Thoughts on China

Update: OK, I added the pictures. To see more of them, click here. Also, I had a nice long nap this afternoon. I’m going to go back tomorrow and see if I have a different impression. But, here is the unedited first impression…..

Well, if I knew before I came what Jiuzhaigou was like, I wouldn’t have come, at least not for two full days. I saw all I needed to see today, but the plane ticket I booked isn’t until the day after tomorrow. Sorry, I guess I should explain what I’m talking about…

First, let me say that I left the SD card in my room, so I’ll come back and put in some pictures later…

Jiuzhaigou is a Chinese National Park, located in the mountains of Northern Sichuan. Very similar to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, huge tacky tourist towns have been built right outside the gates. In the Smokey Mountains, it’s Cherokee, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Here, I don’t know what it’s called, but it filled up with tourists, tour buses, etc.

I did find a decent restaurant in town by talking with one of the tour bus drivers, who was a nice man who admits he would not go on a tour if and when he gets the money to go on vacation! He said all the ones in the the tourist area (as opposed to the town a couple of kilometers away) are overpriced and not that good.

Today, though, I got up early and got to the park a few minutes after 7:00AM, when it opens. I went through the standard hassles of the nonqueing mentality here, though it wasn’t so bad, since if everybody is cutting in line, nobody minds being cut in on, they just return the favor. So, I got the ticket and hopped on a bus inside the park (the only transportation there). I took it all the way to the end of the park, about 28kms (multiply by .6 to get about 17 miles). Very early, it was easy enough to get away from the madding crowds, but after less than an hour, enough busloads had descended on the park that it was impossible to get away.

Again, the scenery was spectacular, but there’s only so many people bumping into you, taking pictures, crowding on the bus, etc. before it loses its luster. Also, while the waterfalls and clear blue (really) lakes are something, there isn’t a huge variety in what you see, so after the fifth or sixth bus stop (and walk to the next one) I was tired, hungry and had had enough.

I caught the bus to what appeared to be the half way point in the park. It was well equipped with three or four different priced buffets. I had heard that the food at Jiuzhaigou was not very good and was overpriced. I got the Y60 ($8) ticket and was disappointed to find that there was not one item I wanted to take more than one taste of. It was awful!!!

Since I was tired anyway, I just took a bus to the exit and came back to the hostel in a taxi (only a $1 ride). I’ll fill in a couple more details later, but I basically have a day and a half to rest and recuperate in a nice, natural area. I paid the Y20 ($2.67) to make the ticket good for tomorrow, too, but I may go over to Huanglong tomorrow, since I’d still have to pay 90Y ($12) for the bus ticket for tomorrow.

You can see how awesome the waterfalls are when I get the pictures off of my camera.

See you…