Jiuzhaigou — Five Flower Lake Autumn
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Five Flower Lake in China’s Jiuzhaigou Valley at peak autumn colour — the impossibly clear lake water revealing submerged ancient logs and living coral-like algae formations, the surrounding larches blazing in gold.
Description
Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan Province is a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of remarkable optical clarity the mineral-rich water of its lakes and waterfalls produces colours from turquoise through emerald to deep indigo. Five Flower Lake — Wucai Chi — is the most celebrated of the valley’s lakes: a shallow basin whose transparent water reveals the submerged trunks of fallen ancient firs and the branching formations of aquatic moss and algae that resemble coral in their density and colour. In autumn, the surrounding forest of larch, spruce, fir, and maple turns gold, amber, and crimson, reflecting their colours into the lake surface while the underwater features remain visible through the water column. This photograph captures the peak coincidence of underwater algae colour and surface leaf reflection — a window of perhaps one week per year.
