Day 17 - 13 June, 2016

“More than just spectacular scenery, Jiuzhai Valley National Park is home to nine Tibetan villages, over 220 bird species as well as a number of endangered plant and animal species, including the giant panda, Sichuan golden monkey, the Sichuan takin and numerous orchids and rhododendrons.

River valley

Jiuzhai Valley is locally known as Jiuzhaigou (Chinese for “Nine Village Valley”). It is a national park located in the Min Shan mountain range, Northern Sichuan in South Western China. It is best known for its fabled blue and green lakes, spectacular waterfalls, narrow conic karst land forms and its unique wildlife. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992; the park joined the Man and Biosphere Conservation Network in 1997 and has also received IUCN and ISO 14,001 accreditations.

It is China’s premier national park and is located at elevations ranging between 1,990m  to 4,764m above sea level.” 

Transparent Lake

Lake side views

Summer and waterfall

 And so we started our visit to the jewel in China’s National Park crown and it was pretty special and very crowded. We walked through many people on the way to the park; past many tourist groups, their leaders waving tall orange coloured flags such to keep their flock all together. I just advised my group to keep their eyes on the tall bald white head and to follow as if it was an icon. They did and no-one got lost.

pre entry crowds

Once in the park we steered away from the crowds and went birding along the trails. China, like everywhere else in the world, loses people fast once you leave the pavement. The morning was a little disappointing for new birds; Pere David’s Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker were new and we also got great views of Collared Grosbeak; in addition to the ubiquitous Leaf Warblers….

Pere David's Tit

Forest birding

Daurian Redstart - male

Butterfly - specie?

Slaty-backed Flycathcer - male

Elliot's LAughing-thrush

After our morning’s walk we headed for lunch which involved walking first through an avalanche of shops. Lunch was spicy instant noodles at road side store and the lady even did a runner to another store to supply us with cokes!

There were shops everywhere! It seems in Communist China they have embraced capitalism with vigour greater than anywhere else and everyone is selling and buying. Summer explained that most domestic tourism absolutely depends on the notion that people will shop. Store owners pay commissions to Tour guides who bring their groups to stores etc etc. So in the park, entry and exit there is a gauntlet of stores selling stuff; often the same stuff. Street sellers to flog their wares and often too, their wares are identical. Almost every single person seeling stuff out of a basket or whatever was selling selfie sticks!? This is not quite as silly as it sounds as there is an obsession with taking one’s photos that even the Japanese would blush at. Tourism for many Chinese involves travelling to places to have your photo taken in front of that place.

running the shopping gauntlet at the end of the day

Ok, so when in the park one must take shuttle buses around the park as no private vehicles are allowed in. So you take the bus to the various scenic spots and that was our plan for the afternoon. It certainly was a beautiful place with exceptional scenery. There were crystal clear coloured Lakes and waterfalls, forests and mountains plus occasional villages.

Great Spotted Woodpecker - BOD!

At one of the viewing stops we had just found a woodpecker. It obliging us by hopping around the decking when a stupid Chinese guy decided that he would impress his friends by racing and screaming to scare a squirrel. This was, from his perspective, an excellent plan and he carried it out admirably – chasing his squirrel away, the woodpecker and indeed any other wildlife within 10 kilometres. He was, and probably is, to use the Chinese word -  Shaa-bit!

Shabit!!

Despite the scenery it was a disappointing day from some respects; our walk in the virgin forest was edited as a path was ‘blocked’. We could not stop as another Lake because the path there was blocked. We were to try to visit a reed habitat for a Parrotbill species but the path there was blocked [too late in the day allegedly]. Some scenic spots we were unable to stop at because it was ‘too late’ and that there were too few people to keep the shuttle buses running for the whole day [despite thet

another path blocked...

fact that we paid our entrance money and bus fee for the ‘whole day’. All in all the day seemed a little too rushed and compromised. It seems the Chinese experience is to be herded; with little regards to personal freedoms, for example, what we wanted to do in the park was secondary to the park’s management need to control crowds and, more importantly make money.  

We stayed at a very nice hotel and the food was good!

Bird of the Day - Great Spotted Woodpecker

Road side view

part of the group - waterfall side