In my mind, the Aba Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province will always be a Shangri-la.

I paid my first visit to Aba ten years ago, and its enchanting landscapes left me a great number of romantic memories. When I once again visited that place recently, I was astonished to see that in spite of the passage of ten years, no change had taken place here, and everything was as peaceful as before.

Departing from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, our car traveled westward toward Aba. As the torrential Minjiang River passed by on one side, our vehicle climbed to a higher elevation and then, even higher. Gradually, I suffered from altitude sickness, but the view before my eyes became different from that in the Han-inhabited places of the Sichuan Basin. 

I can't really explain why, but I cherish a special passion for Aba.

Whenever Aba is mentioned, romantic scenarios pop into my mind: a resounding drum over the vast grassland, the radiant smiles of the young lamas, the feather-like snowflakes that drift in October, and the color-dyed mountains of the fall.

It is my hope to travel around the prefecture on foot, so as to remember the beauty of each inch of the land, to remember a dense forest, a snow-capped mountain, or the site of a car slowly moving along the fringe of a deep valley, a turbulent river, a tranquil lake, an iron-chain bridge embellished with colorful prayer flags, or a water mill turning unceasingly.

I arrived at Aba in September, the same month as I had ten years ago.

We set off from Chengdu at noon and reached Jiuzhaigou (Nine Villages Ravine) at night, after more than ten hours of travel. Early the next day, we began our trip into the ravine. Our guide was a Tibetan girl, who made a detailed introduction of the scenic area in fluent, standard Chinese. The ravine is located in the central-southern part of Jiuzhai County in Aba, and consists of nine Tibetan-inhabited villages; hence its name. Embracing alpine lakes, waterfall complexes, and other beautiful natural scenes, all between 2,000 to 3,100 meters above sea level, the ravine enjoys a reputation as a "Paradise on Earth." All of the scenic spots are scattered in the Y-shaped ravine, and visitors can travel around it on foot within a single day.

Water is the soul of Jiuzhaigou. Known as "Haizi" to Tibetans, the lakes and ponds amaze visitors with their purity.

After departing from Jiuzhaigou in the afternoon, we advanced toward Songpan County. The road was well constructed, lined with well-off Tibetan villages and satellite signal towers standing on the summits of the hills. The newly completed Jiuhuang Airport had been put into service. That night, we stayed at Chuanzhusi Township in Songpan. Our next destination was the Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) Nature Reserve, another scenic attraction in Aba.

Huanglong is famous for its colored ponds with shallow shoals and its snowy mountains and deep valleys. A spectacular calcified belt meandering among a virgin forest looks like a golden dragon, giving the place its name. More than 3,000 colored ponds in eight complexes on a terraced landform are like the scales of a golden dragon, radiating mysterious luster. It was raining, unfortunately, so we missed the scene of the colored ponds in the sunshine. Nevertheless, we still marveled at the fantastic view of the calcified earth surface-a wonder of nature. At the summit of the mountain, we had a panoramic view of the connected ponds in yellow, green, blue, and other colors, despite the overcast weather.