2017-09-20+21 Tibet Trip, Days 13+14, Dujiangyan, Panda, Going Home (Final)

DAY 13

After two nights in Nyingchi, we concluded our trip to Tibet and flew back to Chengdu.  Our flight out of Nyingchi Airport was in the morning.  In less than two hours, we had arrived at Chengdu Airport.  Our big tour bus picked us up and we were soon on our way to our lunch spot, South Bridge 南橋.  It is a small ancient village near Dujiangyan 都江堰 - the main attraction for our tour this afternoon.

The village is well kept with a quaint ambiance.  The main street is paved with paver stones and with well-grown foliage hovering over.  It's quite attractive if not for the overly aggressive solicitations from restaurants around.
(Click on each picture to get the full-size view.  Some pictures were taken by Ben, Peter, and others without explicit attribution.)

The frontage of the bridge.  Its ornate facade and the intricacy of the bridge itself are quite impressive.   

There were many eateries lining along the street.  We picked the one that seemed to be the busiest.  I don't remember the exact names of the food we ordered but they were all tasty.  One member of our group, Ben, occupied a seat next to the kitchen.  After what he observed how the food was prepared, he said he couldn't eat the food he ordered.  We were glad he told us about his experience after we had finished our meal.

Dujiangyan, an ancient irrigation and flood control system still in use today, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Unlike other more popular river dam systems that block water, Dujiangyan is a channeling system that diverts river water before it causes flooding in Chengdu.

Our last group picture for the tour.

One of the main constructs of the irrigation and flood control system is called Baopinkou or Bottle-Neck Channel 寶瓶口.  It is the third defense of the flood prevention system that diverts just enough water for irrigation.

The second defense of the irrigation and flood control system is called Feishayan or Flying Sand Weir 飛沙堰.  It cleverly creates swirling water flow that separates silt and sediment from the water.  

The front system of the Dujiangyan irrigation system is called Fish Mouth Levee 魚嘴分水堤.  It channels river water to an inner stream for irrigation and flushes out silt and sediment to the outer stream. 

Our last dinner as a group was at an authentic Chengdu hot pot restaurant.  After this dinner, our Tibet trip officially ended.  Our tour guide Titian also bade her farewell to us.

The yin-yan hot pot 鴛鴦鍋.  We ordered for the spiciness of the yan part to be mild, but it was still extremely spicy for our untrained palate. 

The yin pot had lots of mushrooms.

The all-you-can-scoop condiment counter.

We were divided into three rooms.  Every room is filled with joy, happiness, and a little sadness, as we said goodbye to Titian and wished her success in her future endeavor.    

The final score of our room - 33 plates of various cuts of meat and some vegetables. 

DAY 14

This was our last day in Chengdu.  Some had departed last night after our farewell dinner.  This morning more departed.  Our flight was in the afternoon so we decided to see the panda in the morning.  The panda basecamp is in the Chengdu city proper.  It was a short taxi ride to get there.

We got there early in the morning, early enough to catch panda's breakfast time.  The base camp covers a wide area and it is well maintained.

Super adorable baby pandas.

Sleeping pandas after breakfast.

A very cute and naughty panda. 

More bamboo-eating pandas. 

A lone giant panda up close. 

Panda pair.

There were more than two hundreds pandas in this panda camp.  It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of our entire trip.  We were so glad we came to see pandas at the last minute.

In the afternoon 18 of us departed from the Chengdu airport.  We were flying to Guangzhou to catch a flight back to LA.  About 15 minutes before landing at Guangzhou, the pilot announced that because of the weather condition the plane would have to be rerouted to land in Guilin, a city more than 1 hour flight time away.  We looked out the window and noticed that there was no sign of bad weather.  About 4 hours later when our plane finally flew back to Guangzhou, our flight to LA had departed.  Again, we looked around and there was no sign of bad weather.  Later we learned that it was common for the airspace in China to be shut down by the Chinese military for no apparent reason.  The airlines provided overnight lodging and we took the next day flight back to LA.


