With Jiuzhaigou’s Waters as Backdrop and Folk Rock for the Soul: Aba Prefecture Explores New Ways of Integrating Culture and Tourism

September is the most beautiful time on this planet, whether it’s the crisp autumn air in the Northern Hemisphere or the blooming spring in the Southern Hemisphere. On the highland pure land of Sichuan, there is a place favored by giant pandas, with breathtaking scenery that overwhelms the eyes: snow-capped mountains, lakes, forests, and rivers, shimmering like pearls under the autumn sun. This is the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.

When you come to Aba, you can’t miss Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. The saying ‘After visiting Jiuzhaigou, no other water scenery compares’ never gets old, always accurately expressing the regal beauty of Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. Jiuzhaigou’s scenery changes with each season, and every day of the year tells the most vivid and rich stories of nature: blooming spring, nourishing summer rains, autumn forests dyed in color, winter draped in white.

Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong are world-renowned paradises on earth, pure fairy tale worlds. So many titles have been generously bestowed upon Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong: UNESCO World Natural Heritage, National Geopark, National 5A Tourist Attraction, and more. Among the beautiful seasons of Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, if I had to compare, I might prefer autumn. No one can deny that this is Jiuzhaigou’s most distinctive and charming season.

Each year from September to October, around the Mid-Autumn Festival and the October holiday period, Jiuzhaigou’s beauty is like a fairyland, touching every sense. Pools of clear blue water reflect the colorful leaves on the surface, even more vivid under the bright autumn sky. A gentle breeze stirs ripples. I stood by the lake, wrapped in the unique warmth of autumn, even holding my breath, afraid to disturb that rare harmony.

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival fell on September 19–21. I came to Jiuzhaigou again, coinciding with the ‘Panda Home · Pure Land Aba · Jiuzhaigou World Travelers Conference.’ It was clearly a collision of beauty and music, a travel festival that struck the soul.

A Feast of Art and Culture

Everyone loves travel, everyone loves music. Walking through the landscapes of Jiuzhaigou with music as company is truly fortunate. The overall effect of this Aba ‘Panda Home · Pure Land Aba · Jiuzhaigou World Travelers Conference’ was unexpectedly perfect. The conference integrated a music festival, food festival, and art exhibition, not only captivating young people but also deeply engaging audiences of all ages.

This ‘Jiuzhaigou World Travelers Conference’ was a new IP sponsored by the Aba Prefecture Government, undertaken by the Great Jiuzhai Tourism Group, and produced by Summer Voice. Through cross-border communication, it achieved a new exploration of integrated cultural tourism development, offering travelers a fresh and perfect experience.

The music festival had two stages: the Jiuzhai (Ethnic) Stage and the MTA presents (Rock) Mountain God Stage. Ethnic and rock are not contradictory; ethnic is also global. Laolang, Muma, Jiulian Zhenren, Tong Yao, and many other music luminaries took the stage, bringing various genres of music—celestial sounds, gentle folk songs, soul-stirring rock—music and scenery combined to move hearts, absolutely igniting September.

The Travelers Conference site itself was an immersive art exhibition, incorporating human geography. Artists integrated Tibetan and Qiang ethnic culture into their works, creating sculptures representative of Aba culture specifically for this music festival, essentially bringing the trendiest art forms into nature.

The main stage, symbolizing Jiuzhaigou—the Jiuzhai Stage—featured excellent ethnic music creators who inherit traditional music, such as Nima Band and the Three Snow Lotus Sisters. Mosiman’s ‘Turning Mountains, Turning Waters, Turning Stupas’ was moving, sung for the sincerest faith in the heart—impossible not to be touched; Gang Rui La Jin’s ‘Hometown’ was full of passion, dedicated to the ever-warm land of home, forever hot-blooded; the Three Snow Lotus Sisters performed ‘Tashi Delek,’ full of sincerity, welcoming every traveler from afar.

