This was my yearly trip to China end of last year.
After visiting Zhangjiajie in 2012, which is famous for its mountains, I decided to visit another place which is well known for its WATER features : Jiuzhaigou...
Here the journey starts : a direct flight from KL to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, China.
When in Chengdu, the 1st destination will always be the Panda centre. A good preview before u can see the pandas at Zoo Negara.
The cute panda babies napping under the sun
Surprised to know that panda is actually a good tree climber. No wonder the name KungFu Panda.
Other random shots within the centre
Our next destination was to the Le Shan Buddha site at the Ming Jiang river
See how the staircase steps were cut along the cliff surface
Birds... my favourite
Next, Er Mei Mountain :
Right at the top @ 3015 m. My Altimeter is slightly off.
Some wildlife shots :
Now come the star of this trip, Jiuzhaigou. A flight from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou airport at 3500 m above sea level! The highest altitude I ever landed.
Snowy mountain range.
Outside the airport.
Never seen so many mountain before, just everywhere surrounding u.
Hotel room at 2025 m altitude
Some culture show at night :
Next morning, to Jiuzhaigou's greatest attractions :
The 5-colour ponds, caused by minerals & algae
The Pearl Slope. A 200m wide slope with flowing water
The slope then breaks and forms a 200m wide waterfall
Jiuzhaigou are formed by 2 rivers joining into 1, forming a "Y" shape. This is other sites of it
Another waterfall
Visit to a Tibetan village. Everything is colourful here
I waited 15 minutes for this cloud to go into position
Huang Long (Yellow Dragon) was our next destination.
To reach there, we have to pass a 4000 m mountain range road. It started snowing and roads were slippery. The tour guide was reluctant to go but we insisted.
Can u see the bus at lower left corner?
It was a 4-5 km walk to & fro on this kind of walkway. But the sub-zero temperature & 3500 m altitude was killing us. U will feel dizzy & short-breath.
When we reached the end of journey, most of the ponds already frozen.
Lucky to be able to see some unfrozen ponds at the top.
On the return route, most of the river in the valley already frozen. Lucky to be there before they close it for winter.
A wristshot to end my post
Hope u enjoy it.