Three Days of Mourning

After last week's earthquake in Sichuan, China is in a state of real mourning. Not only the Southwest has been devastated by the disaster; it has affected the whole nation. All over China today, tomorrow, and the next day, there is mourning. The crucial point for rescue teams passed today (though they remain hard at work, against all hope), and the nation is officially grieving.

Each day during this period, there is a 3-minute period of silence beginning at 2:28 pm (the time the earthquake hit last week). All entertainment centers are closed for this 3 days, and all radio and television stations are airing nothing but news. It is a national period of working through grief.


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China Earthquake

The earthquake (magnitude 7.8) that happened on Monday in China has caused a lot of chaos in the country. I was in Shanghai at the time, a good distance away from the epicenter. Even so, there were parts of the city that felt the shocks of the earthquake.

A friend of mine is presently working in Chongqing, in Sichuan. His story was pretty exciting. His office is on the 27th floor, and was evacuated. While they were walking down the stairs, it felt as if the building were spinning and swaying, making it very difficult to make one's way down. Everyone cleared out of the building safely, thanks especially to various evacuation drills that have been held there over time. The thing was that when everyone got downstairs, they only knew to stay in open areas and not go back to either work or home, particularly if the buildings were high-rises. The parks were crowded all afternoon and into the late night, with many choosing to spend the night outdoors rather than be at home in their skyscraping beds when the aftershocks began.

Another friend of mine is stationed in Xi'an, also much nearer the epicenter than Shanghai is. She is an American and does not speak much Chinese, but one of her students took good care of her, helping her make her way home through the chaotic streets of the city. She was fine, as was everyone in her campus.

Not all of the country has been so fortunate. Much of the area nearer to Chengdu, further west in Sichuan than Chongqing is, and nearer to the center of the earthquake's activity, is in real suffering. Mianyang and Mianzhu are two towns I've read/heard about having a good deal of trouble and loss of life as a result of the earthquake. There are "aid drops" going on in the region, trying to get food and warm clothing to the people there in need of it. The weather has turned quite bad, with rain and cool temperatures. Many of these areas are nestled high in lofty mountains, and are not easily accessible even in the best of conditions. With the rains starting, it looks like getting aid into the area might get more and more difficult.






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Jiuzhaigou

On my first trip to China many years ago, I decided to avoid the coastal regions, but I wanted to see a combination of urban and rural China. I chose Sichuan as my destination, with Chengdu as the urban area I would visit (it is considered the Beijing of Western China), and Jiuzhaigou as the main rural area I would visit.

Jiuzhaigou is a long valley with 9 villages spread through it. The 9 villages were isolated until 1971, their very existence unknown to the rest of the world. Being that I was born in 1971, I found this fact very cool. And, since I was in my early 20's when I visited, that meant that Jiuzhaigou was a fairly new and untouched place to visit. In this sense, it is on the opposite end of the spectrum than Zhang Jia Jie in Hunan, which was the area first set aside by the Chinese government for preservation as a national park.

When I went to Jiuzhaigou, it was a very rugged trip. We were told it would be an 18-hour journey by bus, but it was quite a bit longer. (It was stretched into an even further journey on our way home when we got held up by a landslide.) I have heard that the trip is much easier and much smoother now. Jiuzhaigou has changed a good deal since I was there. (1971 is a long time ago now!) Better roads and transportation make for a much easier journey than it used to be. And hotel standards have gone way up. But one thing has not changed, and that is the natural beauty of the place, as you can see in photos like these. Jiuzhaigou is often called a fairyland because of its idyllic beauty, and that is a very apt description. There were so many quiet, beautiful moments that I experienced in Jiuzhaigou, and they have stayed with me as very vivid memories.

One thing that the photos you see of Jiuzhaigou today really highlight to me is that there are so many tourists there now. This was not the case when I traveled there. I don't know how this might have affected the surroundings, but I can guess. I suspect it has had a two-sided effect. On the one hand, I am sure it is more cluttered and dirtied with the usual trappings of human traffic. On the other, I can only imagine the significant upgrades its meant for hotels, transportation, and important facilities like public toilets.
And trust me... that's a good thing.



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Landslide

It's been more than 10 years since I was in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, China, but the memories are still very fresh. The place was beautiful (more on that later), but the road to get there was very difficult to traverse. It was an 18 hour bus journey... at least, that is what we were told. It turned out to be well over 20 hours. But the scenery on the way there was exquisite.

I was impresse with our driver's prowess. The road was barely more than a dirt footpath high above the river at the bottom of a rocky gorge. But he managed to take that bulky bus up and down and all around as if it were a walk in the park.

On the way home, we got stuck on the road because a landslide had occurred just before we got there. It ended up being a very long night in which we slept on the bus, together with the more than 20 other passengers. We couldn't spend the night outside of the bus for fear of bandits. In fact, several other buses joined us on the road and we formed a convoy, huddling together in hopes that the bandits were taking a night off.

Apparently they were. We managed to get through the night safely, if with very little sleep. It made for a very memorable experience, and it never fails to give my friends and I a laugh when we talk about it.

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The Traffic Hotel, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

It's been years since I was there. But I can still picture it as clearly as if I were there right now. Located at Linjiang Zhong Lu 6, Next to Xin Nan Men bus station, which was a torn up mess when I was there years ago, the Traffic Hotel makes a perfect HQ for travelers to Chengdu. Like many other budget travelers to Chengdu, I made this hotel my base while I was there.

The hotel is a relatively simple place. It includes breakfast in the price of its rooms, but doesn't have a lot of high class perks. What it does offer is services and styles that cater to the back packer. There is a bicycle rental station (what a way to see any Chinese city!) and a great notice board for fellow travelers to exchange information and great finds around the area. Best of all is the book exchange service, where many backpackers are willing to exchange their Chengdu, Sichuan, or China travel guide for one related to their next travel destination.

The rooms are simple and clean. The little gift shop is simple, but has some fun things there. The breakfast is simple too, but fills the tummy.

Noticing a theme here? Well, if simple and functional -- and affordable -- is what you seek, the Traffic Hotel is the place.

The Journeys of Showintale