The Mountain God Stage, radiating youthful, free, and unruly energy, was a perfect microcosm of MTA and the ideal stage to showcase the power of a new era. The hometown performer Chen Hexu SHH! was completely at ease on stage. Now, let’s listen to the time of Chen Hexu SHH!; GHK’s singing gave me a feeling like a fine drizzle gradually evaporating, the sun peeking from the mountainside—the stage needed a spark, and the slightly stifling steam in the air successfully drove the atmosphere, rocking Jiuzhaigou’s night sky; ‘Landlord’s Cat’ (Fangdong de Mao) performed ‘Cloud Smoke Becomes Rain,’ like veiled, gray peaks at night, both beautiful and romantic; the ‘fusion electronic’ band ‘Invisible Base’ (Yin Jidi) from Chengdu added novel sensations—‘Silent Disco’s’ unique charm, ‘Can you feel me?’ The crowd responded in unison.

‘The Last Rock Singer in the World’ was performed by Cui Longyang, his voice clear yet with a lazy, free, easy, and romantic flavor, uniquely his own. The scene was incredibly passionate—one word, ‘lit.’ Ashura’s (Axiuluo) songs seemed to match the atmosphere best. Amidst the enthusiastic beats of the mountain fans, the rock scene reached its peak, hitting everyone’s heart. No one could help but linger on such a night, longing to meet again next year.

Ethnic is Also Global

Aba, a land dominated by Tibetan and Qiang ethnic minorities, has special geography and climate that make its people skilled in song and dance. Many singers on music programs come from here. Aba is also a ‘maker’ of intangible cultural heritage, with 90 items of intangible cultural heritage across the prefecture, including 4 national-level, 4 provincial-level, 31 prefecture-level, and 51 county-level items.

In fact, many folk activities in Aba are interconnected. For example, on the first day of the Tibetan New Year, the Baima Tibetans invite married daughters back; on the second day, they invite friends; on the third day, they perform the Zhou dance. From the 15th to the 16th of the first month, they send off the gods, during which they engage in antiphonal singing and jump over fire circles.

The Zhou dance is a traditional dance of Jiuzhaigou County, also known as the Twelve Animal Mask Dance. ‘Zhou’ represents auspiciousness. The Zhou dance is a fusion of Di-Qiang and Tibetan culture, involving certain sacrificial rituals. Dancers wear animal masks carved from wood; the styles have reduced from over 100 kinds in early times to only about 10 now. E Silao is a collective dance of the Baima Tibetans, also known as the Fire Circle Dance. Many places or scenic spots perform this dance when entertaining tourists as a sign of respect. The true tradition of E Silao is held from the first to the fifteenth night of the first lunar month. Before dancing, young people in the village gather bundles of firewood from each household, put them in the center of the drying ground, light a bonfire, and dance around it.

From the 15th to the 18th of the first month, as a festival honoring pandas, the whole village selects the youngest and most capable young men, wears ‘panda masks’ to impersonate ‘Dengga’ (panda), and performs the panda dance, also called Dengga Ganzhou. This panda dance, passed down through generations, is very atmospheric. If you have the chance to visit Aba during the Tibetan New Year, don’t miss it. The 17th day of the first month is the Baima Tibetans’ annual Ink-Smearing Festival, a carnival where people gather, chasing each other and smearing soot from pots to celebrate.

With beautiful scenery, art, conversations, and singing, there must also be eating and drinking, for food is the first necessity of the people. Arriving in Jiuzhaigou, you’ll find cuisine that combines the spicy flavors of Sichuan cuisine and the unique tastes of the Tibetan area, sure to satisfy even the most discerning palate.

Jiuzhaigou’s unique Tibetan hotpot uses local highland fresh yak meat, yak meatballs, and processed dried yak meat, along with various local seasonal vegetables. So, sitting around a table with a few friends, with wind and mist, eating hotpot and singing songs while enjoying the scenery—full of the vibrant life of Aba.

Speaking of yak meat, let’s first talk about yaks. Yaks grow in the high-altitude cold environment of the earth’s summit, without any pollution. They live a semi-wild herding, semi-primitive natural life, moving with water and grass. They have no labor throughout their lives and are known as one of the world’s three high-altitude animals, along with polar bears and Antarctic penguins. Yaks consume a large amount of precious Chinese medicinal herbs such as cordyceps and fritillaria during their lifetime, so their meat is tender and delicious.