This Tibet trip is nothing short of extraordinary.  From the initial seemly impossible task of getting the Tibet visa, the long but fascinating bus ride to board the Tibet train, the bucket-list-worthy train ride, the Potala Palace, the unfolding of the secluded inner Tibet, the camaraderie of the group, our impeccable tour guide Titian, and finally the organizing skill of Simon and Philip.  We are grateful and blessed to have partaken on this trip.



Now that one more item on the bucket list has been crossed off,
What's next?
Another region that's Chinese,
Or its neighboring Japan, the land of wasabi horseradish,
Or something completely different, such as Spanish?

No matter the location, the logistic, or the scenery,
It's the comradery that we remember and cherish.
Until next time, keep healthy and upbeat,
And stay young at heart like you are still only twenty-three!

2017-09-16 to 19 Tibet Trip, Days 9+10+11+12, Shigatze-Zedang-Nyingchi

After staying in Lhasa for two nights, we embarked on a long journey to two cities in the heartland of Tibet. The first city was Shigatze 日喀則, the second largest city in Tibet and located 270 kilometers to the west of Lhasa. We would be riding on midsize buses for 5 hours to get to our destination.

The second city we would visit was Nyingchi 林芝, the third largest city in Tibet and located 400 kilometers to the east of Lhasa.  Our original itinerary had planned for us to come back to Lhasa after Shigatze and to stay one more night in Lhasa before continuing our journey to Nyingchi.  But that didn’t happen.  Our trip so far has been smooth, on schedule, and uneventful.  Little did we know that multiple dramas were awaiting us and we were caught off guard in the later part of our journey in Tibet.

We left Lhasa early in the morning since we had a full schedule of visiting many sightseeing spots.  Our group of 39, sans the Taiwan passport holder who was denied the entry to Tibet, was split into two midsize buses.  One hour into our journey, one passenger on one of the buses had a severe back pain and wasn’t able to sit.  Luckily one of the passengers on that bus was a medical doctor.  After the initial triage performed on the patient lying on the floor of the bus aisle, the patient was advised not to continue the trip and should go back to Lhasa and rest.  It then took tremendous efforts by our tour agency Jason Tour,  our tour guide Titian, our group leader Simon, and Dr. Wu working together to coordinate a transportation to carry the patient and his wife back to Lhasa.  Our two buses, carrying the remaining 37 of us, then continued the journey toward Shigatze.

Later in the day, I had a chance to ask Simon about what transpired. He incidentally told me he had carried with him tens of thousands RMB in cash for this trip.  I was stunned when he told me the reason.  It turned out that hospitals in China demanded cash payments in advance of admitting patients.  With our group comprising of mostly senior citizens, Simon felt the need to prepare cash, his own money, on hand in case any of us needed any medical care.  In my usual naivete and blissful nature, it never occurred to me that Simon, being the group leader, had to put so many considerations and cares into making our trip possible.  I was in awe and felt a tremendous debt to Simon.  I hope some of my group members read this and realize how privileged we have been by having Simon leading our trip.

We were also informed that the highway between Lhasa and Nyingchi was closed for maintenance.  Our original plan of returning to Lhasa and then continuing onto Nyingchi had to be changed.  The new plan was that, after Shigatze, we would be going directly toward Nyingchi through a backroad bypassing Lhasa.  The road condition might not be ideal, but it would get us to our destination.  We were all new to Tibet and didn’t know the difference.  We just resigned to the fact and hoped for the best.


DAY 9

Our first stop was Yangdork Lake 羊卓雍錯湖.  The water and the sky were unbelievably clear and blue.
(Click on each picture to get the full-size view.  Some pictures were taken by Ben, Peter, and others without explicit attribution.)

We drove along the beautiful and magnificent Yarlung Tsangpo River 雅魯藏布江.  From two mountain passes, one at the elevation of 5000 meters, and the other at 4280 meters, views of the river were spectacular and the Tibetan Mastiff 藏獒 were majestic.

