Sichuan: Part One

So it was that I left for Sichuan province with a renewed love of travelling, having successfully navigated my way through Shaanxi, with my troubled times in Henan becoming a distant memory. I was excited to be getting even closer to the natural habitat of my favourite animal and entering a province famous for its deliciously spicy cuisine; however my chances of arriving successfully were looking slim.

Sichuan is a province which frequently experiences traumatic natural disasters. Earthquakes are common and in the last 100 years alone they have experienced in excess of 15, seven of which were registered over 7.0 on the Richter scale. Perhaps the most devastating earthquake in recent history occurred in 2008, reaching 8.0, and resulting in the loss of 69,195 lives. The most recent one transpired in April of this year.

Because of ongoing political unrest in the area parts of the province can also at times be shut off to foreigners by local government officials. Sichuan features quite a few Tibetan areas with a large Tibetan population (1.25 million), which sees semi-frequent demonstrations against the central government’s oppression of the Tibetan people.

At the time I was due to visit, I had gotten word that protesters would not be an issue, but rather the weather would. In July this year China experienced a massive rainfall throughout the country with the south west, namely Sichuan Province, being hit the hardest.  It was recorded that in Sichuan 37 inches (94 cm) of rain fell from July 8–9. It is the heaviest rainfall since records began in 1954. Villages were submerged, bridges collapsed and landslides occurred in several area. Road access to most major cities in the province was cut off. Things were not looking good for me.

By the time I had decided the route I would take through the province, the water levels had dropped but the road access was still an issue, and I was receiving mixed reports on if I was able to get there or away. It was at this point I decided to suck it up and buy a domestic flight leaving Xian in Shaanxi and heading to Jiuzhaigou in Chengdu. I decided that it was best to start here due to its high elevation, hoping that during my stay the damage from the flooding would improve some more, and the road access would allow me to take an overnight bus to Chengdu, the province’s capital.

Jiuzhaigou

I chose to make the trip to Jiuzhaigou because it came up in a list of top ten places to see in China on a random website I stumbled upon while researching my trip. Prior to this year I had not even heard of it and after seeing it I have to admit it must be China’s best kept secret.

During the planning stages I came across lots of amazing photos of this expansive national park that looked positively otherworldly. Photographs I saw online of its mountainous ranges, forests, woodlands, lakes and waterfalls left me thinking this must be heaven on earth. But as I came closer and closer to arriving, I was having doubts, thinking these gorgeous shots I kept seeing are surely the work of professional photographers who had been waiting days for the perfect shot. I still had some hope though.

After arriving after dark and taking the slowly winding three hour cab ride down into the valley, I checked into my hostel and planned to go to bed straight away in order to start my trek of the park itself at daylight the next morning. Planned being the operative word, as my delightful roommates felt the need to become loudly amorous at around one am and continued to do so for quite a few hours despite my gently reminders of the time (“Jesus Christ, would you give it a rest, its 3 o’clock in the effing morning!”). There are some things even good quality earplugs will not block out. Sometime close to 4:00am I finally drifted off dreading my 5:45am alarm.

My hostel was beautifully located just a 5 minute walk from the entrance of the National Park and I was able to buy my ticket as the gates opened at 6:30 and take a park bus (the only vehicles permitted in the Park) to the very top of the reserve and work my way down. The highest elevation in Juizhaiguo is 4558m and I started my hike at around 3500m. Altitude sickness was of some concern to me, be apart from a mild light headedness when I first arrived at the Virgin Forrest, I was unaffected.

The forest I started off in was lovely. The air was crisp and almost sweet to breathe, standing under the shade of the lofty virgin forest was a cool relief after the sweltering heat of the cities, and then there was the most glorious sound I had heard in months. Quiet. Perfect serenity. I could feel all the bad juju I was holding onto leave me with every inhalation I took.  I started walking back down into the valley, still surrounded by lush, verdant green and loving every minute of it. Any onlooker must have thought I was full nutter, as I walked around wide eyed, slack jawed and breathing deeply.

Despite the morning starting off misty and grey, after hiking for about two hours the clouds parted and the sun started beating down. At almost the same moment I rounded a curve in the track and glimpsed what I had been waiting for. Juizhaiguo is famous for its iridescent turquoise lakes and rivers, which come down directly from Min Shan and is absolutely crystal clear. I had recently read about it and seen pictures of it but I could not honestly believe it could be so luminous and so translucent. As I came close to the edge the park’s highest lake, I could not believe my eyes, the clarity of the water was incredible. It was crystal clear, pristine and very deep.

