This past weekend Joe and I spent a get-away weekend in Jiuzhaigou with our friends Rey and Linda. I met Linda through my activities around Chengdu with the expat wives and Rey works for Chevron. They are about our same age, have three grown children, Rey plays golf and best of all they are from Texas! Needless to say we hit it off with them.
Here’s a brief description of Jiuzhaigou:
Jiuzhaigou Valley is a nature reserve in the north of Sichuan, a province in south western China. It is known for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. It belongs to the category V (Protected Landscape) in the IUCN system of protected area categorization. (Wikipedia)
Now I will be the first to admit that hiking is not at the top of Joe’s and my list of things we absolutely LOVE to do. In fact, I don’t remember us ever doing much hiking in the 35 years we have known each other. We had heard so many wonderful things about Jiuzhaigou that we decided it had to be one of the things in China we experienced before we went home. Even from the things we had heard about the beauty of the place, we were still amazed at the wonder we experienced when we actually got there. I love beautiful scenery and we were not disappointed. Jiuzhaigou is part of the Tibetan region of China and you immediately notice differences in the people, way of life and the surrounding areas. It also doesn’t have the fast pace of the cities and it’s like going years back in time to a much more simpler time.
Our journey started late though. It was pouring down raining in Chengdu on Friday when we were scheduled to depart. We ended up sitting in the plane at the gate for over an hour after boarding over an hour late. When we actually did take off, we were just settling down when the pilot came on and said to prepare for landing. The flight is only 40 minutes! The airport is situated at an altitude of over 11,000 feet above sea level. We were literally coming in through mountains and landed on a flat piece of mountaintop. One side was mountains and the other was a drop off! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like it. One false move and I think you would probably tumble down the mountainside!
The drive to Jiuzhaigou and our hotel, Intercontinental Jiuzhai Paradise, was about an hour. Along the way we got our first glimpses of the mountains and the Tibetan life in this region. Sheep were crossing the roadways and horses running wild in the fields and mountains. At one point we even had to stop for horses crossing the road.
The Intercontinental Jiuzhai Paradise is a beautiful hotel. They call it a hotel in the forest because you cannot see the entire hotel upon approach. It is strategically built into the terrain. Its main structure is primarily glass permitting natural lighting and lots of live greenery within the inside of the hotel lobby and common areas. It is built to look like a village under roof with ponds,, waterfalls, storefronts and homes and even ducks and swans. When you get out of the car you get your first whiff of the clean air and smell of the pines and forest life. That’s something we don’t get in Chengdu. You also notice on the drive up that there are very few cars, bicycles and scooters.
Friday night we explored the hotel and ate at a Tibetan restaurant in the hotel. Rey and Linda have lived overseas at various places for over ten years now and Joe is very experienced overseas so they did the ordering. I had my first experience with yak in a soup with “meatballs”. Also on the fare were “beef” tendons with vegetables, a wok fried mushroom dish, another “beef” and vegetable dish and marinated walnuts. I still don’t know where the walnuts were because I NEVER saw a walnut. The dish looked more like marinated black grass. Pardon the quote marks but whenever something says beef you don’t always know if it is really beef and I certainly had my doubts after tasting. One thing is for sure – I can now say I have tasted yak and “”beef” tendons and can move on from there. Most of the fare was also very spicy, similar to Sichuan food. Thank God for jasmine tea and white rice!
After dinner we explored the hotel some more and watched a group of young people dancing a traditional Tibetan around a “bonfire” set up near one of the bars. People were invited to join and dance with them. We chose to sit back and watch! Later we sat in one of the hotel bars and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. Around ten o’clock another group of young people came into the bar area to sing for the people. They were very entertaining and were dressed in traditional costumes native to the region. For a small price a singer would come to your table to sing personally for you. Joe immediately spotted a beautiful young girl and invited her over to sing for us. She had the most amazing voice and we were very entertained by her. After that I picked out a guy that had a ram’s horn hat on his head and looked very intimidating. He had a beautiful voice and we enjoyed listening to him. Rey also picked out a girl that had a beautiful alto voice. We were invited to dance with them and we stayed until they left. It was a perfect end to our first day in Jiuzhaigou.
Very early Saturday morning we left for Jiuzhaigou National Park. We got our first look at the city and how the people live. Tourism is a huge part of the economy for this area. The city was very rustic but inviting. We boarded a bus that took us up into the mountain area where we would see some of the most beautiful lakes, falls and forest areas imaginable. Photographs we took will in no way convey the beauty of this place. The colors are like looking at something that has been digitally enhanced. But here we were looking at this natural beauty. At some point in the day I remember sitting and looking out over one of the beautiful aqua blue/green lakes and all of the sudden I caught myself humming “Our God is an Awesome God”. Not sure where that came from but it certainly was how I felt at the time. In a world where we sometimes see only the artificial or ugly things, here I sat looking at one of God’s true miracles of creation.
