Matt in China: Jiuzhaigou Valley

[champy1013]

wow Matt, great, just what I was waiting for...place looks pretty cool - nice to see and hear the whole experience

[ApproachingLight]

Great photos and notations. You lucky dog, the girl is adorable. Favorite pic is the last one of the waterfall...go figure. Single Pagoda by the water could also be a keeper with some work?

[Matt]

Thank you... there are more...

Another view of Shuzheng Waterfall
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/211.jpg[/img2]

The crest
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/212.jpg[/img2]

The lake above the waterfall
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/213.jpg[/img2]

The water gets deeper in depth and color
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/214.jpg[/img2]

You can see the bottom way out into the lake. Reminded me of Green Lakes State Park near Syracuse, but the water here is clearer.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/215.jpg[/img2]

[Matt]

From running this site, I know about all types of mills, or at least I thought I did... Here is a new one for all of us... a religious mill.
For Tibetan Buddhists, the continuous recital of prayer in words or mind is important to keeping the pursuit of enlightenment.
Prayer wheels, beads, and charms usually contain written prayers. The rotation of these prayers (always in a clockwise motion) is considered to be the equivalent of verbal recital of the prayer. One device for "spinning prayer" is the prayer wheel. Which are often positioned in rows, which people will walk around in a clockwise direction, spinning the wheels (also clockwise).

Here I found a mill type with the sole purpose of keeping a giant prayer wheel spinning. Numerous mills like this lined the banks of the river above the waterfall, and the creaky sound of the brass prayer wheels on their wooden frames, and the chime of dozens of bells complemented the serenity of the the slow-moving water. This was my favorite part of the park.



[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/217.jpg[/img2]

Here's some Chinglish for you. This was in the bus station/tourist center.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/218.jpg[/img2]

There was a bus to get back... these people were ahead of us in line.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/219.jpg[/img2]


The next day we returned. I was feeling better. Joni was not. We traveled up further into the valley. Here are some mountain peaks.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/220.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/221.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/222.jpg[/img2]

[Kelly]

Wow!

The crest
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/212.jpg[/img2]

[Brenda]

I can't get enough of these photos, Matt! Thank you for taking the time to share them with us!

[Bill_K]

As always, these are some great shots and commentary...keep them coming.

[Matt]

I don't know the name of this mountain, but since the bus wait was so long, I was able to photograph it whenever the light changed. Of the several dozen this shot is my favorite. I *think* this is Mt. Daje (13,780 ft)


This little girl poses for photos in her traditional Tibetan garb.


Boy in his.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/225.jpg[/img2]

Having not seen much in the way of wildlife in China, I was excited to see this chipmunk thing off in the distance.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/226.jpg[/img2]

Some fall color. If i were to return, it would be later in October. The photos I have seen of the valley in fall are amazing.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/227.jpg[/img2]

My Jiuzhaigou Valley portrait.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/228.jpg[/img2]

Here you can see the result of the landslides in this region. because the karst topography, every peak is unstable, and landslides are common and dangerous. With the seismic activity here (the valley is part of a fault line) and recent sizable earthquakes, landslides have been the leading unnatural cause of death in the last 5 years here.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/229.jpg[/img2]

This landslide reaches all the way to where I'm standing by the lake.


Long Lake... very photogenic.... though the light was just horrible when I arrived. The clouds were off. I was shooting directly into the sun... so I waited... and waited.
The snow-covered peak is Mt Ganzigongzaii (14,954 ft)
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/230.jpg[/img2]

The water here was an amazing shade of blue-green, depending on the angle of the light.
[img2]http://www.nyfalls.com/posts/china2/231.jpg[/img2]

Joni was a good sport waiting with me. So I did some modelling shots for her.