Juizhaigo

We left Chengdu at 7:30 A.M en route to Juizhaigo, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the mountain about 400 kilometers north of Chendu, the capital of Sichuan province in the Southwestern part of China.

Initially, Hannah had been worried that the bus wouldn't stop enough for bathroom breaks (We were expecting a 10-12 hour ride). It soon became apparent, though, that we would stop every 45 minutes for "xiuxi" (rest). The ride was further slowed by the one-way mountain highway and its one-way tunnels, a recipe for frequent traffic jams. After being stuck in 2 or 3 of these jams for about 3 hours, we had a minor accident, not a surprise given the reckless habits of Chinese bus drivers. Our driver had pulled out in front of another truck, which hit our rearview mirror. This prompted an altercation in the midst of yet another traffic jam. About an hour later, we pulled into a highway patrol center where we sat for a few hours and made conversation with an old Tibetan woman from whom we bought water. After a few more traffic jams which were in store for the rest of the trip, and after stopping at a tourist site where you can take a picture with a yak for 10 yuan, we finally arrived in Juizhaigo at midnight. These areas were filled with villages, and the houses looked rather nice with 2 or 3 stories as well as satellites dishes- a region built on yak money.

The ride totalled 16 hours. We took a taxi to our hotel, where we had a horrible night's sleep, due to the stinky bathroom and construction outside. Luckily, we were able to change hotels in the morning. Joe used his bedroom eyes and our desperate story to get the receptionist at the new hotel to help us out. As they say, when in China…

Juizhaigo is especially known for its alpine lakes, which vary in color between blue, aqua, and pale green. The colors really are spectacular. We learned that the lakes were formed by fallout from earthquakes and the color comes from mineral deposits from the mountains. The clarity of the water itself is a result of its high calcium content. This also causes trees to grow right out of the river in places, especially near the breathtaking waterfalls and shoals. The highest mountains surrounding the lakes rise above the tree line and the rocks are jagged.

You might say this is the Yosemite of China. One major difference, however, is the entrance fee. In Yosemite, one car pays $20 for a week permit. At Juizhaigo, it is about 200 yuan (about $25 for a 2-day pass). Considering that the average Chinese urbanite makes around $2,000 a year (less for the rural folk), this is really quite expensive, allowing only the upper middle classes and elites to go. Another difference is there is really only one walking trail in Juizhaigo (as opposed to countless hiking trails in Yosemite). The trail consists of slats of wood covered with metal mesh, and it generally follows the main road where buses transport most of the (mostly Chinese) tourists, created both to protect the environment as well as exercising control of tourists in the park. Once in the park, you ride these buses to the far end of the park and then make your way back to the entrance. We did this on the first day and got off midway for a hike in a forested area less maintained by the park service. The next day, we took the bus to the end, saw the virgin forest, and then took the bus midway down the park and then walked 12 kilometers in the lakes and waterfall area.

Although it is a large park, we ran into the same people over and over. In Chengdu, while waiting for a cab, we had briefly met a few Chinese businessmen who work for an American computer company. We happened to run into then both inside and outside Juizhaigo. They were very friendly and asked us many questions about America, but in much more depth than others, as they work with several Americans and have travelled there. They are definitely well off—staying in 5-star hotels, travelling in private cars, and taking photos with $500 cameras—"inexpensive," they said. We also ran into a father-son duo from our bus ride several times. They were very excited to take pictures with us. As the saying goes, it's a small world, even with 1.3 billion Chinese people in it.

As for food, Juizhaigo is not renowned. We did manage to eat a good meal at a local Muslim restaurant though, where we first sampled yak. Tasty. Other meals were sorely lacking—oily paigumian (noodle soup). But we did supplement it with yummy fried bread with scallions, tea eggs, and yang rou. As we were noshing on our eggs and bread, we met an astute 15 year old girl whose neighbors come to the local market to sell watermelon. She spoke very little English and asked us to teach her. In her school, she said, the teacher is not good and can't speak well. Her town, she explained, is very poor and ironically (or expectedly?), she has never been inside Juizhaigo. We have been impressed with the young people like her whom we've met. They are very smart and motivated but limited by resources and lack of opportunity. It's caused us to reflect on relative poverty in the U.S. and elsewhere. What causes the differences between being downtrodden and smart in the U.S. in which case there is a slight chance of upward mobility vs. here, where luck of birth seems to count for so much more? And are the rural poor here (as in many other developing countries with a heightened recognition of class systems) more self-conscious of systemic poverty than in the U.S. Along with the scores of sociologist and Tocqueville, the quintessential observer of American society, we wonder…