Since our daughter finished her Sinology study and our son in law was sent out to China the more reasons to visit China every year. Five times so far. The first time with a western group for a week’s visit of Beijing and after that always on our own. This was the first time we participated in a Chinese group. Even the guides didn’t speak English or as we later found out, the guides were among the persons who didn’t speak English, many did after all.

So our journey had two goals, finding out about Juizhaigou (often mentioned as a class above Guilin) and finding out whether my wife and me, two overseas Chinese with only a smattering of Chinese memorized in their midfifties would be able to survive.

There were other reasons too, why we opted for a Chinese speaking arrangement, availability and price. There were no english speaking tours at that moment. The tickets were brought to Ria’s (my daughter’s) appartment, what a service. But I had to sign a few pages in Chinese I didn’t even understand. Only later would we find out… This was the first time I ever done it... About the price we found out that the flight from Beijing to Chengdu alone would cost more than the whole tour. Some 4000 kwai’s compared to 3700 kwai’s. (To make it easy divide by 10 to get the approximate euro amount.) But wait until I reveal more details.

Starting from Chengdu
So we flew down to Chengdu on Tuesday. I ‘ve never heard of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan which is one of the largest and most heavily populated provinces in the midst of China. But a week before on the Dragonair flight to Hongkong I noticed that there were no less than four daily Dragonair flights between Hongkong and Chengdu compared to six flights to Beijing. So presumably Chengdu wouldn’t be a backwater. Indeed the huge international terminal connected by a tollway to the city itself dissipated any doubts. Highrise buildings most in the 20 stories category everywhere and broad avenues and roads. We were placed in a 3 stars hotel presumably a military hotel since the rate board mentioned special halfrates for military personnel but no English speaking personnel at all.

We managed to get the receptionist write the address of the main shopping centre on a card of the hotel. This would save us a lot of effort by showing the card to the taxi driver that’s how we usually get around. Since our Mandarin was as bad as the receptionist’s English this time it was quite an adventure stepping in a taxi. Bingo, we arrived in the midst of a huge multistories complex of buildings where the lanes were for pedestrians only, like in Antwerp. So we were at the right place. There was a big Japanese dept. store and we had some look-see and tasted some snacks and everything that was being sold. We brought that habit with us from Tokyo. Later on we spent some hours just looking at the mass of people flaunting their way in a much less unhurriedly pace than Beijing, Hongkong or Tokyo where we had been the week before. There was also this drooly and persistent rain just enough to wet the grounds and mirror the pedestrian crowds with their colorful umbrella’s. It was the first time we saw special umbrella’s shops. Was it premonition? I bought a rain jacket which would be handy in the coming days in these areas.

The next moring, Wednesday 06.00 hours we were fetched by the bus and the guide. The beginning of a  routine of morning call, breakfast and get on the bus. By the time we went home we memorized the terms and at the end of the tour the guide who took us back to the airport got in a giggling fit because I could repeat what she said about morning call etc.in flawless Mandarin… and she thought I didn’t speak any.

Journey to Jiuzhaigou (Nine Villages Gully)
According to Wikipedia A gully is a geological feature that is created by running water such that it forms a deep ditch or small valley. Such features are usually small, on the order of metres to tens of metres. The word "gully" originates from the French word "goulet", a diminutive form of "goule" which means "throat". Well it may have been a small valley then, but now it surely was more than a few hundred metres in depth.

Someone informed us that the journey from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou would take 12 hours. The tour operator said reassuringly five hours and then afterwards 9 hours. The truth is that it still takes a gruelling 12 hours. On the first day we travelled 11 hours, 10 hours moving and one hour waiting for an avalanche to be cleared up, to a village some two hours before Jiuzhaigou. Lonely Planet, (edition 1998 mentioned:” It takes from two to three days to get there…”) nor the tour operator had cautioned that almost 90% of the trip would be twisting and turning and pure torture for anybody with a weakness for motion sickness. Adding to it would be the mountain sickness which doesn’t make you nauseous but rather drowsy among other things.

The bus seats you took on the very first day were yours for the whole trip and were respected as such. The guide(s) always took the best seats in front for obvious reasons. Every morning the guide managed to inform everybody for not less than an hour. It must have been from the sex life of the local yak to the itinerary of the tour. We were spared .... All along the road we met a great deal of buses with domestic tourists. There must have been hundreds of them. Our bus had some thirty passengers. Reclining seats, AC, DVD player but no onboard toilets.

In the late afternoon we came to our endstop for that day, a temple. Since we weren’t interested in temples and additionally no video- or photography was allowed we preferred to walk around and wait in the bus. The hotel we would be using was not far from the temple. A quite large building (for that village) with only 4 stories.

Tiredly we came to the conclusion that the elevator in the hotel didn’t work, no hot water and even no towels and I soon discovered no receptionists downstairs. Gracefully some competent young man with a walkie-talkie understood my predicaments and within five minutes a whole set of towels, large and small was brought to our room. I didn’t bother to check the AC. You only had to open all windows and the fresh and unpolluted air would flow in your lungs supposing you hadn’t too much trouble from acute mountain sickness. To tell you the truth, we had just enough trouble to look it up in the Lonely Planet and then went to sleep reassured. Oxygen spray cans can be bought for 35 kwai’s in many places.

