Travel Notes|Chengdu-Leshan Giant Buddha-Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong

Chengdu

 

Panda base in the city.

There are a lot of pandas and the place is very big. It will be a bit confusing when you first enter. Once you get to the core area, you can easily take photos of lively pandas. And you can get very close to the panda, less than 5 meters at the closest point. When I went to the Beijing Zoo before, I could only see the pandas from a distance.

The panda babies in the delivery room are very cute, very cute!

Babies that are too young and have no hair are not good-looking. This kind of panda baby that has hair, is fluffy, and looks new is the best.

A street scene at the Panda Base. Very beautiful.

 

Leshan Giant Buddha

 

I signed up for a group tour in Chengdu and went to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha in the morning and Huanglongxi Ancient Town in the afternoon.

There are two ways to play the Leshan Giant Buddha. One is to walk like me. First climb to the top of the mountain, where the Buddha's head is, and then follow the trail from the Buddha's head to the Buddha's feet, and then walk up from the other side. This trip can observe the Buddha from many angles. The other way is to take a boat, because the Buddha faces the river, and you can see the panoramic view of the Buddha from the boat. However, the boat ride is an additional price, and the boat ride is very short. It ends when you get to the place and take photos. I prefer walking.

 

Huanglongxi Ancient Town

 

A stream, with shops on both sides... selling popular snacks from food streets across the country.

After walking through the shops and entering the town, it was quite comfortable. Unfortunately, my tour group left very little time in the town and didn't go around the town much, which was a bit regretful.

 

Dujiangyan

 

I signed up for a 3-day Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong tour, and Dujiangyan was a matching attraction.

Dujiangyan is a famous water conservancy project in ancient times. Under the tour guide's explanation... I didn't understand it, but the scenery of Dujiangyan is beautiful.

 

Jiuzhaigou Valley

 

To go to Jiuzhaigou, you can either take a plane or a bus. The high-speed rail seems to be under construction but not yet open. Flights are too expensive, so the bus I chose made the journey very difficult.

I just checked, it takes more than 7 hours from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou without traffic jams. I went out early and spent about 2 hours in Dujiangyan. It was already dark by the time we got near Jiuzhaigou. The bus was in a panic as it made continuous 180° turns in the dark.

I will take a break for about 2-3 hours on the way, and go upstream along the Minjiang River. The scenery is not bad, but from day to night, I feel stupid.

However, the scenery in Jiuzhaigou Valley is very beautiful. I will go there again when the high-speed rail opens.

The order of visiting Jiuzhaigou is to first take the scenic shuttle bus to the far end, and then walk back one stop at a time. Of course, you can also walk there. On the shuttle bus, when they saw the beautiful scenery, everyone made various noises of admiration, like a bus full of monkeys who had never seen the world. Jiuzhaigou is the only scenic spot I have seen so far that everyone in the car spontaneously admired.

(Jiuzhaigou Valley is shaped like a Y, so there are two farthest ends. If you want to finish the tour, you have to back up in the middle. )

The water is crystal clear.

When I went to Jiuzhaigou, the number of people in Jiuzhaigou was limited to 8,000. At that time, I felt that there were so many people, so much so that every station was buzzing with people, and I had to walk a few hundred meters to feel better. Now it seems that the current limit is 30,000...sigh.

Fall.

This trail is a fork in the road that requires a 3km hike. Because there were few people and it was clean, I resolutely chose this side road which took an hour to walk. There are fewer people, and the mood of looking at the scenery has improved a lot.

This should be the scenery on the fork in the road. It feels like a profit.

Various natural colors, heartbreakingly beautiful.

 

I was quite lucky during my trip to Jiuzhaigou. It was sunny in the morning, which was perfect for viewing the water. It rained lightly when I was about to go back in the afternoon, but nothing was delayed.

My trip to Huanglong was even more lucky. It snowed heavily in the morning. When I arrived at Huanglong, the snow had become lighter, but it hadn’t stopped yet. The scenic area staff had cleared the road in time, so I saw Huanglong in the snow.

 

Huanglong

 

Take the ropeway first. Obvious snow accumulation can be seen.

The cableway station leads to the primeval forest, which is particularly beautiful with the snowy scenery.

The highest point of Huanglong seems to be called Wucai Pond.

This location is 3,900 meters above sea level. I have some altitude sickness, so the climb was very slow.

When you get to Wucai Pond and go down, there are even more beautiful views.

Wow.

This one is particularly touching. Because it was already noon when I walked here, the snow stopped, the sun came out, and then the snow started to melt! The snow on the trees will continue to fall down, occasionally hitting the head, and more will fall into the water, causing ripples. The scene at that time gave me a feeling of interacting with the scenery and a feeling of blending into the scenery.

The warm sun and the humid air when the snow melts also make people feel comfortable.

Things like terraces are formed naturally. I don't understand the reasons for water calcification... I can only watch them with amusement.

 

After visiting Huanglong at noon, it was probably 8 or 9 pm when we returned to Chengdu. The return journey is more difficult than the outgoing journey, because the outgoing journey has expectations and the scenery outside the window. On the return journey, I only think about when I can arrive, when I can arrive, and whether my high-speed rail ticket will be missed...

After arriving in Chengdu, I immediately transferred to the high-speed train to Chongqing.

However, I only took this one photo in Chongqing.

 

Chongqing is also a city that I like very much and I will go there again in the future. Just the hot and sour noodles and the short crispy pork are enough to make you want to go back. The topography of the mountain city makes Chongqing very interesting to visit, but it is also easy to get lost, even looking at the map navigation...

It’s a pity that I didn’t eat hot pot alone in Chongqing.