Creedence Clearwater Revival

Sichuan Day 6, Part 1

This is our second day in the park itself.  The owner of the B&B told us not to go outside until people started showing up on the main trail.  This is because if the park authorities see us, they will charge us for a second day in the park.  After the crowds start pouring in,…

…we could venture out from our village.

Which we did.  But before we got beyond the boundaries of our village, we saw what has become a common vision in China:  a couple taking wedding pictures in a beautiful environmental environment, this time with unusual attire.

As we sat outside a little café in the village watching the wedding group, I noticed, off to the side, that there was a bucket next to a hose with water running slowly on the ground.  It seemed to me that someone meant for the hose to be filling the bucket, so I fixed the problem.

Let’s hope I didn’t ruin some guy’s experiment.

So, we joined the river of people flowing over the wooden walkway…

…in order to view the beautiful rivers of water…

…that eventually end up in small lakes…

…or large ones.

Every beautiful lake is bordered by a wooden walkway full of people, of course.

There were lots of gorgeous waterfalls…

…where inevitably some family group was taking a selfie.

X23 and I had no selfie stick but that didn’t stop her from taking selfies.

This particular lake was called Clear Lake (in Chinese, of course).  There were swarms (make that schools) of fish everywhere you would look.

Obviously, a good place for more wedding photos.

We continued along the wooden path and found a family who, contrary to the customs we generally observe in China, decided to go off-trail to have their lunch.

Exhausted from fighting the crowds every minute, we were relieved to find a relatively quiet side trail slightly away from the shore of Clear Lake.  The relative solitude allowed us unfettered observation of the local wildlife.

As we came to the end of this side path, there were a few students sitting on the steps at the end.

One of the frustrating things about China is that common courtesy, as defined by Americans, is often lacking.  In this instance, it was very clear from our noise that we were coming down the trail but there was no effort on the part of these students to “make a hole.”

We continued walking along the lake, and wherever there was an opportunity for a viewing platform, there was one.

This is because Clear Lake is particularly beautiful and clear.

One problem with crystal clear water is determining its depth.

The photo below is not upside down.  Need I say more?

At the far end of the lake there was a large are for people to gather…

…and, of course, buy stuff you don’t need.

I don’t why but this reminds me of New Mexico.  (Right, FII?)

(Day 6 to be continued.)

保罗

Wade in de Water, Chillen

Sichuan Day 5, Part 2

Yeah, we’re still here in Jiu Zhai Gou.

After finishing our food-truck special, it was, of course, bathroom time.  We found the public restrooms.  As it is worldwide, there was no waiting at the men’s toilets but there was a long line at the women’s.

X23 was on her way to get in this line when I noticed another section of women’s restrooms on the other side of the building – with no line!  She owes me one.

So now we started on our trip back to our village, partly by walking down the wooden trails with thousands of tourists and partly by shuttle bus.  There were fallen trees with mushrooms,…

…forests of red-trunked trees,…

…and more crystal-clear lakes.

This particular lake was very deep and especially clear.

I even think its name is “Clear Lake,” and, like everyone else, we had our picture taken nearby.

We hopped on the shuttle and headed back down the valley.  We noticed that one of the regular stops was at a largish building that seemed to be a local “Trading Post,” i.e., a retail place where we could buy really cheap junk that we don’t need and would eventually give it away to people we don’t like.  How can anyone resist such a lure?

We hopped of the bus and started towards the Trading Post, but halfway there we noticed a small footpath leading off toward an old village.

Off to our right was a woman outside her home,…

…and off to our left was a guy washing lettuce at a water pipe.

It turned out that he was the owner-chef of a small café in this village.  Because we were not the typical tourists, we took turns helping him wash the lettuce.

When we were done, we continued up the path to find a place where we could sit and rest for a few minutes.

I was a bit tired,…

…but X23, full of energy as usual, decided to become intimate with a nearby tree covered in prayer flags.

We walked a little around the hillside and noticed a number of “houses” in varying stages of construction – or perhaps deconstruction.

We saw a small concrete post in the ground that I assumed was an indicator of an underground electrical line.  Anyone have a better idea?

Finally, it was time to head back to the bus stop, and on the way we passed some horses saying their prayers.

Our next stop was at a place called “Stone Mill,”…

…and at the end of a short path was a fast moving river…

…with an old shack over it, presumably the actual mill.

