Pussy Bear

When I visited Sichuan of China in 2005, I had a chance to visit the Chengdu Panda Rehabilitation and Research Centre (成都大熊猫繁育研究基地) and see the pandas with my own eyes. The direct translation of panda in mandarin is bear-cat. I was told that it was actually cat-bear, but the Chinese characters of 'cat (猫)' and 'bear (熊)' were traditionally written from right to left and then mistakenly read from left to right in the modern world, it has become bear-cat since.

The Sichuan Provincial Government has sent 10 pandas to Shanghai lately for the World Exposition. This has reminded me of my visit to the pandas and therefore sharing these photos here with you. They are very adorable, aren't they?

Wordless Wednesday – The People I Met in Sichuan

The Clear Flowing Water of Munigou (清水飄流的牟尼溝)

Munigou (牟尼溝) was actually not in the itinerary of our tour package. Out of the recommendation of the local tour guide and with a few hours of extra time, we paid RMB180 each to visit this spectacular place. It was located on the way to the Fairy Pool (神仙池) and Jiuzhaigou (九寨溝).

It's a very well kept nature reserve, with emerald-green moss covered terrain along the hiking trail.

There are pavilions along the trail for those who need a break from the hike.

This is one of the main attractions at Munigou, the Zhaga Waterfall (扎嘎瀑布). Zhaga Waterfall is 108 m high and 35 m wide, with the water rattling through the cascades at a staggering speed of more than 80 km/h.

Scene of clear water flowing swiftly through the cascades is never lacking at this place.

The scene and the sound of the flowing water never fail to calm one's feeling here. It made me felt like I was in a place of tranquility.

The wooden planks extended beyond the flowing water allowed us to have our soul cleansed by the clear water.

The ponds retaining the water made us feel calm.

And the water rushing through the cascades made us excited again.

With the power of the nature, our Mother Earth actually granted us such astonishing work of art presented right before our naked eyes. Let us all make a pledge to be more environmentally friendly. Everybody can make a difference by a matter of reaching to the switches while leaving an unoccupied room.

The Magical Fairy Pool (神奇的神仙池)

The Fairy Pool (神仙池) lies along the way from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou (九寨溝). It features the travertine pools which are yellowish in colour with the mountain ranges full of coniferous.

The pools are actually located on top of a mountain ranges, so the tour bus had to swivel through the narrow band of asphalt with all the bends up the snow-covered mountains. This was my first experience with snow, and I was so excited!

I haven't seen snow before this, and I was offered with so much of it for my first time.

We had to pass through the road winding through the terrain to get up there.

Mountain peaks with white snow capping the top is a common scene here.

We started our hike into the nature reserve by passing through some coniferous foliage. It was an easy walk though, on wooden-plank path.

I was quite disappointed by the scene presented to us when our tour guide announced that we've arrived at the destination. It was just some travertine formation with pathetic patches of green.

For I didn't know that the best is yet to come as we walked ascending along the wooden-plank path.

The disappointment was all swept away when we got higher and higher as the scenery got better.

Where else on earth can you find another scene like this?

These logs are gonna rot away and probably you'll see a different scene when you are there next time.

I wish I could have a good dip in these pools, but it was prohibited.

We've finally arrived at the last part of the nature reserve open to tourist. This pool's reflections actually rival the one at the Mirror Lake of Jiuzhaigou.

There was a couple who couldn't follow the hike up the hills due to the husband having knee pain. So, I showed them the photos I took. Soon after they've browse through the photos, they made a pledge to return to the Fairy Pool again to gain back what they've missed during this trip, haha!

The Wonderful Colours of Jiuzhaigou (五彩繽紛的九寨溝)

Sometime in October of 2005, I embarked on my journey to one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. It was granted the title in year 1992, and it is non other than the wonderful Jiuzhaigou with mountains and water of multiple colours. Jiuzhaigou in Mandarin literally means 'the valley of nine villages.'

Our first stop at this splendid nature reserve was the Nuorilang Waterfall (诺日朗瀑布), but our tour guide purposely drop us at a distance away for us to walk along the streams leading up to the waterfall.

The water was so clear that even the water in my drinking bottle didn't look as clean.

After a short distance of easy walk on the planked path, we have arrived at the cascading waterfall. I just can't describe the feeling of hearing the ensemble from the water hitting the rocks that spurred up the water vapours. You've gotta be there to experience it yourself.

Our tour bus headed further up to bring us to the Long Lake (長海), which is situated at the highest land of the valley. This lake acquires the water from the melted snow of the mountain ranges and loses it through seepage of the ground.

If I remember correctly, this photo was taken at the Pearl Shoal (珍珠灘).

This lake is called the Tiger Lake (老虎海) for its reflection of multi-colour leaves on the lake being the resemblance of the fur of a tiger.

We continued exploring Jiuzhaigou to one of the most colourful ponds, Five-Colour Pond (五彩池). This pond earned its name from the blue-colour water,

yellow- and red-colour-leave reflections,

and the green-colour underwater vegetation.

We were then brought to visit the famed Mirror Lake (鏡海), thanks to the Chinese hit movie Hero (英雄) by the acclaimed director Zhang Yimou.

The Mirror Lake is literally correct for its perfect reflections of the mountain ranges, the tree branches, the leaves and the sky.

Before we left this spectacular place with much reluctance, we visited the Panda Waterfall (熊猫瀑布). Do you see an image of a panda on the waterfall in the middle, or is it just me?