Sunday, August 30, 2009
The China Diaries Part 6- Videos
Watch from the passenger's POV as we cross the river. In a cab.
Watch as the cab goes through a muddy road.
A less frightful path on the cab.
Felily singing on the bus in JZG.
Watch the wonders of Jiuzhaigou. Nourilang Falls.
Pearl Shoals. This is what you call a 湖泊
A panda eating shoots. Very cute.
Panda. Very huge, but very cute.
Friday, August 28, 2009
The China Diaries Part 5- Kungfu Pandas
When in Sichuan, going panda-watching is a must. After all, it is the birthplace of all pandas (I think). When we landed in Chengdu from Shanghai, we went to sign up for the Panda Card. It is a card that anyone can sign up for at only RMB1. With that card, various attractions in Sichuan are either for free or 50% off.
With that card, we went to panda watch for free at the Giant Panda Research Base in Chengdu, just 8km away from the city. We took the first city tour bus, Y1 if I'm not wrong, right outside Chengdu Traffic Inn. You can check with the really horrible woman (a matter of fair comment) at the Traffic Inn at your own risk for that. Pictures below.
After finishing the Panda Base, we waited a mighty long time before the city bus came along. It took 1 hour, and we were so frustrated. In the end, we decided to hop on another bus, and get off at a stop nearer to the city, then get on another bus at that stop. We lunched after we dropped off at the first bus stop. Getting to the city was a breeze because route maps of buses were available at the bus stop.
We went to a supermarket to get supplies, as we were flying off to Lijiang that night. After collecting our lugguage from the hostel (OH! They charged for keeping lugguage- RMB20 per piece, I think. Horrible people, these Chengdu Traffic Inn people).
We left to take the airport bus nearby at 5pm. On reaching the site of the airport bus, however, taxi drivers were touting for fares. They charge the same as the airport bus price, so we took the taxi because the airport bus had just left. The taxi driver say they charge low because they want to get business at the airport. So, it makes going to the airport more convenient, but one flaw is they will wait till the whole cab is full before driving off, to make sure they earn the whole amount from everyone.
So it was goodbye Sichuan, hello Yunnan that night.
P.S, the Traffic Inn edited my review on the website www.hostelbookers.com. My whole review was gone, except for the first line "The staff at the hostel tried to be helpful." Great, now no one will know about that horrible woman. Anyway, pictures of pandas should soothe me.
Morning, on the bus!
All set to see the pandas!
Yay, panda!
This is huge.
Lazy. Looks like my dad. Hehe.
They call this a panda too. Red panda, but it looks so much like a racoon.
They know they're the national treasure.
How cute is this!? A few months old/ one year old baby panda playing with its bowl. Didn't its mummy teach it table manners? Hmm..
It's only 7 days old! How amazingly small.
Having fun while eating their shoots. These pandas turned away after a lot of people gathered. They were very shy.
We watched an educational video. Well, judging from the video, it was educational all right.
Introducing Ah Bish, the newest member to join us in travelling.
Cathy seems to think she's the mother of Ah Bish...
... but she's a terrible mother because she's abusing her kid by using it as a sandbag.
We picked up another panda along the way. The Felicia-panda.
Cathy, the mother who SMOTHERS Ah Bish with love and... a plastic bag.
Ah Bish's long lost brother, Chee Chee the panda with too-big head and too-small ears.
Ah Bish and Minnie Mouse who mistakenly thinks she's a panda.
End of Part 5
With that card, we went to panda watch for free at the Giant Panda Research Base in Chengdu, just 8km away from the city. We took the first city tour bus, Y1 if I'm not wrong, right outside Chengdu Traffic Inn. You can check with the really horrible woman (a matter of fair comment) at the Traffic Inn at your own risk for that. Pictures below.
After finishing the Panda Base, we waited a mighty long time before the city bus came along. It took 1 hour, and we were so frustrated. In the end, we decided to hop on another bus, and get off at a stop nearer to the city, then get on another bus at that stop. We lunched after we dropped off at the first bus stop. Getting to the city was a breeze because route maps of buses were available at the bus stop.
