The Travel Bug: Sichuan, Jiu Zhai Gou (Part 1: Lakes)

The day after Huang Long was the "main course" that we had come for... Jiu Zhai Gou! We were understandably nervous from the previous day, but this time the guide assured us that we just needed to take short walks on and off the bus. The park is not open to external buses, so it was either take the internal "public" bus, or pay extra to get a private bus for a group. We paid extra of course. *Sigh*.

Luckily.. JZG didn't disappoint! The next 3 shots are of "Huo3 Guang1 Hai3" aka Sparkling Lake although the literal translation is "Fire Light Sea". And sparkle it did!

Despite not being the "perfect" time to see JZG, this weekend was supposed to be super crowded because it was a holiday in China. We were quite fortunate that the crowds were tolerable, the weather was good, the flowers were in bloom and there was water in the lakes!

Well there's not much to say except that the lakes are gorgeous. Beautiful crystal clear blue waters... You can see the fallen logs and branches in the water!

Surrounded by lush green hills...

I included the shot below to show how clear the waters are. This place is like so "not Chinese"... It was well maintained and no litter around despite a lack of dustbins! Also, while Chinese tourists swarmed some spots, it wasn't *too* crowded and there were still plenty of chances to get "people free" pictures.

I think we hit a total of about 4-5 lakes while we were there... They were all a short 5-10 min walk away from where the bus dropped us.

I love this next shot for the beautiful reflection in the still waters...

The next 2 photos really display JZG at its best I think. Starting from snow capped mountains at the top, followed by hills covered in a multitude of greens and browns, and then the rainbow coloured waters with little pebbles and short grass at the bottom.

The reflection of the mountain could also be seen in the rainbow coloured waters. There was also the opportunity to dress up in traditional Tibetan costumes (for a fee) and have your picture taken by the lake. Quite a novelty for many!

The next shot was taken from one of the highest elevations in the park.

This little pond is supposed to be filled with water all the way to the brim of the depression, and then you can see the rainbow colours as well. Sadly it was still too early in the season.

Another shot of the crystal clear multi-coloured waters. You can see the details of the gravel and individual stones all the way to the bottom!

I didn't include photos of every single lake that we saw. Sadly my Chinese (and memory) are not good enough to remember all the names and the stories behind them as well. If you go there, hopefully you're with a large enough group to get a private tour bus as well, the guide onboard will know where to go!

The Travel Bug: Sichuan, Huang Long

Since we were already in Chengdu for work, some colleagues and I decided to extend our trip by 3 days and do a side visit to Jiu Zhai Gou. The trip was arranged as a semi-customised private tour (read: no useless visits to tourist traps for shopping), and to be honest, most of us didn't pay attention to the detailed itinerary. So while we had in our minds that we were visiting Jiu Zhai Gou, few paid attention to the fact that we would be visiting a place called Huang Long on the first day (read: we had no idea where were going and what it was going to be like).

The experience was certain one to remember for all the wrong reasons...

1. We started off already exhuasted

Had just ended a full week of meetings and discussions. Enuff said!

2. Early hours

Not many needed the 4am wake up call because after the official programme ended at 10pm the night before, some did the usual "explore local culture" by hitting the clubs. In fact, some got back to the hotel barely minutes before the coach was due to depart for the airport at 5am.

3. Flight delays

From 7am to 10am. 3 hours waiting/sleeping at a domestic airport in China is no fun. We found out that this was because of bad weather at the other airport. Guess this one is kinda understandable, given that we were flying over mountains and valleys.

4. Altitude sickness

We were totally unprepared! Because we hadn't paid attention to the fact that we were going to Huang Long, not a single person in our group of 30+ realised that we would be hitting 4000+m altitudes. That's high enough for the guide to warn us not to fall asleep in the bus... in case we stopped breathing and they didn't realise it until too late!

We bought medication and oxygen on the spot, but it didn't help as much as we would have liked it to. Some of us were nursing throbbing headaches the entire day. Not the best condition to be in while trekking (see #6 below), and not in the best of moods to enjoy the beautiful view.

5. It's the wrong season

We didn't even know we were visiting Huang Long, much less that it was totally the wrong season to do so. Huang Long is famous for the beautiful pools of coloured water due to the minerals. But because it was the wrong season, almost everything was dried up and just boring rock.

6. We took the cable car up

Maybe it was the guide's broken English, maybe it was our own fault for not asking. Because it was the wrong season, there was only one area right at the top of the mountain which had water. So we took the cable car up 3000m, without realising we would have to walk another 1000m uphill.

This photo was taken right at the top, and was the only pool area on the entire mountain with water.


There are supposed to be 7 colours in total during the right season, but sadly we only saw a bright blue, mixed with brown and green.

