Spring Break in the Heart of China

Sichuan is one of the two most beautiful provinces in China along with Yunnan according to traveler’s books. Indeed it has an incredible natural diversity and magnificent thousand year old cities and relics. So Simon and I decided to pay the central province a little visit during the spring break.

We arrived in Chengdu, the capital, on the 13^th at noon. From there on we embarked into 80 hours of train and bus rides. We took a bus right away towards Leshan and Emeishan. In 1996, Mount Emeshan Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area in Leshan was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is the tallest stone Buddha Statue in the world with impressive 71 meters height finished in the end of the 8th century A.D.

On the next morning we went to Mount Emei which is one of the 4 sacred Buddhist mountains of China, shared between Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. The first Buddhist temple in China was built here in Sichuan Province in the 1st century A.D. The particularity of the site is the possibility to see Buddha in the clouds.

When you stand over the clouds on the highest peak a light effect that comes thought the clouds forms a Halo that has prompted many to jump of the cliff to join eternity. Luckily most stopped their pilgrimage a couple of centimeters before the fatal jump.

Some monks on the way to the monastery. I had fun playing badmington with the security guards inside but I have no picture of it.

Once this area was done, Simon had a great idea. At least it seamed great enough until I grasped the totality of it.

We jumped on a bus to get to Kanding, the first step to the Tibetan plateaus. In fact, Sichuan province was part of the Tibetan territories before the communist party decided otherwise while drawing the new boundaries in 1949. After 10 hours on the bus we stepped into the thick snow at 3000 meters altitude. The first thought was to figure out when the first bus back was. The city was nicely positioned at the base of a couple of very high mountains offering very pleasant views. The only attraction, which was a famous lake was too expensive for our shallow student pockets.

Back to Chengdu, we revised our plans. We were about to experience a train ride in China. After 17 hours and over a 1000km we got to Xian, the starting point of the famous Silk Road.

Meanwhile the chess score got to 12: 11 for Simon :-( I will nail him on the next one. The city was amazing to the point of saying that it is one of the few Chinese cities that actually has a charm and a pleasant character. The most beautiful part was the Muslim quarters of the city. They were the most picturesque and warm part of the city. Exactly like you would expect it in any place in the Maghreb, the streets were lively with lighted faces and good food. The nice smell in the air opened our appetites to what will prove to be the best food we will have enjoyed in the past 2 weeks.

This mosque was built in the hearth of china over 1250 years ago!!!! Not long after Mohamet made his journey in 622!

Our last stop was the city of Juzhaigou in the north of Sichuan inhabited only by Tibetans and Qiang people.

The region is known for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes , and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. We bought a 2 day entrance ticket and walked a total of over 40km in two days.

Since we weren’t planning to come down to the city overnight we found ourselves sleeping in the house of a very hospitable Tibetan couple. The house was full of rats running around but, in the end, the smile of our hosts to our weird ways and our good humor was worth all of it.

The pictures will tell you all the rest.

Everywhere the water was Blue, green, fuscia, violet and clearer than air