The major scenic sites are concentrated in the seven-kilometer-long and 300-meter-wide Huanglong Valley. At the foot of Mt. Xubaoding, the main peak of the Minshan Mountains, the valley is named after the Huanglong Temple. Due to the fascinating patterns formed by natural layered calcium carbonate deposits, the valley resembles a golden dragon winding its way through the stone mountains, thus giving rise to its other name of the "Hidden Dragon Mountain." As the legend goes, a yellow dragon came to help Yu the Great (a legendary character in Chinese mythology famous for controlling floods) to control floods in ancient times. The dragon helped him by carrying boats up stream through Maozhou (today's Maowen County), and the Minjiang River was thus created. Therefore, later generations built a temple here in commemoration of these legendary characters. Well known for its colorful lakes, snow clad mountains, valleys and virgin forest, the area also has the only well preserved plateau wetland in China. This is home to many endangered animal species-some on the brink of extinction-such as the giant panda and Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey.

The area's unique and charming natural scenery is known throughout the world, and the Huanglong Scenic Area, and the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area are the two shining pearls of China's Northwestern Sichuan Plateau.

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