We went to a supermarket to get supplies, as we were flying off to Lijiang that night. After collecting our lugguage from the hostel (OH! They charged for keeping lugguage- RMB20 per piece, I think. Horrible people, these Chengdu Traffic Inn people).
We left to take the airport bus nearby at 5pm. On reaching the site of the airport bus, however, taxi drivers were touting for fares. They charge the same as the airport bus price, so we took the taxi because the airport bus had just left. The taxi driver say they charge low because they want to get business at the airport. So, it makes going to the airport more convenient, but one flaw is they will wait till the whole cab is full before driving off, to make sure they earn the whole amount from everyone.
So it was goodbye Sichuan, hello Yunnan that night.
P.S, the Traffic Inn edited my review on the website www.hostelbookers.com. My whole review was gone, except for the first line "The staff at the hostel tried to be helpful." Great, now no one will know about that horrible woman. Anyway, pictures of pandas should soothe me.
Morning, on the bus!
All set to see the pandas!
Yay, panda!
This is huge.
Lazy. Looks like my dad. Hehe.
They call this a panda too. Red panda, but it looks so much like a racoon.
They know they're the national treasure.
How cute is this!? A few months old/ one year old baby panda playing with its bowl. Didn't its mummy teach it table manners? Hmm..
It's only 7 days old! How amazingly small.
Having fun while eating their shoots. These pandas turned away after a lot of people gathered. They were very shy.
We watched an educational video. Well, judging from the video, it was educational all right.
Introducing Ah Bish, the newest member to join us in travelling.
Cathy seems to think she's the mother of Ah Bish...
... but she's a terrible mother because she's abusing her kid by using it as a sandbag.
We picked up another panda along the way. The Felicia-panda.
Cathy, the mother who SMOTHERS Ah Bish with love and... a plastic bag.
Ah Bish's long lost brother, Chee Chee the panda with too-big head and too-small ears.
Ah Bish and Minnie Mouse who mistakenly thinks she's a panda.
End of Part 5
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The China Diaries Part 4.2- Journey Down (In pictures)
Lesson learnt: Be grateful you're alive. And be grateful Singapore has no natural disasters.
End of Part 4.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The China Diaries Part 3- 黄山归来不看山，九寨归来不看水
The first part of the above Chinese saying talks about the magnificence of Huangshan, and how after one has seen the peaks of Huangshan, would not bother to look at other mountains. Likewise, the second part of the saying talks about Jiuzhaigou, a series of valleys in Sichuan, and the beauty of its waters that is second to none.
On the 25th of July, a Saturday, we made our way from our youth hostel to the entrance of Jiuzhaigou National Park, just a 15 minutes walk away. The entire Jiuzhaigou was Y-shaped, and each of its forks stretched 14-18 km. Before we reached the place, I had done some research, and we have to take the internal bus in order to cover every part of the park. Therefore we bought student tickets plus bus service tickets, which came up to RMB260 (S$54) in total. Park tickets were relatively expensive, but because it was a huge place, it was quite worth it.
Jiuzhaigou is a large valley, made up of smaller pools, waterfalls and lakes, and the farther in one get, the higher the altitude goes. A visitor gets from 2000m above sea level (already way higher than Bukit Timah Hill) from the entrance to about 3103m above sea level at its highest points. The waters in the park have a bluish tint, but one can see right to the bottom, where all the fallen logs, leaves, and undersea plants are. It is surrounded by mountains. These mountains’ reflections can be seen crystal clear in the waters. The first part of the Y-shape is Shuzheng Valley. On the left fork is the Zechawa Valley, where the most beautiful lake, Wucai Chi is. On the right fork is the Rize Valley, where highlights include the Primeval Forest, and also Arrow Bamboo Lake, filming location of Hero.
