🇨🇳 Huanglong Guide: Is It Worth Visiting in Winter? | China Solo Guide Day 15

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:07]The next morning, I made my way to Hangong using a car poolool arranged by my hotel. Hangong is located not too far from Joyo. Compared to Joyo, Hangong is much smaller and way easier to explore.

[00:00:20]First, I got my luggage store at the free luggage storage area near the visitor center, but you do have to collect your bags before around 5:30 in the evening. Since I was planning to leave for Chuntu later that day, this was something important to take note of.

[00:00:41]>> I highly recommend taking the cable car towards the five color pool and from there everything slowly descend back down towards the entrance. But before that, you first have to take the scenic shutter bus from the visitor center to the cable car station.

[00:00:57]Here's a quick map to explain what I mean. You start from the visitor center, take the shuttle to the cable car station, then ride the cable car up towards the upper section. From there, you can either walk towards the five color pool or take a small shutter buggy for 15 yen to save a bit of energy.

[00:01:15]After that, you simply follow the broad walk downhill, passing through the terrace and pools until eventually return to the entrance.

[00:01:29]If you decide not to take the small shutter buggy, you can also walk towards the five color pool instead. From here, it's about 3.2 km away. Honestly, I would have loved to walk it slowly and enjoy the scenery. But because I had a train back to turn later that day, I decided to take the bargi and save both time and energy.

[00:02:02]Once I got closer, I quickly realized that Hangong in winter has a very different feeling. A lot of the water here was frozen. So instead of seeing flowing turquoise pools everywhere, much of the landscape was covered in snow and ice.

[00:02:47]And because the sun was reflecting off the snow. Some parts were almost blindingly bright. At first, I was a little disappointed because Swanglong is famous for its colorful water, but after walking for a while, I started to appreciate it differently. The frozen pool gave the whole place an almost otherworldly atmosphere. It felt less like the classic postcard version of Hongong and more like a winter version of the same landscape that people rarely get to see on postcards. And in a way, it also reminded me to appreciate places for what they are instead of expecting them to look exactly the same in every season. Because sometimes visiting during a different season allow you to see a side of a place that many other people completely miss.

[00:03:43]Do I have >> a small section of the pools was not completely frozen, creating this really beautiful contrast between the snow covered terren and the exposed turquoise water underneath. Some parts were even half frozen with turquoise ice sitting between the snow and the open water.

[00:04:11]Seeing those bright colors surrounded by ice somehow made the landscape feels even more surreal. It was almost like getting a small preview of Hangong's famous colors hidden beneath winter.

[00:04:46]Do your job.

[00:05:12]That's what I did.

[00:05:27]Seeing those bright colors surrounded by ice somehow made the landscape feels even more surreal. It was almost like getting a small preview of Hangong's famous colors hidden beneath winter.

[00:05:39]Seeing those exposed turquoise pools beneath the snow made me wonder how this whole landscape was formed in the first place. Because as beautiful as Hangong looks today, this landscape was not created overnight. The colorful pools and terraces here were formed slowly over thousands of years through a natural process involving water, minerals, limestone, and time. It all begins high up in the mountains.

[00:06:05]Rainwater and melting snow sip into the ground and flow through layers of limestone and dolomite rock. As the water moves underground, it dissolve minerals like calcium carbonate, turning the streams into mineralrich water.

[00:06:20]Eventually, the mineralrich water reemerge on the mountain side as springs and flowing streams. Once exposed to the open air, carbon dioxide slowly escapes from the water. This causes calcium carbonate to be deposited layer by layer onto the ground. Over thousands of years, these mineral deposits gradually build up into the natural terraces, dams, and shallow pools that Huong is famous for today. The reason the pools appear so colorful is due to the combination of crystal clearar water, mineral deposits, sunlight, and reflection from the surrounding environment. Depending on the weather, season, and the angle of the light, the pools can appear turquoise, emerald green, golden yellow, or deep blue. And in our case, winter has transformed much of it into frozen landscape of white.

[00:07:15]And even though much of it was frozen in winter, you can still see hints of those colors beneath the snow and ice. Wong Long is not just a beautiful scenic area. It is a landscape that is still quietly being shaped. One mineral layer at a time.

[00:07:51]Amen.

[00:08:09]Amen.

[00:08:40]Oh god.

[00:09:10]Hey little Heat. Heat.

[00:10:00]Heat.

[00:10:12]Heat.

[00:10:21]Heat.

[00:10:34]Heat.

[00:10:58]As I continued descending through the valley, the terraces just kept appearing one after the other. It was nice being rewarded with more unfrozen sections as I made my way down as the elevation gradually decreased. less of the landscape was covered in ice, giving me more glimpse of Hangong's famous turquoise pools. Looking back, there was actually something special about seeing Hangong in winter. But if your main goal is to experience a full colorful postcard version, winter might not be the ideal season to visit. The best time to come is generally between May and October with many people considering September to October one of the most beautiful periods because of the clearer water and autumn colors. By the time I finally reached the lower section of the valley, the crowds had already started thinning out. The entire walk down took a few hours, but because most of it was downhill, it was actually much more manageable than expected.

[00:12:02]Wong ended up being a really good final nature stop before returning to the city. And once you understand how these terraces were formed over thousands of years, the landscape somehow became even more impressive. Thanks for watching.

[00:12:15]And now it's time for me to make my way back to turn two.