SiChuan Getaway

Tomorrow I am going for another China trip, yet I haven’t write any about my last Sichuan trip. So, I’ll make a quick one about it.

sleepy toddler panda

It was my second trip to SiChuan, 5 years apart. Of course, things were completely different back then, we took train, stayed in 2 star hotel accompanied by cockroaches, and had almost vegetarian meals throughout the trip. We were not vegetarian, but our budget was quite tight. But it was fun and memorable, things that cannot be duplicate – travelling with lovely friends; we were young, fun, fearless, curious and thrifty. Hahaha. Not that my recent trip wasn’t fun. It was. But you somehow recall those sweet memories. Anyway, let’s start.

So, we arrived to the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu. It’s 3rd largest city in China, nice place, nice weather and nice food. It is the home of Ma La Huo Guo, famously known abroad as “Chinese Hotpot” – they put the Sichuan pepper too inside. Chengdu is developing fast, last time I was here, I remember that its airport was decently nice, but now it’s so big and they are still continuing the construction.

SiChuan operas

We visited ShuFengYaYun Tea House on Qinghai rd. Here they have daily show of SiChuan opera, traditional music performance and the super famous “Changing Face”. Note that Changing Face is originally comes from Sichuan, its secret passed down through generations, and so far, no spoilage. Btw, they serve some tea and peanuts; my advice is please have the tea, but leave the peanuts – kinda old. Here I show you some of the pics I took that night.

Next, we took plane to JiuzaiHuangLong; do not plan your trip tightly as you can’t really predict the weather. Delays are more common compares to on-time schedule, plus you might have ‘high altitude’ sickness when you landed. Although the flight only took 2 hours from Chengdu, please count it as one-whole-day. If you are on tight budget and have time to spare, consider taking the train. Don’t forget to prepare some jacket, it’s almost certain to be quite chilly up there.

Nuorilang Falls - JiuZaiGou

The purpose to go all the way here is of course, Jiuzaigou and Huang Long scenic park. Jiuzaigou is gorgeous alpine valley studded with dazzling lake as clear and bright as gemstones. Heavily forested and surrounded by snowy peaks. Referring to the name, this place is home to 9 Tibetan villages (thus the name), but not all are open for tourists.  The JZG reserve park is spectacular; you can see the so many lakes, ponds, waterfalls. Words can’t even describe its beauty – I hope my pics can capture the pristine of it. Please consider to spend at least 1 whole day there.  Btw, the condition of the park is immaculate: no rubbish, no smell, even toilet is hygienic.

Huang Long

Next, HuangLong, this place is not for the weak hearted people, seriously. HuangLong is about 3600m high, either you are taking cable car or not, there’ll be a lot of hiking and walking involved.  For me, it’s sort of a self assessment test here, I reached the top before, why can’t I do it again? There’s a Tibetan/Taoism temple on the peak just before you reach the scaling turquoise pools. Yes, you have to reach to the top to see the travertine pools, which resembles Dragon’s scales. (kinda similar to Pamukkale, Turkey)

Giant Buddha // Sleeping Buddha

Another place to see in Sichuan is The Giant Buddha, it is carved onto a cliff overlooking Dadu and Min River. It is claimed to be largest sitting Buddha in the world, soaring at 71m high. Last time I visit, I see from above, even a single curl of Buddha’s hair’s diameter is about my height. Imagine that!!! In order to see the Buddha completely, get a quick cruise down the river, and you shall see the guardians on both sides too. On the other side of river, you can see “Sleeping Buddha”, it’s actually piles of hills that resembles a sleeping Buddha (esp on clear day, I didn’t quite get it that day).

Munching Panda

Btw, there’s one place is I didn’t visit on recent trip, it’s Emei Shan. Unless you are into Buddhist temples, this place would be just another strenuous hiking track with pretty sceneries and wicked monkeys.
A trip to Sichuan wouldn’t be complete without visiting their famous Giant Panda (last time, I didn’t visit due to budget constrain… hahaha). This time I visited Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. I didn’t see any new-borns tough; but I see some clumsy toddlers and sleepy adults. I found one having his meal. Cute.