Located in Songpan County, northwest of Sichuan Province, in the southern part of Minshan Mountains southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Huanglong National Nature Reserve is 31.5 kilometers long from south to north, 28.4 kilometers wide from east to west and covers a total area of 55,000 hectares. Its main targets for protection are natural scenery and rare wildlife.   

Huanglong National Nature Reserve is of great conservation value for its large scale, biodiversity, beautiful scenery, intact ecosystem and so on. It was listed in the World's Natural Heritage in 1992 and formally included in the International Man and Biosphere Reserve Network at the end of 2000.     

In the Reserve, there are many splendors like snow mountains, primitive forests, canyons and colorful lakes. Its most important feature  is the outstanding karst formations. In a 7.5-kilometer-long valley in the shape of U set between high hills and snowy mountains, the travertine falls and limestone shoals run from an elevation of 3,578 meters down to 2,200 meters like a soaring yellow dragon called Huanglong in Chinese. In Huanglong, there are three temples: the front, middle and back, at an interval of 2,500 meters. All the three temples are called Huanglong Temples, hence the name of the Reserve.     

Biodiversity is very rich in the Reserve. Tall arbors and shrubs, vines, herbs and moss constitute a harmonious picture. In primitive forests, Chinese Larch, Spruce, Katsura tree and other rare and endangered plants that only China has are well preserved. In mountain grassy marshland, there are many precious Chinese medicinal herbs such as Chinese caterpillar fungus and Wujiapi (bark of slender acanthopanax). Therefore, the Reserve enjoys a reputation of kingdom of cold temperate plants. Dense and lush woods and grassland provide favorable conditions for various wild animals to live and breed. The Reserve boasts more than 30 species of national Grade-A and Grade-B protected animals including such notable species as giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca, golden snub-nosed monkey Pygathrix roxellanae roxellanae, brown bear Ursus arctos, Asiatic black bear Selenarctos thibetanus, leopard Panthera pardus, Pallas' cat Felis manul, Asiatic wild dog Cuon alpinus, lesser panda Ailurus fulgens and Sichuan takin Budorcas taxicolor thibetana.