Jiuzhaigou - Day Two

Even in paradise, one must attend to the mundane details of life...so the day begins with doing laundry. That means scrubbing everything you own in the sink with cold water and hanging it to dry on a line on the roof.

While hanging the clothes, I see a monk duck into a nearby building. When we are finished with the chores, we decide to see if the building is a temple. As we approach it, the sound of bells and chanting confirm our thoughts. Kneeling at a small table inside are 5 monks; ancient scrolls and music instruments before them. We enter when invited and sit quietly as the chanting, gongs, cymbals and incense fill the air. A nun pays homage to the Buddha by bowing, then trims and relights the candles on the altar. We try to pay homage by meditating. The experience leaves us feeling peacefully jubilant as we head for the trails.

We ride the shuttle bus to the end of the road at Arrow Bamboo Lake (follow the link below for a map and description of the park). We spend the rest of the day walking the boardwalk trails back to Shuzheng Village. The trail skirts the lakes on the side away from the road. At one place it wanders through the dikes between the many pools of Arrow Lake. At another, it follows the rushing rivers between lakes.

We are totally impressed by Pearl Shoals...check out the picture in the album. The water runs over a very shallow shelf before it cascades over the large (and wide) falls. You can view it in a pagoda in the midst of the shoals and from the trail below. Since the rocks are calcium deposits, the formations are very interesting...knobby and in unusual shapes with many crevasses. The water sound is amplified as it echoes in the hollows between and behind the rocks.

At another place we are totally shocked...the rivers and lakes are dry! We are told that it is a seasonal phenomenon. But it is hard to believe that whole rivers with such a high volume of water dry up. As we proceed down the trail, the water does reappear in the lower lakes.

Throughout our travels we have found ourselves comparing the places we visit to Oregon. It seems a natural human attribute to find solace and beauty in landscapes like the ones you are most familiar with. Many places we have visited just don't seem as beautiful as Oregon. We have a special love of the water, mountains and forests of Oregon. But in Jiuzhaigou we have found the forests, running water and mountains that is the template which Oregon tries to imitate. We have heard that Guilin was the most beautiful place in China, but reaching Jiuzhaigou we hear the quote that Guilin the more beautiful than anyplace in the world, and Jiuzhaigou is more beautiful that Guilin. And it is true. If you ever make it to China, Jiuzhaigou is an absolute must.

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Here's a link to a China Travel Guide website for more pictures and information.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/jiuzhaigou/page1.htm

About the pictures on our website - they are taken from the photo book that we purchased as a souvenir. Our camera was broken and we didn't think we'd be able to describe the park adequately without some photos. Many of them were taken in autumn so they are inconsistent with the time that we visited.