It was a hot day and the water looked very inviting, but along the boardwalk the tourists stood and photographed the water.  I talked X23 into cooling her feet in the water, and out of hundreds of people on the boardwalk, she was the only one doing so.

Perhaps it’s against the rules, but there was no warning sign indicating this.  Notice X23’s excitement.

When I was in junior high and high school, one of the true joys of life was drinking fresh water from a clear stream such as the Kern River, so I bent down and did so here.

A young boy saw me doing this and decided to try it, while his mother and others looked on in amazement as if they’d never seen something like this before.

Arriving back at our own village, we sat for a few minutes on a bench outside the local Starbucks.

Before heading back to our hotel, we decided to peruse the village shops.  There was a hat place, but we decided against buying any hats, despite their chic design.

There was a jeweler at work making something interesting.  X23 told me what it is that he’s doing, but I forgot (duh).

Thirsty.  Yup, time for a drink.   We found a rather nondescript place (to say the least),…

With an interior that was anything but nondescript.

The woman in charge (manager? owner?) brought us some delicious barley tea…

…in a lovely bowl.

Outside, across the “road,” was a drawing in a shop window.  Still trying to decipher it.  Anyone?

We took an alternative route back to the hotel and came across more construction, this time more precariously on the walkway itself.

Back at our place, our hostess was preparing tea and dinner.

All the hotel’s residents sat at the same table for dinner.

What did we eat?  I’m not sure.  Mostly vegetables and seaweed over rice (yum),…

…accompanied by some milk with floating brown stuff that resembled malt.  As before, X23 told me what it was but I forgot.  Oh, well.

保罗

Chiquita Banana

(Carmen Miranda)

Sichuan, Day 4, Part 2

The Chinese are fond of lavish shows.  Almost every town (especially the tourist ones) have a big show of some sort in the evenings.  Jiu Zhai Gou is no different.  At some time during the afternoon of our first day we decided to buy tickets to the town’s big show.  This was done through the hotel owner via an agent.

The plan was for everyone who purchased tickets through this particular agent to meet at a location about a couple blocks from the show’s site.  From there we would be taken on foot to the entrance, then have about 30 minutes to peruse the shops, restaurants, and other stuff before we went into the auditorium.

We made a great effort to be on time, and we were.  Unfortunately, one couple was running late, so we had to wait at the location for some time.  I complained that we were not going to be able to look at the other stuff before the show starts, and that we should leave now.  Still, we waited.  Other people got irritated, too.  (I’m such a rebel rouser!)

We finally took off and arrived at the entrance to theater’s courtyard.

We wandered around the inner courtyard for a bit, but we didn’t have time to visit the shops and other stuff that encircled the theater.  There were lots of Buddhas, large and small, scattered around the courtyard,…

…and a huge one carved into the hillside.

The golden urn in her hand is about 10 feet in height.

You can see from the vertical sign that the exotic English translation of the show’s title is Romance Show.

We took a few photos around the courtyard.  Here are a couple of dragons.

Finally, we were let into the auditorium.  This is half the audience,…

…and this is the other half.

In this second photo note the walkway between the two halves of the audience.  This will come into play later.  (It’s possible you may also note the picture on the screen.)

Like so many shows in China, there were acrobats, which the audience loved.

In case you’re wondering, that is indeed real water pouring across the stage.  Water seems to be a central “figure” in many Chinese shows.

The photos did not come out as well as the video I took of the show, but I’m gonna put some here now in case you want to breeze through them.

There was the obligatory military part of the show, with even more water,…

…but that was nothing compared to the sheet of water that came down on the walkway between the two halves of the audience!

Finally, the finale, with everyone on stage.

Once outside in the courtyard, we heard some music and noticed that everyone was cheering for something.

Walking towards the source of the commotion, we discovered that two of the performers were mingling among the crowd, available for photos.

No, that’s not Carmen Miranda.

The crowd dissipated and we found we were almost completely alone, walking around the shops, etc., which were mostly closed.

We examined the many prayer ribbons scattered along the wooden fence,…

…then headed down this fake alley…

…which in places had paintings and other stuff on the walls.

X23 posed to demonstrate her athleticism,…

…and I demonstrated mine.

