Blogs from Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, China, Asia - page 3

The Sichuan province is surrounded by mountain ranges on all but its eastern side, with the Himalayas on it's western side. These mountains are Holy to the Tibetans who inhabit them in villages and monasteries. Naturally its very high altitude, and is full of rivers, lakes and gorges. Its home to a 500km2 nature reserve and is the native home of the giant panda. Intriuging? Thats what I thought... So the time came to say goodbye to the charismatic Xi'an, for a week or two anyway. I left Tom, my friend who I will be spending New Years with in Korla, with the money to get me a train ticket when he buys his. One thing that is frustratingly flawed about buying train tickets in China is you can only buy tickets leaving from the station ... read more

Was hier oben auf fast 3000müM die Natur hervorzaubert ist schlicht atemberaubend. Ich habe einige wunderschöne, klare Schweizer Bergseen gesehen. Aber was sich mir hier offenbart, stellt einfach alles in den Schatten was ich je vor die Linse bekam. Glasklar ist gerade mal der Vorname, die Seen sind so transparent, dass man jedes Detail am Grund der über 10m tiefen Seen sehen kann! Und dazu die Farbe! Wenn man einem 5 Jährigen einen Farbkasten gibt und ihm sagt: „Male einen See“ dann nimmt er die Farbe welche sich die Natur hier dafür auch ausgesucht hat: Blau Blau Blau! WOW! Bilder sagen so viel mehr… Wir verbringen einen ganzen Tag damit dieses Naturschauspiel zu bewandern und zu bewundern. Viel mehr hat die Stadt leider nicht zu bieten und so beschliessen wir am nächsten Tag weiter nach Songpan ... read more

Lets see... what has happened since my last entry... On Friday the 25th we went to see the Terracotta Warriors, which is about a 1 hour bus ride from Xi'an. For those not familiar with them, they were one of the greatest archeological finds ever. I think they were discovered in the late 70's (I should know this...) but I do remember that they are 2200 years old. Just google it if you're really into the history. Basically it is an army of thousands of life sized clay warriors, with horses, weapons, the whole schebang. Each of the warriors is unique, and it has been suggested that they were modeled after the faces of real warriors. I'm glad we saw them, BUT both steph and I agreed that they did not live up to the hype. ... read more

Apologies for another Blog so soon, but this place deserves a space of its own. Jiu Zhai Gou is a National Park in Northern Sichuan where glaciers have created a series of emerald coloured lakes, all surrounded by misty peaks. It was raining the day I went which was unfortunate. However, it was still an amazing place, especially since the rain meant I had the place to myself for hours at a time. I really want to come back one day and see the place in Autumn. These photos don't do the place justice. See the following link:- Jiu Zhai Gou ... read more

The Nine Castles Valley—Earthly Paradise The high land area in western Sichuan Province is highly likely considered the most expectable destination for backpackers, photographers, ordinary tourists or anyone who wonna learn an absolute place in lifetime. That’s Jiuzhaigou which is now a national park, translated as Nine Castles Valley, a Tibetan county with both incredible landscape and amazing native custom, a heavenly dreamland. Been years a long long bus ride over 10 hours from Chengdu, the provincial capital city of Sichuan Province, through that high land region can’t be skipped till an airport small but functions well accomplished couple of years ago, the air ride over those dagger-like snow peaks takes only 45 min, the 10’000 plus feet altitude in that airport makes ppl being confidence that they are getting closer to the blue sky for ... read more