dujiangyan (27/11/2014)

it was early rise as usual after another night at another hotel. sounds tiring eh? well, we are used to it. this after all a china trip.
after breakfast, we got into the bus and up we go....up a hill to a temple where we would make our way down to the river.

this is the breathtaking view of part of the dujiangyan irrigation system from the pagoda of the temple. i think it is where the river was divided into two  and then four to diverge the flow of the water to control floods and enhance the irrigation of the plains.

and so we walked down the steps all the way down to the side of the river. ooohhhh my knees.

this is the temple near the bottom.

err....i think these are words of mao ze dong if my memory serves me right.

yup....more steps. see how everyone was moving sideway.

finally, the exit or the entrance, depending on where you come from.

we stepped through the wooden gate and a spectacular view greeted us- yellow leaves of ginkgo biloba trees lining the path. everyone was mesmerized by the view and had forgotten why we were down there in the first place (for the river). the cameras started snapping non-stop and everyone had to be gathered by the tour guide to move to the proper direction.

this bridge here was the proper direction.

so beautiful.

this part is like a dam gate i think.

this is another part of the irrigation system where the river had been divided into a smaller and narrower path.

after that brief lesson on some history of the irrigation system- oh it was built in 250B.C., it was time to another destination for lunch- huang long xi town...another ancient town. hmmh...i wonder if there is any town in china which is not ancient. lol.

sorry, no story to tell here. i did not really listen to the guide when she told us about the town. was just too tired.

but this shop here i know....it is one strand noodle shop.

see the cook on the right? he was releasing one long strand of noodle into the boiling pot. one long strand will fill one bowl of noodle later. i did not buy any to try. no appetite to eat and not really curious about its taste.

flower garland headpieces for sale anyone?? its very popular here and they were not really expensive.

ok the day had not ended....will continue in the next post.

songpan - dujiangyan (26/11/2015)

as unpredictable as the weather- it is one thing you cannot predict especially when travelling in winter. and this was what happened on this day. i can't remember the place that we were supposed to go, but it was another mountain. there was sleet on the road and the attraction had been closed for all vehicles- meaning, there was no entry to the mountain at all.
hence, we made a detour instead and decided to spend the night at dujiangyan- a city famous for its breakthrough irrigation system.
but before reaching dujiangyan, we stopped for a breather at songpan. man, it was a super long journey from jiuzhaigou to dujiangyan. this day, it was solely dedicated to the journey on the road.

this is songpan.

i don't know whether the statues here of historical or fictional figures......just not interested and can't read chinese.

i was more interested in the few kids here frolicking with the trfic police on duty.

this is yak meat which is a popular delicacy in the area.

another statue in the town.

one last photo before i left songpan. isn't she adorable?

we reached dujiangyan city when it was dark. it was dinner with a little time to explore whatever shops which weren't closed yet.
this is part of the irrigation system that runs through the city.

the main gate of the city.

that was all for this day. yawn!!

zang mi tibetan cultural show (25/11/2015)

we had to pay extra to watch this show but it was not bad at all. it fact, it was very lively yet touching at times. the dances centred around the journey of an old lady with her goat, making her lone journey to tibet for her pilgrimage. many of the performers were roped in from their villages and trained for the dances, thus giving them job opportunities. i think they had to perform twice every night as there were two performances every night. buses were leaving as ours was making its way to the parking lot in front of the performance hall.

can you see the white goat standing next to the 'old lady'? it was really really tame and obedient.

all the colours, the strong beat and the energy kept everyone awake although we were so so tired from the walk in the park. and the hall was quite chilly as well. i had to put on my gloves and hood during the entire performance to keep myself warm. brrrr.....
it was a relief to finally reach the warm comfort of the hotel room. zzzzzz......

jiuzhaigou (25/11/2015)

day trip to jiuzhai valley... the entrance to the park was not that far from the hotel where we were staying. of course, we still had to take the bus down but it was just about 15 to 20 minutes ride from the hotel. from the parking lot, we walked to the entrance. the local guide went to get the tickets while everyone was busy looking for a toilet.
gosh...the toilet was really really dirty here!!! for an AAAAA tourist destination, it was totally unacceptable. even the locals found it unacceptable. so you can imagine how bad it was lah. thank god someone had those medicated oil which was quite useful to mask the strong smell even if it made the nostrils hot for a while. reminder when going to china: bring a bottle of medicated oil, you won't regret it.

the crowd was pretty thin at this time of the year and it was really a relief. the queues were not long and there was no pushing into the park buses. one can also hire private cars to ferry the group but there was no need at this time of the year.

thank god for the wonderful weather on the day we went. it was cold at first but as we strolled from lake to lake, it started getting very hot. the sky was blue and the sun was out. what more could i ask for??

a local dance near the entrance.

our first stop.

i thought i had reached the alps upon seeing the view in front of me.

this was the crowd on the viewing platform. there was plenty of opportunities to take photos without strangers getting into the frame.

the environmentally-friendly buses used in the park.

second destination.

there were quite a lot of steps and since it had snowed the day before, one had to be very careful so as not to slip and fall. touch wood- well, there was a lot to touch as you can see. lol

i don't know how the name five-coloured pool come about....blue, turqoise, green, yellow and brown?
well, you can't see the yellow here but at spots where the sun was shining on the water, there was actually yellow.

third stop.

it was a very brief stop here. i think this was the top most point because all buses made a u-turn here after dropping the passengers.

fourth stop- the panda lake.

such a calm calm day and i was already sweating profusely at this time.

fifth stop.

we stopped slightly longer here and enjoyed some time basking in the sun. love how they had laid the floor board without cutting down the trees. holes were cut on the board to allow the trees space to grow.

sixth stop by bus.....it was a long walk down to go to the waterfall from here, but no one was complaining as the view was simply magnificent.

we walked all the way down to this fall.

one of my favourite photos. love how the water just broke and flowed down on the raised roots of the trees.

tiger lake.

shuzheng waterfall.

this is how this place got its name- the stone mill above.
did not go inside to check the place out. i think it was used to sell souvenirs now if my memory served me right.

yup....that's the end of the journey at jiuzhai valley. we ended the trip at about 5p.m. i think. then it was to dinner and then cultural show.
next post: shots from the cultural show.