So we're back in Chengdu, Sichuan after a four-day tour to Jiuzhaigou (the Nine Tibetan Villages) up north.
The first day was entirely travelling. We got on the tour bus at 7am, and got off around 6-7pm, with a few stops for lunch/bathroom. The scenery was nice on the way up. Most of the driving was along cliffs, so we saw a lot of hills and valleys as well as the big river. We didn't do much the first night as we were tired from the entire day of travelling. The rooms were freezing, because it was up north, and we didn't know how to use the heater at first, but eventually the room was a good 30 degrees celsius and we were quite content.
The next day, we set off to Jiuzhaigou. It's mostly a collection of lakes and waterfalls. See my website at
http://web.mac.com/royce.lee for pictures. There was one lake in particular that we missed. It's called Mirror Lake and the water is so clean and blue that it reflects the tree scenery around it. We missed taking pictures because by the time we got to it, it was 2ish, and it gets ripply in the afternoon. A few of the pictures were taken off the beaten path. Anna, Courtney and I climbed up a steep hill to see the little waterfall.
The third day, we stopped at another scenery place, Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) Park. My group of friends didn't go in because apparently at this time, the lakes are dried up, and it is best to see it during autumn. We hung around for a few hours checking out shops and restaurants while the other people in our group went up. This place is pretty high up in the mountains. People were selling disposable oxygen tanks because the air is quite thin. On the way up, some of the luggage from the bus flew out during one of the turns. Luckily, it wasn't ours, and it was stopped from falling off the cliff by the guard rail.
Today was the last day of the tour. We stopped at quite a many tourist traps. We saw a crystal shop, jewelry shop, herb shop, tea factory, and I think there was one more.
We finally got back in the afternoon and relaxed for a bit before going for supper at a Tibetan restaurant. After supper, we went to get our hair washed, and then to the foot massage parlour. When they say foot massage, they mean a 2 hour everything massage. They started by soaking our feet in this seaweedish liquid, and then massaged them for a bit. After drying off our feet, they gave leg massages, arm massages and then back massages. All this for about 10 bucks Canadian. To top it off, optionally, they did a form of acupuncture that entails lighting a fire inside a glass ball so that it is a suction cup, and then placing it on the back, and running it up and down to draw the blood. There is a picture of my back afterwards. The two dark circles at the bottom are where they left the balls at the end, and the darkness means that I'm pretty unhealthy... :(
So far in China, I've noticed a few things. People don't take their hands off their horns in cars, buses, motorcycles, etc. They honk all the time, it's quite annoying actually. Chinese people are also mostly chain smokers as well as chain spitters, which I suppose kind of goes with the smoking. Some of the bathrooms... I don't want to even describe them. Overall though, I'm having quite a good time. No culture shock, which isn't a surprise since I was raised in a relatively similar environment. Everyone stares at Courtney and Anna (the caucasians in our group), and they are considered beautiful by the Chinese people.
Tommorrow, we are heading off to Leshan to see a giant Buddha carved into a mountain. It's supposed to be the biggest one in the world I think. And then on Thursday, we will head to Xi'an to join the rest of our group, and begin our studies in China.
For those of you who want me to send a postcard, email me your addresses to royce.lee at usask dot ca. Please do email me as well, and I will reply when I have some time.
Our driver is coming to pick us up at 7am tomorrow, and it's... 12:30am I think, so I should probably get to bed. Good night/good morning!
Royce