Jiuzhaigou

CHENGDU TO JIUZHAIGOU

We took the Air China Airbus (100 seater) from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou, about 200 km away. The flight took just 45 minutes while the road trip up the mountains would have taken 8 hours. The bus fare however cost only 60 ringgit while the air fare is 400 ringgit! Our plane flew over snow capped mountains and landed at the airport 3000 metres high. We could feel the reduction in the oxygen level at this altitude, but all the apprehension of altitude sickness came to nought. Even our oldest team member, aged 73 and with history of heart arrhythmia, spent the three days up there without any difficulty. We were advised to walk slowly and to take deep breaths regularly. 

Spring in Jiuzhaigou is rather cool, around 18 Celsius in the daytime and just 10 degrees at night. It took us an hour by bus from the airport to reach our hotel, the Intercontinental Paradise, the biggest hotel in Jiuzhaigou. Along the way, we would see small farms, snow on the hillsides, and herds of yak. The hotel is more of a resort, well spaced out with all the amenities, surrounded by snow capped mountains on three sides. It is however isolated from the shops, being 30 minutes drive from the nearest village. 

World Heritage 
We spent two full days visiting the UNESCO world heritage of Jiuzhaigou, which means Nine Village Valley as there are nine Tibetan villages along the valley. It was formed hundreds of years ago by glaciers on to the karst mountains called the Minshan. However, its beauty was only known to the outside world in the last 30 years. The legend told of how the local spirit fell in love with the goddess who spurned him. So in anger the spirit threw the goddess’s mirror which fell and broke into 114 pieces, turning into the 114 lakes. 

These are found along 3 valleys forming a Y-shape with the total length of 98 kilometres. We passed by about 30 lakes, being of different shapes and sizes, but all with vivid colours of blue, green and turquoise. The largest lake, aptly called Long Lake, is 4 kilometres long and at 3500 metre altitude. Most of the other lakes are small, around a kilometre in length. Some are named after animals like Rhinoceros, Tiger, Peacock and Panda Lakes. Others have more fanciful names like Five Flower Lake, Mirror Lake, Sparkle Lake and Colourful Lake. The last mentioned is the smallest and yet the most colourful. 

There are several waterfalls in between the lakes, not very high but often found in an array of twenty individual falls forming a Pearl Shoal. One is called Arrow Bamboo Lake where the particular bamboo used to be found which attracted the wild pandas. We had to sit in eco-friendly buses to travel along the valleys to see the various lakes. At certain spots, we went down and walked along the wooden paths for a kilometre or so to enjoy the colours and sounds of the waters. There were convenient clean toilets along the way. 

We stopped by a small wooden house with an old mill run by the river waters, which ground roasted barley, which could be made into a hot drink or even converted into barley wine! There is only one restaurant in the whole valley, to keep the place eco-friendly. The buffet lunch cost 30 ringgit; the dishes were very basic meats and vegetables. 

Tibetans 
The Jiuzhaigou valley and villages are inhabited mainly by Tibetans who live in ornately colourful houses and wear equally colourful dresses. We had opportunity to visit a Tibetan home which catered to tourists. The ladies were very friendly and jovial, but spoke only in Mandarin. We were served with various Tibetan foods such as buckwheat bread, potatoes, bean curd, barley wine and butter tea, free range chicken and various vegetables. Of course we enjoyed the smoked barbecued yak meat which rather tasty without any beefy smell at all. The Tibetans are still very closely tied with their form of Buddhism. Every home would have Prayer wheels, basins of holy water, pillars of worship and statues and pictures of Buddha. They like to sing and dance around the fire. Even the night Tibetan cultural performance at the theatre showed the cycle of samsara and reincarnation. They did however quite understand when some of us Christians did not take part in the ceremony. 

(Visitors are advised not to travel during the Chinese national holidays eg New Year and October national Holidays)