“No matter how high or great the throne, what sits on it is the same as your own.”

We found a slanted room (or maybe X23 is slanted),…

…and another room with a weird table setting.

As usual, we were hungry, but now everything seemed closed.  Then we saw a small eating place that was empty…

…except for the cook cleaning up.

We approached her and, thanks to our charm, she agreed to make us some soup.

It looked great to me – at least until she added a bunch of spicy stuff.

In the end, it looked good…

…and tasted great, despite X23’s serious countenance.

保罗

Lavender Blue (Dilly, Dilly)

(Not quite a one-hit wonder, this is one of Sammy Turner’s hits in the late 1950s.  Find it on YouTube.)

Sichuan Day 4, Part 1

From the day I arrived in China years ago, my now good friend MQ has been telling me that I MUST go to Jiu Zhai Gou, a national park in Sichuan Province.  He said this place is regarded by many as the most beautiful natural place in China.  Jiu Zhai Gou (pronounced “Jew Jye Go”) is the main reason X23 and I came to Sichuan, and now, on Day 4, we’re finally off to this “paradise” by a short plane ride.

The airport is high up in the mountains on a plateau, and thus we had to take a long taxi ride down into the town of Jiu Zhai Gou.  On the way there, the taxi driver pointed out that it’s much colder here than in Chengdu, whereupon X23 realized that she didn’t have a jacket.  Thus the taxi driver took us first to a sporting goods store on the outskirts of town where X23 bought the needed apparel.

Across the street from the store was a field of lavender, and I couldn’t resist having photo of me in my customary pensive and peaceful mood.

X23 also assumed her customary low-key demeanor.

The route into town reminded me a little of Montana.

The town of Jiu Zhai Gou (as opposed to the national park of the same name) has the colorful prayer flags…

…and colorful buildings typical of Tibetan villages.

We finally arrived at our little hotel, which was on an unassuming side street.

The place was clean but austere.  In the rooms there are no towels or toilet paper.

Hungry.  Always hungry.  Fortunately, X23 has an appetite almost equal to mine.  We set off on foot to find an eating establishment, and around the corner we saw this place.

Who can pass up an opportunity to luncheon at a place with such a welcoming name?

Inside were two tables resentfully squeezed in next to the storage area.

Though not lavish, the place seemed clean enough with clean dishes.

We were greeted warmly by the waitress-owner-cook (and probably also chief bottle washer)…

…who immediately poured us some barley tea, which turned out to be surprisingly delicious.

She helped us select 2 dishes from the menu,…

…which we devoured as if we hadn’t eaten in weeks.

While we were eating, the owner set about to crack a bunch of goose eggs into a trash basket, fortunately lined with a plastic bag.  Maybe French omelets for dinner?

After lunch, we set off to explore the town.

Jiu Zhai Gou is situated in a small valley between two mountains (as valleys are wont to be),…

…with a fast moving stream coursing down the middle.

A quick pause for a little ice cream dessert:

We were reminded occasionally that although this is a big tourist destination, it’s still rural.

Just like everywhere else in China, children often spend their non-school hours in the stores or restaurants where one or both parents work.

We came upon a couple women sitting at a table outside a restaurant.

They were picking unwanted stuff out of some kind or fungus or whatever that falls from nearby trees.  This was destined to be part of the evening’s dinner menu.  Yum.

The people in this part of China have stockier builds than those in northern China.

We continued exploring the side streets…

We saw lots of construction, implying that tourism is growing (which ultimately turned out to all too true, as you will see).

Occasionally we passed prayer wheels that people spin as they walk by.

On the main street you see poor people paid to lure people to hotels.

We finally found a small store that sold towels, and we bought the biggest ones they had.  Honest.

Like most Tibetan villages, Jiu Zhai Gou is a very colorful place, with, as I said, flags everywhere…

…and lavishly painted houses.

There are flowers everywhere, also.

Then we looked up and didn’t quite believe our eyes.

Yes, it was a swastika.

But not quite.

We saw an old woman sitting by herself.

Most Chinese people are reluctant to approach strangers, but not X23.

The woman was saying her prayers with her beads.

The two women hit it off quite well, and they were both smiling when we left.

Back at the hotel, we loafed the rest of the afternoon on the second floor patio,…

…eating some peanuts and some other kind of weird nuts.

保罗