Coming to Aba, you’ll certainly want some novel foods. Blood sausage is made from casings, blood juice, spices, and yak meat (or pork). It is nutritious, doesn’t break up or peel when eaten, and is fragrant, soft, tender, not greasy, and not dry. Potato cake (yangyu ciba) uses potatoes (yangyu) as the main ingredient, with a delicious taste. Milk dreg buns use milk dregs as filling. The most precious and essential product extracted from fresh yak milk is butter; next is milk dregs. Fresh milk dregs are sour and white, made into filling, hence the name milk dreg buns.

As for butter tea, this daily essential drink in Tibetan life is necessary on the Tibetan Plateau—for warming the body, cutting grease, relieving hunger, dispelling fatigue, and refreshing the mind. Travelers from outside may not be used to it at the first sip, but after letting it linger and drinking a few more sips, they’ll find the tea rich and fragrant, with a special mellow taste.

Beyond Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong

Nenensangcuo is a bit understated and lesser-known. In Tibetan, Nenensangcuo means ‘Fairy Pool,’ a place where fairies bathe. It features unique alpine karst landforms, well-developed calcified landscapes, large tracts of primary forest, and numerous emerald-green alpine lakes. Nenensangcuo is at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, much lower than Huanglong, plus the dense forest provides high oxygen content that helps the body quickly adapt to the altitude. Walking in the forest feels like entering a fairy-tale world.

I think the Jasper Pool, Fairy Pool, and Lotus Terrace Pool are the most stunning. The Lotus Terrace Pools are connected, layered, like a blooming lotus, exceptionally magnificent; around the Fairy Pool are tall ancient trees; when windless, the water surface is still without any wrinkles, like a mirror; the calcification of the Jasper Pool is the best, with well-proportioned layers, breathtaking, rivaling Huanglong.

Love Sea (Aiqinghai) is located in Zhangzha Town, Jiuzhaigou County, 20 kilometers from the Jiuzhaigou entrance. The scenery is beautiful, with snow-capped mountains, meadows, and forests. Horse riding, rafting, and hot-air ballooning here are thoroughly enjoyable. Ganhaizi within Love Sea has thousands of acres of alpine wetlands, maintaining ecological balance and biodiversity, it is the kidney of Jiuzhaigou and the kidney of the earth. Snow-capped mountains reflect in the wetlands, extraordinarily beautiful. It makes one exclaim: Heaven is far away, but Love Sea is near.

Jiawuchi is located in Wujiao Baima Tibetan Township, Jiuzhaigou County. Surrounded by forests, with deep water and tranquility, it is rich in rare birds and animals, maintaining a very original natural wildness, and is one of the areas where giant pandas are concentrated. Jiawuchi is a large highland lake with beautiful water and primitive ecology. The mountains around the lake are towering. In autumn and winter, red leaves cover the mountains, enchanting.

The shaded paths of Jiawuchi, amid the lush green of the mountains, are lined with ancient trees and vines, truly dazzling. The fresh air fills the surroundings, evoking a sense of returning to nature. In autumn, Jiawuchi’s lakeside forests are fully reflected in the lake, surrounded by red shirts. Every step brings a different view, each place beautiful like an oil painting.

Falling in love with travel may originate from beautiful scenery, or from delicious food, or from music that touches the soul, or from local culture. Regardless of the reason, in Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, and Aba, you can find the origin. The Panda Home · Pure Land Aba · Jiuzhaigou World Travelers Conference integrates music, forums, food, art, and more, meeting diverse travel needs.

The Panda Home · Pure Land Aba · Jiuzhaigou World Travelers Conference cross-border forum provides innovative ideas and practical exploration for promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism, making cultural and tourism integration a new label for Jiuzhaigou and even the entire Aba Prefecture.

This forum clearly points the direction for combining travel with humanities, arts, and modern entertainment, setting a clear example for promoting cultural and tourism integration. When you come back to Jiuzhaigou and Aba Prefecture next year, you will surely find that cultural and tourism innovation and integration have bloomed into the most beautiful flowers here.