7. Walking down is worse!

Some how it had slipped our minds that taking the cable car up 3000m and walking a further 1000m up meant having to walk down! I think what most of us had in mind was a leisurely stroll downhill for about.. maybe 30min? We definately weren't prepared for a 4-5h trek which was 20% uphill steps and 80% downhill steps (read: horror on the knees) while nursing a lack of sleep and throbbing headaches from altitude sickness.


Later on we found out that in the right season, the entire trek down would have been filled with beautiful pools of water and rivers running along the way. Most people in fact don't take the cable car up, but just do short treks at the lower altitudes. *NOW* they tell us!!!

I will leave it to you to imagine how bad our knees and calves felt the next day and the entire week after.

The Travel Bug: Sichuan, Chengdu's Culture

Over the course of our stay in Chengdu, we were lucky enough to catch some of the arts performances, mostly during our dinners.

Sichuan Opera is famous for its Bian Lian ("face changing") where the performers changes their masks with such speed and dexterity, that it was really impossible to see how they did it regardless of how closely you looked. Two thumbs up for this, they were seriously good!

Hand shadow was also something that was very unique and well done. Amazing how it was just one person using her hands and body with few if any props.

If you think its difficult enough to pour tea from a normal tea pot without spilling, try imagine using these special pots with extra long spouts!

Wuxia or martial arts is a very unique part of Chinese culture (who hasn't watched and loved Jin Yong??!!) and these youths gave us a brilliant performance, demonstrating the different types of weapons that they trained with and how they spar.

Look how high they can jump!

You don't really need to understand much Chinese to enjoy this little mime/skit that is quite famous and had the audience in stitches and rolling with laughter

Dances are of course not to be left out when it comes to talking about arts and culture.

See the headdress on these ladies? Balancing with it and not poking out your neighbours' eye is no mean feat!

This one had a fish-related story behind it, but sadly I was too distracted to remember it.

Last but not least, there's always the dragon dance!

The Travel Bug: Sichuan, Chengdu, Jin Li Jie

Was in Chengdu recently for business, but because the hotel was a good 40min away from town, only had time on the first day when we arrived to look-see. The hotel concierge suggested that we head to Jin Li Jie (Jin Li Street) which is an area with narrow ancient streets and traditional buildings.

Everything about it screamed "tourist trap" to us, but we still decided to be good natured about it since it was already late afternoon, and we could grab dinner there as well.

The area itself is not very large, taking at most 15min to complete if you speed walk. We obviously took much longer, pausing to enjoy the stores selling a variety of traditional goods lining the streets.

A few traditional craftsmen were plying their trade, including this guy which created beautiful animal figures out of an edible sweet.

You could stop at the teahouses along the way, and try their noodles (warning: extremely hot with lots of chili oil!!)...

... or try the more interesting grilled meats along a Xiao Chi Jie ("Little eats street"). There thankfully wasn't anything as exciting as what I showed in my post on Beijing, but Sichuan food is either 1) VERY VERY spicy, or 2) VERY VERY oily, or worse of all 3) BOTH!

There were some really pretty areas to walk around, this path led up to a museum of sorts where you could view some historical relics.

You could also purchase one of the red hanging items, and hang it up to make a wish (quite like the Japanese?). If you wanted, you could also dress up in the traditional Chinese costumes and take a photo under it.

The place gets much more exciting at night when the lanterns are lit up. There are lots of restaurants for you to choose from as well, most feature some kind of traditional performance during the dinner as well. (more on that in the next post!)

My top 10 visited websites

In order of frequency...

#10 Internet Banking 2
#9 Internet Banking 1
#8 http://www.blogger.com/ (from home lah!)
#7 http://www.capitaliq.com/ (log in both from work and at home so at least twice a day)
#6 http://www.gmail.com/ (less often cos I use BB to check)
#5 http://www.singaporeair.com/ (both for work and pleasure)
#4 http://www.asiaone.com/ (start up page at work)
#3 http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/ (no choice, for work!)
#2 http://www.google.com/ (start up page at home + via the toolbar)
#1 http://www.facebook.com/ (how else to destress?)

I wonder... what can you conclude about me from the above list???

What happened in Jan to Apr

Trips made: 8
Flights taken: 20
Hours spent in the air: >150
Foreign countries visited: 5
Foreign cities: 12
Days out of the country: about 50 (of about 120!)

and more to come...!

Yes I'm still here!

Sorry everyone for not having updated my blog for so long! Have been on the road a lot, I spent most of Feb and a good part of March out of town. And I'll be spending more than 75% of April travelling too.

There are so many food places I want to blog about, that I wonder if I will ever get started because its just too overwhelming!

On another note, say "hi" to:
1) My new computer! (old one bit the dust after 5 full years of not-so-trusty service); and
2) My Canon 70-200mm F/4 IS USM!!! Yes, *Shinta finally gave in, thanks to some camera shop vouchers I received as a gift from my colleagues. That's another item on my Wish List down!