We took a bus all the way up to end of the route and began working our way back down. There are hiking trails all along the way and you can walk most of the entire area if you like. That was not in our plan but we did take off down a path for a couple of miles before catching up with a bus down the way. Along the way we saw beautiful trees, running brooks and even a little wildlife (birds mostly). At one time (and some say even now) there were pandas and golden monkeys in the area. If there are any now, they aren’t where they want to be seen. We had a great hike and even found a picnic table beside a lake to eat lunch. I think we were the only expats I saw that day. People were very friendly and were eager to say hello to us, some even wanting to take our picture.
After spending most of the day at the park, we went back for dinner at the hotel. We chose the safer choice of the hotel buffet in the “western” restaurant. This time around I found a few more items that I wanted to eat and actually knew what they were!
Saturday night we went to a cultural show called Dreamland Journey that is put on by the Intercontinental Hotel. It is a show that tells the legend of the forming of the nine villages of the region. It was a huge production with colorful, traditional Tibetan costumes and stage settings and full of wonderful culture, singing and dancing. We were thoroughly entertained and the whole audience was even invited to come onto the stage to dance around the fire with the cast at the end of the show.
We went back to the hotel and sat at the same bar we were at the previous night and were again entertained by the troupe of singers. Rey asked one of the young guys to sing for Linda. When he came over, he invited her to stand with him while he sang. During the show, we were invited to join a group of Chinese businessmen at their table for drinks. There was obviously a communication breakdown but somehow it didn’t seem to matter. Actually I think they just wanted to drink with us and boy did the beer flow at that table! We did meet another couple from Chongqing. He was from South Africa and she was Chinese. They joined us and we at least had someone who could translate for us. It made things a little easier. We learned that they businessmen (something to do with gold), one guy loved to play golf, we met two of their wives, we discussed years of marriage and children. In between there were many toasts. Great ending to a great weekend!
Sunday morning we got up, went horseback riding. I won’t talk much about the horseback riding because it was very uneventful and very disappointing and not worth our time. One thing we can say is that we have ridden horses in China! From there we went into Jiuzhaigou to do some shopping. We met the cutest shopkeeper and her husband and baby boy. We ended up buying quite a bit from her and I’m sure we made her week very profitable. After lunch we headed back to the airport and home to Chengdu.
Thanks Rey and Linda for a great time. It’s always nice to have great people to share new experiences and we appreciate their company. Jiuzhaigou is certainly a place we will be going back to. I loved the local people and how friendly and welcoming they were. They are a very gracious people. Some say it is beautiful in fall with the changing of the leaves. I’ve had friends who were there in the spring when there was still snow on the ground. Any time of the year it seems Jiuzhaigou is a perfect place to experience the wonders of God’s creations.
Love to all.
Here’s a brief description of Jiuzhaigou:
Jiuzhaigou Valley is a nature reserve in the north of Sichuan, a province in south western China. It is known for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. It belongs to the category V (Protected Landscape) in the IUCN system of protected area categorization. (Wikipedia)
Now I will be the first to admit that hiking is not at the top of Joe’s and my list of things we absolutely LOVE to do. In fact, I don’t remember us ever doing much hiking in the 35 years we have known each other. We had heard so many wonderful things about Jiuzhaigou that we decided it had to be one of the things in China we experienced before we went home. Even from the things we had heard about the beauty of the place, we were still amazed at the wonder we experienced when we actually got there. I love beautiful scenery and we were not disappointed. Jiuzhaigou is part of the Tibetan region of China and you immediately notice differences in the people, way of life and the surrounding areas. It also doesn’t have the fast pace of the cities and it’s like going years back in time to a much more simpler time.
Our journey started late though. It was pouring down raining in Chengdu on Friday when we were scheduled to depart. We ended up sitting in the plane at the gate for over an hour after boarding over an hour late. When we actually did take off, we were just settling down when the pilot came on and said to prepare for landing. The flight is only 40 minutes! The airport is situated at an altitude of over 11,000 feet above sea level. We were literally coming in through mountains and landed on a flat piece of mountaintop. One side was mountains and the other was a drop off! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like it. One false move and I think you would probably tumble down the mountainside!
The drive to Jiuzhaigou and our hotel, Intercontinental Jiuzhai Paradise, was about an hour. Along the way we got our first glimpses of the mountains and the Tibetan life in this region. Sheep were crossing the roadways and horses running wild in the fields and mountains. At one point we even had to stop for horses crossing the road.
The Intercontinental Jiuzhai Paradise is a beautiful hotel. They call it a hotel in the forest because you cannot see the entire hotel upon approach. It is strategically built into the terrain. Its main structure is primarily glass permitting natural lighting and lots of live greenery within the inside of the hotel lobby and common areas. It is built to look like a village under roof with ponds,, waterfalls, storefronts and homes and even ducks and swans. When you get out of the car you get your first whiff of the clean air and smell of the pines and forest life. That’s something we don’t get in Chengdu. You also notice on the drive up that there are very few cars, bicycles and scooters.
