Jiuzhaigou

The research adventure continues... ...
I arrived in Chengdu off the train bright and early with just enough time to take a cab home to grab my Jiuzhaigou tickets and then meet Huangjie at the bus station. Huangjie had graciously agreed to help me buy my bus ticket to Jiuzhaigou. I took the bus all day and arrived in Jiuzhaigou around 7 or 8pm, where I met Andrew. After dinner with Andrew another woman named Dawn who is from Australia and there working on an Environmental Education program in the schools, we went back to Andrew's house to sleep. He just moved into a new house that he rents from a Tibetan woman who lives buy herself because her husband died and her two sons are away working and at school. The house is beautiful. It has a nice little courtyard in the front and very intricate painting and woodworking, typical of Tibetan buildings.
The next day Andrew took me into Zhongcha valley, a valley next to the park, where I would be doing my tests. This valley is a Tibetan village (about the size and urbanization level of Yangjuan) that is protected because it is near the park, but not actually in the park itself. They have had a little contact with foreigners, but nothing like in Yangjuan, so it was a very interesting experience and I was really happy to have Andrew there to make introductions. We first dropped my stuff off at a little "lodge" the Party Secretary Biajie runs. Then we walked down to the house of a family that Andrew knows. We sat around and chatted for awhile and I did my indoor test that afternoon while they made lunch before Andrew had to leave. All the kids watched and helped me and it was actually pretty fun. Then Andrew went back to Jiuzhaigou to finish a report and I went out to play with the kids. Just like Yangjuan, everyone was so nice to me and so welcoming. After dinner (they made me have two bowls of noodles before I would leave, also just like Yangjuan) and several cups of Yak Butter tea, a Tibetan specialty made from Yak butter melted in tea with Barley flour, crushed seeds, and a little sugar and salt. After that, I walked back to Biajie's house to sleep. The next day I woke up and went for a hike up the valley because I wanted to explore a little bit. I followed a path of footprints past several stands of trees that they had cut out of site of the road because they are not technically allowed to gather firewood in this area. I wanted to see where the path led, but after an hour and a half I had to turn around to go meet Andrew at noon and the footprints kept going. The hike was beautiful though, and I was really glad I went. After I met Andrew back at Biajie's house he had to leave again to take Dawn to the bus station and I did my outdoor test at Biajie's house and his daughters helped me. Then I went back down to the other family's house because I had promised them I would come back that afternoon. The little girls were out playing, but the older daughter (my age) was there with the mother. The older daughter is studying English in school, so we sat and practiced English for awhile. Then I gave them some presents that Andrew had brought up and said that I really should be going. They wanted me to stay for dinner, but I really did have to be going, but they would not let me leave without eating, so I told them I would go get my things from Biajie's house and come back and eat dinner with them on the way out. Everyone I said goodbye to seemed so genuinely sad to see me going and I was only there for two days. I really want to go back and hang out with them soon. But I did have to leave then because Andrew had left me his bicycle to ride back down the road to Jizhaigou and it was starting to look like it was going to snow. So I hopped on the bicycle, to discover that the breaks were a little unreliable and it was getting dark soon. I had no choice but to navigate the bumpy dirt mountain road on the "shoddy-braked" bike, praying for my life the whole way down. Finally I reached the paved main park road again and I thought I was on the home stretch, with time to spare. Little did I know it was still a half an hour bike ride from the mouth of the valley to the hotel where I would be staying. By the time I met Andrew at the hotel, it was dark and starting to rain.
The next morning I went into the park. Even though it was winter so there wouldn't be alot of visitors today, I wanted to get to the park nice and early so I could see everything because I only had one day. I took the bus from the park entrance up to the very top of the valley. It had snowed the night before at the higher altitudes and the high point where we stopped was absolutely breath-taking. The rest of the park was beautiful as well, quite possibly the most beautiful park I have ever been to. You are supposed to take buses from "scenic lookout point" to "scenic lookout point", but there is also a boardwalk you can walk on. However, some of the boardwalk was closed due to fire danger, but I decided to walk anyways. When the boardwalk was closed, I just walked on the road all the way back to the entrance (maybe 30km). It was a long day, but it was worth it. Here are a few pictures of the park, there are many more and they do not even begin to do it justice.
The next day I got up early and went to the airport and flew back to Chengdu. After a hectic day and a half in Chengdu getting things ready I was off again to meet the family in Beijing. But that is the next chapter... ....