We rode the bus from the entrance into the visitor’s centre, which was in the middle of the Y-shape, just before it diverts into two different sections. As we stare out of the window and passes the Shuzheng stretch, I saw for my very own eyes the waters of Reed Lake. For the first time, I could see through into the bottom of the water. I could see the rocks that were in it, leaves, everything. And if I stop looking at the bottom, and start looking at the lake as a whole, I saw the mountains and clouds inside the water. A certain symmetry was forming in the nature before me. It was magnificent.
Now, Jiuzhaigou was a 5A national park, and it had every right to be. Every part of the park was well maintained and orderly. It was very easy getting around to each spot of the park, and except for the ammonia-laden toilets, it was a very good park to navigate around.
We got off at Rize Valley’s Mirror Lake and started walking upwards. There was a whole cluster of lakes there, therefore it was good to get down and walk on foot to see the whole cluster. Usually people alight at the top and walked down, but Samuel had told us that Mirror Lake was especially beautiful in the morning, so we alighted. And it was. It was beautiful. It was a huge lake, and like its name, it reflects the mountains directly opposite quite perfectly. The morning mist had started to clear a bit, but we managed to catch some fog hanging on above the water’s surface. Then we walked on the road up to Pearl Shoal Falls.
Sounds of gushing water can be heard even before we reached Pearl Shoal Falls. Then, as we neared it, I saw layers and layers of water. Try imagining random stairs stacked on each other, with a powerful hose at the very top. Clear water rush down each layer, never stopping at all, down to Mirror Lake. There was a bridge across the falls, so we walked on it. I felt like the water, gushing down together, among the mountains, between all the flora and fauna. There was nothing to think about. The sounds of these waters calms everyone right down. Pearl Shoal Falls was the best for me throughout the entire park. It was just so beautiful.
Next we went to Golden Bell Lake, Peacock River, Five-Flower Lake, then Panda Falls. Panda Falls was the highest waterfall in Jiuzhaigou. It was a very grand sight to behold. After climbing up a series of steps, we reached Panda Lake. It was a very large lake as well, also clear, and bluish in tint. It was so named because in the past, pandas have been sighted near the lake. However, due to the increase in tourists, the pandas no longer appear.
Arrow Bamboo Lake was after that. So named because the area had an abundant supply of bamboo plants in the past, it was the filming location of Hero, specifically the part where Tony Leung battles Jet Li while Maggie Cheung’s body lies in a floating pavilion in the middle of the lake.
We detoured to the other fork of the Y-shape when we were told, after much walking, that there was no bus up to the Primeval Forest yet. We took the bus to Long Lake. Long Lake was at the highest point of the entire park at 3103m, and is also the largest lake. Being bigger in size, the lake was a darker blue, and stretched across the horizon. By that time, it was already 1pm, so we had our lunch- peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the 5 of them and jam sandwiches for me. (Yes, we brought peanut butter and jam, and the spreading knife along our travels. Kudos to Joyce and Felicia for thinking of that!) The girls also dressed up in traditional Naxi costumes and posed in front of the lake, after furiously bargaining with the costume lady to charge us RMB10 each.
We went down to Multi-colour Lake (五彩池), the smallest but most beautiful lake in Jiuzhaigou. Legend has it that a goddess would wash her face in that lake, and as her rouge falls off her face, it seeps into the water and makes the lake five-coloured. Because we went there in summer, the lake was mostly bluish and greenish, and not in five colours as the name suggested. However, we heard that if one comes in spring or autumn, they will be able to see the pond in a spectrum of colours. In winter, though, the whole park will give a different feeling because the whole place freezes, even waterfalls.
Soon after, we caught the bus again and went up to the Primeval Forest. Maybe it was because it was the weekend, but the buses were very frequent. We only had to wait for about 1 minute before the buses started rolling in. After 20 minutes in the bus, we were at the Primeval Forest at 3000m. It was a short trek through, with sights of old, huge trees that grew five or six stories high, but I panted. I could feel the difference in altitude affecting my body when I said out “There’s no brain in my oxygen”. Keon said he saw stars in his eyes, so we rested for a while.
