China Trip Day 6 : Huanglong, Day 7 : Chengdu

It was raining very hard in the morning. We had traditional Chinese breakfast, same as yesterday and headed to Hunglong. Before went to Huanglong we stopped by at another Tibetan house. At first I didn’t know what it was for. We all gathered in their so called livingroom. One Tibetan young girl told us about Tibetan culture which of course I only understood a little. The more I heard her story, I finally understood that it was another tourist trap. She introduced us to some kind of Tibetan belt made of metal and she said even the doctor in Beijing said it’s good for back. She told more story about more Tibetan accessories related to health and as I guessed, she sold those accessories. Most of the people were so attracted but me, my mom and some others went outside back to the bus.

China Trip Day 5 : Jiuzhaigou

I woke up with sore throat that day. I didn't know that the tap water there contains of high concentration of Chlorine. I pour some water into a clear glass that morning and the water color was almost white with chlorine particles flowing. Don't ever drink tap water in Jiuzhaigou! We had breakfast at 7.00 am. The breakfast was traditional Chinese breakfast. Mantau (plain bun) with some vegetables. They also served yellow color hot soup with only rice as its’ ingredients and it was bland. So just imagine you put some rice into a bowl of hot water and drink/eat it. That’s what it tasted like.

We headed to Jiuzhaigou National Park at 8.00 am. It took about 30 mins from our hotel to reach the place. There were so many China group tours there. I didn’t see any foreigner at all at that day. If you have plan to visit China, avoid China holidays. China itself has a very large number of local tourists. 

On the way from parking lot to the entrance, I found something really unique and fascinating. I saw the drainage at the road side and it had 2 water colors, blue and brown. The blue one is the water from inside Jiuzhaigou national park and the brown one is just regular drainage water. Pretty cool isn't it?

China Trip Day 4 : Chengdu-Jiuzhaigou

Itinerary : Chengdu – Wenchuan – Maoxian – Songpan - Jiuzhaigou

Once again we packed our luggage and boarded to Jiuzhaigou by bus. A driver picked us up at hotel at 07.00 am and drove us to gathering place. The bus should come at 08.00 am but it was late. It arrived at 08.40 am. There were 37 people who joined the tour and we were the only foreigners. The tour guide speaks only Chinese and doesn’t understand English at all. Worse, he can’t read our name that is written in alphabet and he called us “You two” during the tour -.-“

Tour guide

The road to Jiuzhaigou is curvy but the road is good. Only in some spots the road are in maintenance due to the impact of Sichuan earthquake back in 2008. The traffic was already crowded when we departed. If you are planning to go to Jiuzhaigou by bus from Chengdu, it’s better to go as early as possible to avoid traffic jam. Our bus was comfortable enough and air conditioned. The scenery along the way to Jiuzhaigou is incredibly beautiful.