridge spanning between two Tibetan watchtowers, release stress at the Thangka Square happiness cry, watch the fountain gush... Take photos with Panda Superman, visit the Thousand Buddha Cave wonder, pass through the time-space door, and get a glimpse of the unique customs of Tibetan villages.

To experience Tibetan-Qiang folk culture in the shortest time, one visit to 'Eternal Love of Jiuzhaigou' is enough!

Opening hours: 15:00 – 22:00

Tickets: Audience seats 280 RMB/person, VIP seats 290 RMB/person, luxury sofa seats 380 RMB/person, discounted tickets 240 RMB/person.

Address: Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area, Zhangzha Town, Jiuzhaigou County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

1. From Chengdu:

From Chengdu, you can take a bus from Chengdu Xinnanmen Bus Station, about 8 hours to reach the entrance of Jiuzhaigou, then take a taxi for about 10 minutes to reach the scenic area.

From Chengdu Airport, fly to Jiuzhaigou Airport (about 1 hour), then take a taxi to Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area (about 1.5 hours), total about 2.5 hours.

Self-driving route from Chengdu: Chengdu – Dujiangyan – Wenchuan – Mao County – Songpan – Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area (about 6-7 hours)

2. From Chongqing:

Take a bus from Chongqing to Jiuzhaigou at Longtousi Bus Station, about 9-10 hours, departure time 8:40 (one bus per day), ticket price: 219 RMB.

From Chongqing Airport, fly to Jiuzhaigou Airport, then take a taxi to Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area.

Self-driving route from Chongqing: Chongqing – Nanchong – Guangyuan – Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love (about 12 hours)

3. From Guangyuan:

Take a bus from Guangyuan Long-distance Bus Station, about 7 hours to reach Jiuzhaigou, then transfer to local transport to Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area.

4. From Longnan:

At Longnan Wudu Bus Station, take a bus for about 5.5 hours to reach Jiuzhaigou County, then transfer to local transport to Jiuzhaigou Eternal Love Scenic Area.