One thing all the three star Chinese hotels we visited had in common were the grimy carpets of their rooms. Most of these hotels have these throwaway sandals which are not a luxury but I presume should have been dealt out earlier (before the carpets went grimy) or maybe they should adapt the Japanese way of leaving one’s shoes at the entrance of the room.

Arrival in Jiuzhaogou
Early in the morning on Thursday we completed our journey to Jiuzhaigou, it took us two hours. So the whole journey took us 13 hours. We had to wait another hour before the guide arranged our ticket. Sometimes not so much understanding what is going on can be frustrating or soothing depending on one’s mood.

I would have never expected that Jiuzhaigou would be like this. I haven’t traveled to many places in China yet, but I think this is a place which would be difficult to beat, I should never tell anybody about this place. Please forget reading this and never come to Jiuzhaigou!! A great deal of my satisfaction visiting Jiuzhaigou also comes from the knowledge acquired that it’s possible to display pure pristine nature to hundreds of thousands (of Chinese) and let them enjoy it while being educated.

Many persons have been there before us but failed to tell about it in an adequate way, hence this story. Jiuzhaigou is a vast area of some 750.000 square kilometers. Declared a World Natural Heritage and World Biosphere Reserve by the UN and a National Nature Reserve by the Chinese Government. It lies in the northern part of the province Sichuan. The local minorities are the Qiang and the Tibetan Arba. It’s actually a valley much higher than e.g. the Grand Canyon (2000-4300 m) but much shorter (± 50 km long). It has the form of the letter Y. The upper portions are the western (Zechawa Gully) and the eastern (Rice Gully) parts stretching to the north and the stock is (Nuorilang) Gully and  the road towards the entrance in the south. Each northern part is about 18 km. And the southern stem of the Y is 15 km’s. Entrance fees to this paradise was 210 kwai’s plus I suppose a mandatory 90 kwai’s for transportation on the many buses provided by the administration. I supposed mandatory as nobody was asked to show any bustickets inside the area. There were two kinds of buses. Big green ones and smaller brown ones. It seemed the big ones were between the greater distances and the brown ones stopping at every sight. The ticket includes a VCD of 10 minutes with some heli-pics

But how to describe Jiuzhaigou? Suppose it was 2050 and due to ecological disasters around the world many forests have been cut down and we were all living in concrete cities. I would go here with my grandchildren. I would hear the same screams and ooh’s and aah’s I am hearing now in the bus. I would explain: that’s how a lake looks and a primeval forest and a river etc. Did you ever wade through one grandpa? Yes, they would ask that, since it wasn’t allowed at Jiuzhaigou because that is the high price you’ll pay for keeping everything pristine as it is. Jiuzhaigou is actually a museum, a “bouwuguan” (Chinese for museum) for everything nature. Just looking and no touching. The hundreds of thousands of visitors, mostly domestic are treated to one of the most exquisite, pristine displays of nature on this world. And all the time everybody stays within the boundaries of wooden boardwalks, no trespassing was allowed or noticed. Would the fine be heavy? Trees were left where they tumbled in the lake and all the waters were so clean and clear. No feeding the fish. The first attraction everybody was brought to was the Long Lake which reminds me of a North-American lake. Other sites make you think you are right in the heart of the Alpines.

Especially the first sites are overburdened with thousands of tourists and spoiled by locals selling touristic trinkets. Because of the many tourists wringing themselves through, locals set up a local photoshop computer setup where you could be photographed and pasted against a readymade background made with no crowds at all. Other sights were comparatively spared and near the end of the day, we took a route where we met less than 5 persons. In China, how could that be? A little bit scary? well at least strange. Did something happen and were we the only survivors?

I mentioned the valley as a letter Y, where each portion would be some 18 Km. Actually it’s recommended to spend a whole day on each leg. I don’t know whether a threeday pass would cost less. The tours all offer a one day stay only. Besides that there are actually more sites in the neighbourhood (42 Km) worth seeing like e.g. Huang Long. A rafting tour and much more but some 45 km’s from the entrance. There’s more to discover and a Sheraton hotel just opened, oh my , that was a slip of the tongue…

There are some 17 waterfalls in the area, But one is particularly attrractive since it is a broad sloping waterfall, a shoal. Each sight looked like it was on DVD, IMAX or whatever, as pristine, untouched yet by humans. I imagined what a great opportunity to educate a whole generation of Chinese on the importance of keeping it that way.

At the end of the day we did a combination of hiking some 7 Km’s and busing the rest of the way towards the exit. Because the boardwalks snake into, alongside and over the sights they have steps here end there, some steep. So no elderly and handicapped should be brought over here at least not without assistance and planning.