Friday night we explored the hotel and ate at a Tibetan restaurant in the hotel. Rey and Linda have lived overseas at various places for over ten years now and Joe is very experienced overseas so they did the ordering. I had my first experience with yak in a soup with “meatballs”. Also on the fare were “beef” tendons with vegetables, a wok fried mushroom dish, another “beef” and vegetable dish and marinated walnuts. I still don’t know where the walnuts were because I NEVER saw a walnut. The dish looked more like marinated black grass. Pardon the quote marks but whenever something says beef you don’t always know if it is really beef and I certainly had my doubts after tasting. One thing is for sure – I can now say I have tasted yak and “”beef” tendons and can move on from there. Most of the fare was also very spicy, similar to Sichuan food. Thank God for jasmine tea and white rice!
After dinner we explored the hotel some more and watched a group of young people dancing a traditional Tibetan around a “bonfire” set up near one of the bars. People were invited to join and dance with them. We chose to sit back and watch! Later we sat in one of the hotel bars and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. Around ten o’clock another group of young people came into the bar area to sing for the people. They were very entertaining and were dressed in traditional costumes native to the region. For a small price a singer would come to your table to sing personally for you. Joe immediately spotted a beautiful young girl and invited her over to sing for us. She had the most amazing voice and we were very entertained by her. After that I picked out a guy that had a ram’s horn hat on his head and looked very intimidating. He had a beautiful voice and we enjoyed listening to him. Rey also picked out a girl that had a beautiful alto voice. We were invited to dance with them and we stayed until they left. It was a perfect end to our first day in Jiuzhaigou.
Very early Saturday morning we left for Jiuzhaigou National Park. We got our first look at the city and how the people live. Tourism is a huge part of the economy for this area. The city was very rustic but inviting. We boarded a bus that took us up into the mountain area where we would see some of the most beautiful lakes, falls and forest areas imaginable. Photographs we took will in no way convey the beauty of this place. The colors are like looking at something that has been digitally enhanced. But here we were looking at this natural beauty. At some point in the day I remember sitting and looking out over one of the beautiful aqua blue/green lakes and all of the sudden I caught myself humming “Our God is an Awesome God”. Not sure where that came from but it certainly was how I felt at the time. In a world where we sometimes see only the artificial or ugly things, here I sat looking at one of God’s true miracles of creation.
We took a bus all the way up to end of the route and began working our way back down. There are hiking trails all along the way and you can walk most of the entire area if you like. That was not in our plan but we did take off down a path for a couple of miles before catching up with a bus down the way. Along the way we saw beautiful trees, running brooks and even a little wildlife (birds mostly). At one time (and some say even now) there were pandas and golden monkeys in the area. If there are any now, they aren’t where they want to be seen. We had a great hike and even found a picnic table beside a lake to eat lunch. I think we were the only expats I saw that day. People were very friendly and were eager to say hello to us, some even wanting to take our picture.
After spending most of the day at the park, we went back for dinner at the hotel. We chose the safer choice of the hotel buffet in the “western” restaurant. This time around I found a few more items that I wanted to eat and actually knew what they were!
Saturday night we went to a cultural show called Dreamland Journey that is put on by the Intercontinental Hotel. It is a show that tells the legend of the forming of the nine villages of the region. It was a huge production with colorful, traditional Tibetan costumes and stage settings and full of wonderful culture, singing and dancing. We were thoroughly entertained and the whole audience was even invited to come onto the stage to dance around the fire with the cast at the end of the show.
We went back to the hotel and sat at the same bar we were at the previous night and were again entertained by the troupe of singers. Rey asked one of the young guys to sing for Linda. When he came over, he invited her to stand with him while he sang. During the show, we were invited to join a group of Chinese businessmen at their table for drinks. There was obviously a communication breakdown but somehow it didn’t seem to matter. Actually I think they just wanted to drink with us and boy did the beer flow at that table! We did meet another couple from Chongqing. He was from South Africa and she was Chinese. They joined us and we at least had someone who could translate for us. It made things a little easier. We learned that they businessmen (something to do with gold), one guy loved to play golf, we met two of their wives, we discussed years of marriage and children. In between there were many toasts. Great ending to a great weekend!
Sunday morning we got up, went horseback riding. I won’t talk much about the horseback riding because it was very uneventful and very disappointing and not worth our time. One thing we can say is that we have ridden horses in China! From there we went into Jiuzhaigou to do some shopping. We met the cutest shopkeeper and her husband and baby boy. We ended up buying quite a bit from her and I’m sure we made her week very profitable. After lunch we headed back to the airport and home to Chengdu.
Thanks Rey and Linda for a great time. It’s always nice to have great people to share new experiences and we appreciate their company. Jiuzhaigou is certainly a place we will be going back to. I loved the local people and how friendly and welcoming they were. They are a very gracious people. Some say it is beautiful in fall with the changing of the leaves. I’ve had friends who were there in the spring when there was still snow on the ground. Any time of the year it seems Jiuzhaigou is a perfect place to experience the wonders of God’s creations.
Love to all.
1 comment:
Pictures are awesome!!! I especially love the ones of the falls.
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