 

The Kharola Glacier 卡若拉冰川, at elevation 5560 meters.

Gyangz Castle江孜古堡

By nightfall, we reached Shigatze.  We had dinner and checked into a hotel.  The next day would be another day on the bus roaming through the heartland of Tibet.


DAY 10

After Shigatze, our first stop was Tashilhunpo Monastery紮什倫布寺.  For the rest of the day after the visit to this monastery, I slept on the bus most of the time because of a minor cold.  I have a very vague memory of what happened afterward. 

Because of the road closure, we needed to be on a back road to get to Nyingchi.  The road condition and the logistics along the way were less than desirable.  For the bio-break,  we sometimes had to relieve ourselves on the side of the roadway.  After a few times, we got used to it with no problem.   The bus ride today went through 320 kilometers, and we reached a small city called Zedang 澤當 by nightfall.  We stayed in this city and would continue our journey toward Nyingchi the next day.



DAY 11

After leaving Lhasa, we had been on the road for two full days. The third day, from Zedang to Nyingchi, would be the last and the most torturous bus ride.  On this day, we would be on the bus for 13 hours, traveling a distance of 460 kilometers.  First, we traveled along the Nyang River 尼洋河.  The marble quarry on the river bank reminded me of the Taroko 太魯閣 quarry in Taiwan.


At a scenery spot called Kissing Monkey Platform.

We didn’t see any kissing monkey so we improvised.

A small van taking venturesome tourists from the east coast of China to Tibet.


We stopped at a sand dune.  Our Tibetan tour guide showed us how to slide down the dune.

But the majority of us preferred to find our own secluded corner and did our bio breaks.


By dinner time, we reached Nyingchi.  We had dinner at a restaurant specialized in Stone Pot Chicken, a local delicacy.

Amidst our dinner, one member went out for a walk and lost his way back to the restaurant.  We only found out that a person was missing after we finished our dinner and were preparing to board the bus.  Several of us fanned out around the restaurant to look for the missing one.  Our tour guide Titian and I went to a fire station nearby to ask for help.  We were directed by the fireman on duty to go to a police station several street blocks away.  After walking a block toward the police station, we heard a commotion behind us.  It was the fireman we talked to earlier that was chasing after us.  When he caught up with us, he showed us his palm with a number scribbled on it.  The number was the fire captain’s phone number.  The captain wanted us to call him for help if we couldn’t get help from the police.

At the police station, a policeman heard our plea for help and took us on his patrol car to search in the neighborhood.  I was deeply impressed by the assistance offered by both the fire captain and the policeman.  Contrary to what sometimes has been reported in the news about the brutality toward street vendors by the Chinese police, my experience for this night left me with a very positive impression about the public service personnel in Nyingchi.  The missing person did find his way back after asking a local for help.


DAY 12

After staying one night in Nyingchi, we had a tour of several sightseeing spots around the city the next day.  The first stop was the Seji Lashan mountain pass 色季拉山口, at elevation 4720 meters.

Our next stop was the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon 雅魯藏布大峽谷.  With its depth of 6009 meters and its length of 509.9 kilometers, it is considered the deepest and widest canyon in the world.  Our visit to this great canyon was at a forest called Lulang Forests 魯朗林海.

The last place we visited today was a village that was rebuilt into a resort.  The layout, structures, and landscape were aesthetically designed and well planned.  It was a very beautiful place, but we hardly saw any tourist there.  Its tourist center housed the much appreciated clean toilets.  The following pictures were from Ben, Peter, Danny, and others.

Lastly, me with Titian.

We stayed in Nyingchi for one more night before flying back to Chengdu the next morning.  We had arrived at Lhasa on 9/14 and departed Nyingchi on 9/20, for a duration of 6 full days in Tibet.


The land of legends, religion, and mysteries – Tibet,
A once proud kingdom of the wise and the brave.
High mountain, deep water, and the vast expanse of landscapes,
Its most scarce commodities - clean toilets.