A week before I was awed by the wellkept Japanese gardens in Kyoto but Jiuzhaigou is natural, not manmade and that was apparent. A reminder of how beautiful God has made our world if only mankind had been more appreciative and less destroying. There is hope that the journey will be less torturous in future. Everywhere on the route we saw pillars and tunnels being made ready for presumably a railroad. As our bus creeped along the mountain road at speeds of 30 Km average I assumed the birdflight distance must be only some 300 Km. One toll road or train route would bring Jiuzhaigou hours nearer and I would come back again and again. There is also a helicopter flight and airport I’m still investigating.

Travelling with the Chinese
Now back again to the Chinese group environment. After all we found out that most educated young people in our tour group spoke English, exceptions make the rule. Their English was better than our Chinese. The few students among them dared risking losing face, speaking with us, And there was even an English teacher for postgraduates whose impeccable English was noticeable. We blended right in the group and had a good time with each other. Chinese are hardy people and the few suffering motionsickness did it so discreetly…. People were friendly and attentive.

But there was only one big but, the food...
Strangely for China where food is a premium, even wellknown throughout the world, the food we were served was abominally bad. Allthough plenty, usually at least 9 dishes it kept me on a 4 days diet. There was alway rice, some clear soup, some vegetable courses, one small fish, a toufu course and some others with all kinds of meat for every table with about 9 (victims). Writing it down now everything seems to be very acceptable. I now understand whenever I meet someone telling me how Chinese food in Holland is much better (it isn’t of course). We once went to Lijiang, Yunnan province and had the same experience. We found it difficult to find good Yunnan food. And I thought only Cantonese or Fukienese would be good. That’s until we found Silk Road in the HouHai area in Beijing, exquisite Yunnan food.

The real culprit we found out was the Chinese system. Competition being murderous, food was the last expenditure on the list of tour operators. A four days journey to Jiuzhaigou starting from Chengdu costs 860 kwai pp for two in a room and 800 kwai’s pp for three person’s. Comparatively the entrance prices for the two main visits Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong was already 510 kwai’s p.p. For an idea of the value, some of our group spend up to 300 kwai’s on foodstuff only in one shop and an optional wildwater river ride costs 150 kwai’s. So what could you expect was reserved for the food after you paid for hotel, bus and driver? These things were being disclosed to us by members of the group who were told by the guide. And don’t think the Chinese were satisfied with that kind of food. Many would prefer to get better quality and pay more, some even thought of driving their own car the next time. Breakfast was equally bad, some steamed buns, an egg and some condiments to give taste besides an absolutely tasteless watery congee.

Guides
It’s not customarily to give tips to drivers and guides in China. Our guide even paid for the privilege for being a guide. When I signed the contract I got a translation of the most important things upon arrival in Chengdu, one point explaining that I had given permission for the guide to bring us to a maximum of eight shoppingpoints. The third day we were brought to three shopping points. One selling jewelry and trinkets, two, selling meat and other foodstuffs and three, selling medicinal products after being indoctrinated for 15 minutes in a lounge (class) room. After we bought something we had to give a copy of the receipt to the guide who would collect his commission and that would be his only income. Each visit incl. the commission collection could last for more than an hour.

On the fourth and last day we were brought to a tea selling and tasting shop and then to a Yak horn factory where e.g. almost the same combs were sold at 25% in the stalls in front of the entrance, without brand and show and had different colors. The tea was a big hit since we could taste four different sorts of tea and got an explanation that the Qang minority was a matriarchal society where men were considered less than women. (among other things).

So having this experience all we would have to do next time was take a cluster of bananas, some preserved meat, yoghurt (the baggage remained cold throughout the summer journey). Instant noodle can be bought everywhere and life wouldn’t be that hard. And you could still have some vegetables or beancurd from the table to your liking.

Huang Long
The third day Friday, was a disaster as it rained all day. We were going to visit Huang Long. There were watered terraces with multicolors beciause of the sediments in the soil. When the bus entered the area the fog was so thick that one could only see the stripes in the middle of the road three meters ahead of the literally forward inching bus. The entrance was wet and you could be carried by a sedanchair along a distance of 7,5 km’s for four hours for 220 kwai’s. But we felt a bit lost, couldn’t get our bearings and didn’t understand anybody or anything. I also felt the uselessness of going there and missing the sun for the video and pictures. Soaked we looked for a sanctuary at the visitor’s center where we found a good vantage point overlooking the area and sipped some expensive tea, with free refills for hours. In China tea and coffee are always more expensive than softdrinks. We also saw the movies and the pictures and videotaped everything. None of the group had ever seen these pictures. They were professional pictures and I doubted if any fellow passenger could take them that good themself on that day.

Going home
The fourth day Saturday, everybody was happy to be going home  and tired and feeling the consequences of the soaking. After visiting two more selling points and the wildwater ride at Wangcheng we undertook the journey to Chengdu and arrived about 4 pm after a late lunch at 15.00 hours. An evening in the same military hotel and dinner in a nice restaurant with good views in the centre of Chendu and the next Sunday morning we flew to Beijing again.

We caught a cold after arrival mainly because of not eating adequately and the soaking rain but recuperated within a day. I mention this to remind that one day should be planned just to recover after such a demanding journey. We now know how we should have prepared ourself. Juizhaigou here we come again.

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