We were done with the entire park by 6pm, including a visit to the village (where I bought and ate half of one expired ice cream). On the way down to the entrance, we met a fellow passenger in yesterday’s bus. He told us that a bridge along the highway was washed away last night. What? Washed away? But we had to get back to Chengdu the next day! The youth hostel confirmed the news when we went back, and it led to some moments of panic. Do we cancel our 27th July flight from Chengdu to Lijiang in case we can’t go back down in time? Do we take a flight from the airport in Jiuzhaigou down to Chengdu? But it’s really expensive! Oh no, our budget’s ruined and we’re stuck. We’re stuck.
Thankfully, a very calm Chee Harn spoke to Penny, from the youth hostel, and he managed to ask for a vehicle with an alternate route down. The new plan was to book two cabs (because we had 6 people and each cab can only take 4 at most) which will take an alternate route, set off at 7am and somehow, reach Chengdu after 12 hours. It will cost RMB 1600 (S$337) per cab, but at least it will be cheaper than taking the plane, which cost RMB 1080 per person.
That night, we had a RMB 60 (S$12) dinner at a restaurant near our hostel. It was a different atmosphere. Joyce and Felicia weren’t scared of the journey the next day, and I was looking forward to it because it was a real unplanned adventure. Cathy, meanwhile, remarked that the rice in the restaurant was the best rice she ever tasted. (But frankly, the rice tasted awful.)
What a difference from the morning’s feelings, where everyone set off with lightheartedness and joy. We were plunged into uncertainty so suddenly. I had no idea if we were going to make to Chengdu in the end. But I was in it, and I wasn’t scared, because I had them with me. And Penny from Migu Youth Hostel, she helped us a whole lot with this. We solved the problem within 1 hour with her help.
Cathy and I packed our stuff and went to bed. I was woken up by a call from another guest at the inn, who offered to send us to Chengdu as well. However, he spoke in a very stunted manner and didn’t answer properly when we asked which route he will take. He did show us his Land Rover, all covered in mud. Still, I was suspicious of his driving skills from the way he kept rubbing his head while talking. After a while, we decided to go with the initial plan. In no time, I was fast asleep, from the physical activities of the day and the emotional surprise of the evening. There was no doubt, that the next day will be a very long journey indeed.
Map of Jiuzhaigou. Notice the Y-shape.
In the morning, I tried to map out our route for the day.
Multi-Coloured Lake. It's not Photoshop, the water is that clear.
Pearl Shoals Falls
Panda Falls.
Five Flower Lake. Look and you can see the bottom of the water, and at the same time, the reflections of the mountains.
Still Five Flower Lake.
See the logs in the water up close!
Long Lake and these traditional costumes.
I cannot see anything.
Arrow Bamboo Lake, where one scene of Hero was filmed.
Lunch! Cathy and Felicia hard at work, while Chee Harn is...pondering?
At Mirror Lake, we take pictures with mirrors.
走马看花。
Nuorilang Falls, the widest falls in the whole of China.
At Primeval Forest, everyone had no brains in their oxygen, therefore explaining the retarded faces.
A note we left at the hostel when we came back, to ask if any other trapped persons would like to share our cabs so we can save costs.
End of Part 3.
On the 25th of July, a Saturday, we made our way from our youth hostel to the entrance of Jiuzhaigou National Park, just a 15 minutes walk away. The entire Jiuzhaigou was Y-shaped, and each of its forks stretched 14-18 km. Before we reached the place, I had done some research, and we have to take the internal bus in order to cover every part of the park. Therefore we bought student tickets plus bus service tickets, which came up to RMB260 (S$54) in total. Park tickets were relatively expensive, but because it was a huge place, it was quite worth it.
