Huanglong is a scenic and historic interest area in Songpan County in the northwest part of Sichuan, China. It is made up of snow-capped peaks and the easternmost of all the Chinese glaciers. In addition to its mountain landscape, diverse forest ecosystems can be found, as well as spectacular limestone formations, waterfalls and hot springs. The area also has a population of endangered animals, including the giant panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey.
Due to thousands of years of geological evolution, Huanglong consists of numerous unique landscapes of geological landforms. Glacial revolution, terrane structure, stratum of carbonic acid rock, tufa water and climatic conditions such as artic-alpine sun light has created this world-famous travertine landscape.These accumulated travertine landscapes and fascinating pools are Huanglong's main attraction. The total length of the travertine is 3.6km and it is thought to look like a huge golden dragon wheeling through the snow-capped mountains of the valley. The main landscapes are travertine banks, amazingly colorful ponds and travertine waterfalls and caves.
The main body of water starts from the Ancient Buddhist/Benbo temple at the top of the valley and ends at Xishen Cave Waterfall in the north with a length of 2.5km and a width of 30 – 170m. The colors of Huanglong’s waters consist of various yellows, greens, blues and browns. The flowing water appears as golden ripples dazzling in the sun. Known to the locals as "Golden Sand on Earth" the Huanglong travertine bank is the largest and most magnificent in the world.
