Day 3 - Juizhaigou "9 Villages Valley"

A perfect day for the mountains -- clear and cool.




This is what it looks like when you visit one of China's most famous scenic spots, Juizhaigou National Park, during Golden Week. Kind of like Disney World during spring break and Niagara Falls on a Saturday in August multiplied by a factor of 10. We beat the crowds through a combination of true cluelessness and use of the "we are clueless foreigners" strategy. For example, we accidentally entered the gate for handicapped and ended up at the front of the park bus line (private buses aren't allowed in the park). But we blithely boarded the bus anyway, and when the crowd surged forward, I planted myself next to the door with the diaper back pack on and announced "I've got you covered" to the other 11 people in our group of three families and we all got on the first bus. Then we missed the stop for the most popular sites in the park, like the Five Color Lake above (look at that color!) first thing in the morning and ended up at the far end of the park -- and had a blissful morning with few other hikers on the trails...




Swan Lake above.. just as the sun peeked out.







Helen is sporting a Tibetan blanket shawl which was naturally christened "little red hiking hood"

Grass Lake above, with floating islands of grass.

A family photo on the bridge across Rhinoceros lake ..more of a rapids really, on the way to one of the remnants of the nine villages mentioned in the name of the park. It refers to nine Tibetan villages located here of old. The Tibetan people are actually no longer allowed to live in the park, but come in to work in the villages during the day for the tourists, like these women who were just finishing their weaving demonstration when they stopped to make friends with Sophia and Helen, and ply the baby with fruit.

Not to be confused with the tourists dressing up like Tibetans to have their pictures taken.

We spotted a series of Tibetan prayer wheels set up to turn constantly with the flow of the water. In yesterday's post there was a picture of Thomas turning one of these, and I should have explained that the turning of the wheel, which has prayers inscribed on it, is the way they believe the prayers are "read". So having the river do the work seemed quite ingenious. A lot of people have seen the prayer flags before in pictures, and know that they are left to wear slowly away in the elements as the prayers are "read" in the wind.

A rare moment of freedom for the backpack baby at snack time.

Just breathtaking, really -- if I were a decent photographer, you would have a chance of appreciating how spectacular it is.

In school today Helen had to bring photos of herself on vacation in Golden Week , and another child had been there as well...sort of like the Grand Canyon in terms of its prominence as a tourist destination...unbelievably I had no idea when we signed on to the trip just how fantastic it would be. We fed the kids some KFC knock-off chicken to compensate for whatever bad food might lie ahead and boarded the buses for yet another night trip to a marginal hotel...this one in Nanping. At least the food was OK, although they couldn't manage to put an extra bed in our room so Michael and I had to split up with the kids. I was so bored in the room, that I tried to call my mom -- and had a clear as a bell cell signal in the middle of the mountains...why is it that we can have that kind of cellular network here in China but can't keep bathroom plumbing in a hotel working properly?

Our friend Deborah came over and sent me out to see the shops on the street of our hotel for a few minutes, all open and hopping at ten at night during the holiday, and I got into a great yarn and cross stitch store...it was almost painful to leave all that yarn behind..I only got enough to make a cotton dress for Sophia (the only pattern I brought)...but the prices were so cheap I could have filled a suitcase..oh well) I didn't have enough yuan in my wallet, so I ended up in the middle of a complicated conversation in Chinese and English over exchange rates for my US dollars -- I think I got a pretty good deal...7 rolls of cotton double knitting yarn for $5 US. The following morning would find us turning back towards Xi'an for the journey home.