   

I spent close to 8 hours in the National Park, hiking my way through all it is gorgeousness, drinking in all that it had to offer. During my time there I found myself a times having difficulty breathing and a tightness in my chest, but it was not from pain, rather it was from an overwhelming sense of joy unlike anything I had every felt before. It left me in tears several times throughout the day. I cannot describe it in any other way, other than it felt like my heart was full.

Travelling up here during the bad weather did have an upside. I was travelling in the peak season for China, and thousands of Chinese travellers visit the National Park on a daily basis over the summer months, however the blocked roads meant that the only possible means of getting there way flying.

China is a fantastic country for travel, with buses and trains running just about anywhere you could want to go, all at a very cheap price. Flying is a luxury not all can afford. The torrential rain in Sichuan had meant that the roads to the national park had been cut off for days, so by the time I flew in, most Chinese tourists had left the area with only a few hundred able to make the flight in. This meant that when I trekked the park, I often saw other local travellers, but not at anywhere near the volume normally expected for this time of year.

Sadly the day was beginning to come to an end. My feet were aching, I was functioning on barely 4 hours sleep and was in dire need of something more to eat than the fruit and nuts I bought with me. I walked the way down to the entrance, past more lush greenery and turquoise water, through gorgeous Tibetan villages and back toward my hostel. As I left I felt a great deal of satisfaction with my trip to Juizhaigou. I felt, and I still feel, that is must be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I cannot help but wonder at what the first people to discover it must have though. Surely they believed they have died and gone to heaven.

Huanglong

The next day, after a ridiculously early night, I woke up again at sunrise to begin the three hour journey to Huanglong.   As well as Jiuzhaigou National Park, Huanglong Scenic Area has also been included in the UNESCO world heritage list. It is located in Songpan County encompasses the Huanglong and Muni Valley.

It consists of a 3.6 kilometre long valley that includes snow-clad peaks and the easternmost glaciers in China. Huanglong Valley translates directly to Yellow Dragon Valley. The layered calcium carbonated deposits creates a pattern, which winds through the forest, mountains and glaciers, and bears a resemblance to a golden dragon. Along the valley are numerous colourful ponds of different sizes and shapes, which are spotted with gold coloured limestone deposit giving a shimmering golden hue to water.  

I ended up going to Huanglong on a whim, after I met three other travellers the night before in the hostel common (read: WIFI) area. They told me they were hoping to check out this famous landmark the following day, and having not made any set plans myself, I decided to tag along.

The drive up to Huanglong was an experience in itself. Parts of the road has zero visibility and we all spent most of the journey white knuckled as we sped blindly around the narrow curved roads, while trying not to look at the sheer drop off the cliff directly next to us. The occasional accident sight dotted along the road as our little car climbed up the mountain did not do much to help calm the nerves.

After paying our entry and taking the cable car up to the top, my three new friends and I made our way through the valley. I have to admit I was underprepared for this trip. My head was back in Jiuzhaigou, with its sunny weather, clear skies and hot temperature. Huanglong was grey, overcast, drizzling and cold. My short and tank top were not ideal, but I prayed that once we started really moving I would warm up. I also assumed that the altitude would be the same as Jiuzhaigou, but I found after about an hour of walking, that it was not. I started to feel dizzy and headachy and continued to feel so for most of my time there. However the views were still breathtaking and I am glad I decided to make the last minute trip up there.

The valley itself was huge, surrounded by virgin forest, stone mountains, waterfalls and hundreds of coloured ponds. We saw one Tibetan temple nestled right in the very middle of the valley, which I couldn’t help but imagine must be one of the most idyllic places to live, encircled by such wild and untamed natural beauty. It really was worth the terrifying journey up there.      

The following day I was scheduled to take a bus down from Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital city, but reports were the roads were still blocked and there was no getting out unless by plane. While Jiuzhaigou is amazingly beautiful, there is little to do in the area besides hiking, and I had already paid the phenomenal entry fee once and I was not keen to do so again. There was no definite answer as to when the roads would be open again and once again, I sucked it up and bought a plane ticket. Sadly I had to pay twice as much to get out and I did to get in, as the airlines had cottoned onto how this was the only means of travel, but at the same time I did not mind as it shaved an estimated 7 hours off the journey.  It would land me closer to my lifelong dream of seeing a real live panda again, hopefully much closer this time than in Shaanxi!   

I will finish here however, because Sichuan will need to be a two part blog, as I’ve already written over 2000 words and I barely even scraped the surface of my time there. Stay tuned!