Jiuzhaigou is a large valley, made up of smaller pools, waterfalls and lakes, and the farther in one get, the higher the altitude goes. A visitor gets from 2000m above sea level (already way higher than Bukit Timah Hill) from the entrance to about 3103m above sea level at its highest points. The waters in the park have a bluish tint, but one can see right to the bottom, where all the fallen logs, leaves, and undersea plants are. It is surrounded by mountains. These mountains’ reflections can be seen crystal clear in the waters. The first part of the Y-shape is Shuzheng Valley. On the left fork is the Zechawa Valley, where the most beautiful lake, Wucai Chi is. On the right fork is the Rize Valley, where highlights include the Primeval Forest, and also Arrow Bamboo Lake, filming location of Hero.
We rode the bus from the entrance into the visitor’s centre, which was in the middle of the Y-shape, just before it diverts into two different sections. As we stare out of the window and passes the Shuzheng stretch, I saw for my very own eyes the waters of Reed Lake. For the first time, I could see through into the bottom of the water. I could see the rocks that were in it, leaves, everything. And if I stop looking at the bottom, and start looking at the lake as a whole, I saw the mountains and clouds inside the water. A certain symmetry was forming in the nature before me. It was magnificent.
Now, Jiuzhaigou was a 5A national park, and it had every right to be. Every part of the park was well maintained and orderly. It was very easy getting around to each spot of the park, and except for the ammonia-laden toilets, it was a very good park to navigate around.
We got off at Rize Valley’s Mirror Lake and started walking upwards. There was a whole cluster of lakes there, therefore it was good to get down and walk on foot to see the whole cluster. Usually people alight at the top and walked down, but Samuel had told us that Mirror Lake was especially beautiful in the morning, so we alighted. And it was. It was beautiful. It was a huge lake, and like its name, it reflects the mountains directly opposite quite perfectly. The morning mist had started to clear a bit, but we managed to catch some fog hanging on above the water’s surface. Then we walked on the road up to Pearl Shoal Falls.
Sounds of gushing water can be heard even before we reached Pearl Shoal Falls. Then, as we neared it, I saw layers and layers of water. Try imagining random stairs stacked on each other, with a powerful hose at the very top. Clear water rush down each layer, never stopping at all, down to Mirror Lake. There was a bridge across the falls, so we walked on it. I felt like the water, gushing down together, among the mountains, between all the flora and fauna. There was nothing to think about. The sounds of these waters calms everyone right down. Pearl Shoal Falls was the best for me throughout the entire park. It was just so beautiful.
Next we went to Golden Bell Lake, Peacock River, Five-Flower Lake, then Panda Falls. Panda Falls was the highest waterfall in Jiuzhaigou. It was a very grand sight to behold. After climbing up a series of steps, we reached Panda Lake. It was a very large lake as well, also clear, and bluish in tint. It was so named because in the past, pandas have been sighted near the lake. However, due to the increase in tourists, the pandas no longer appear.
Arrow Bamboo Lake was after that. So named because the area had an abundant supply of bamboo plants in the past, it was the filming location of Hero, specifically the part where Tony Leung battles Jet Li while Maggie Cheung’s body lies in a floating pavilion in the middle of the lake.
We detoured to the other fork of the Y-shape when we were told, after much walking, that there was no bus up to the Primeval Forest yet. We took the bus to Long Lake. Long Lake was at the highest point of the entire park at 3103m, and is also the largest lake. Being bigger in size, the lake was a darker blue, and stretched across the horizon. By that time, it was already 1pm, so we had our lunch- peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the 5 of them and jam sandwiches for me. (Yes, we brought peanut butter and jam, and the spreading knife along our travels. Kudos to Joyce and Felicia for thinking of that!) The girls also dressed up in traditional Naxi costumes and posed in front of the lake, after furiously bargaining with the costume lady to charge us RMB10 each.
