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The splendor of forests and lakes, the Zhujiaogou Valley.

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A remarkable landscape of lakes, large and small,

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stretches out in the Zhujiaogou Valley in Sichuan Province, in China.

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There are over a hundred lakes in the Minshan Range.

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The water flows through the many lakes and gushes out at the Nuzhulong Waterfall,

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the largest in Zhujiaogou.

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There is an extraordinary spectacle here. Water flows through the forest.

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The trees cling at the roots resisting the flow of water.

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This landscape was formed over 2,500 million years ago

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as the ocean bed rose to an elevation in excess of 4,000 meters.

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The advance and retreat of glaciers millions of years ago eroded the mountain.

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Rock and earth deposits were left behind.

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The valley would later be filled with groundwater.

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Formerly at the bottom of the ocean, the water is highly calcareous.

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Over time, a series of stepped lakes developed.

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The water is so transparent,

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it's possible to see the reflections of the ripples at the bottom of the lake.

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It's amazingly white in color because of the calcium.

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This dead tree is what is called the tufa, created by calcareous substance

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accumulating on its trunk and branches.

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It's as if there is a huge dragon lying across the bottom of the lake.

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It is, in fact, a milky white dam of calcium underwater.

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The calcium plays an important role in the forested cover between the lakes.

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It's not easy for seeds to take root in the fast-flowing waters.

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And this is where the tufa dams play a role.

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They contain numerous tiny holes which catch seeds, which eventually take root.

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Vegetation flourishes.

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The Jiujiagou Valley is an enchanted forest,

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a harmony of nature especially remarkable during the autumn months.