We went down to Multi-colour Lake (五彩池), the smallest but most beautiful lake in Jiuzhaigou. Legend has it that a goddess would wash her face in that lake, and as her rouge falls off her face, it seeps into the water and makes the lake five-coloured. Because we went there in summer, the lake was mostly bluish and greenish, and not in five colours as the name suggested. However, we heard that if one comes in spring or autumn, they will be able to see the pond in a spectrum of colours. In winter, though, the whole park will give a different feeling because the whole place freezes, even waterfalls.
Soon after, we caught the bus again and went up to the Primeval Forest. Maybe it was because it was the weekend, but the buses were very frequent. We only had to wait for about 1 minute before the buses started rolling in. After 20 minutes in the bus, we were at the Primeval Forest at 3000m. It was a short trek through, with sights of old, huge trees that grew five or six stories high, but I panted. I could feel the difference in altitude affecting my body when I said out “There’s no brain in my oxygen”. Keon said he saw stars in his eyes, so we rested for a while.
We were done with the entire park by 6pm, including a visit to the village (where I bought and ate half of one expired ice cream). On the way down to the entrance, we met a fellow passenger in yesterday’s bus. He told us that a bridge along the highway was washed away last night. What? Washed away? But we had to get back to Chengdu the next day! The youth hostel confirmed the news when we went back, and it led to some moments of panic. Do we cancel our 27th July flight from Chengdu to Lijiang in case we can’t go back down in time? Do we take a flight from the airport in Jiuzhaigou down to Chengdu? But it’s really expensive! Oh no, our budget’s ruined and we’re stuck. We’re stuck.
Thankfully, a very calm Chee Harn spoke to Penny, from the youth hostel, and he managed to ask for a vehicle with an alternate route down. The new plan was to book two cabs (because we had 6 people and each cab can only take 4 at most) which will take an alternate route, set off at 7am and somehow, reach Chengdu after 12 hours. It will cost RMB 1600 (S$337) per cab, but at least it will be cheaper than taking the plane, which cost RMB 1080 per person.
That night, we had a RMB 60 (S$12) dinner at a restaurant near our hostel. It was a different atmosphere. Joyce and Felicia weren’t scared of the journey the next day, and I was looking forward to it because it was a real unplanned adventure. Cathy, meanwhile, remarked that the rice in the restaurant was the best rice she ever tasted. (But frankly, the rice tasted awful.)
What a difference from the morning’s feelings, where everyone set off with lightheartedness and joy. We were plunged into uncertainty so suddenly. I had no idea if we were going to make to Chengdu in the end. But I was in it, and I wasn’t scared, because I had them with me. And Penny from Migu Youth Hostel, she helped us a whole lot with this. We solved the problem within 1 hour with her help.
Cathy and I packed our stuff and went to bed. I was woken up by a call from another guest at the inn, who offered to send us to Chengdu as well. However, he spoke in a very stunted manner and didn’t answer properly when we asked which route he will take. He did show us his Land Rover, all covered in mud. Still, I was suspicious of his driving skills from the way he kept rubbing his head while talking. After a while, we decided to go with the initial plan. In no time, I was fast asleep, from the physical activities of the day and the emotional surprise of the evening. There was no doubt, that the next day will be a very long journey indeed.
Map of Jiuzhaigou. Notice the Y-shape.
In the morning, I tried to map out our route for the day.
Multi-Coloured Lake. It's not Photoshop, the water is that clear.
Pearl Shoals Falls
Panda Falls.
Five Flower Lake. Look and you can see the bottom of the water, and at the same time, the reflections of the mountains.
Still Five Flower Lake.
See the logs in the water up close!
Long Lake and these traditional costumes.
I cannot see anything.
Arrow Bamboo Lake, where one scene of Hero was filmed.
Lunch! Cathy and Felicia hard at work, while Chee Harn is...pondering?
At Mirror Lake, we take pictures with mirrors.
走马看花。
Nuorilang Falls, the widest falls in the whole of China.
At Primeval Forest, everyone had no brains in their oxygen, therefore explaining the retarded faces.
A note we left at the hostel when we came back, to ask if any other trapped persons would like to share our cabs so we can save costs.
End of Part 3.
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