China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Cloud-Enshrouded Mountain

This was one of those cases when you're in a moving vehicle, a keeper is spied through the window, and you gotta act fast to get an image.  This was captured from the bus as we wound our way through the valley before our first stop.  I was hoping for an opportunity to get a shot just like this, and luckily was able to snap one of my favorites of the whole trip.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Fog with Clouds from Hotel Lobby

A walkway led to this shed-thing, which had benches inside.  The fog, though artificially generated, provided the perfect ambiance to match the clouds in the background:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, View from Hotel Lobby

We made two visits to Chengdu in western China:  it was our first destination city (just posted), and at the tail end of the trip we flew from eastern China back to Chengdu before hopping on a plane to Taipei.  In between there was plenty to see and do.

After Chengdu our first excursion was to Juizhai Valley National Park.  This was the most photographically-intensive day of our entire journey...indeed probably of my whole life!  I ended up with 125 "keepers", most - but not all - of which will be posted here.  The itinerary was packed full; we were either busy exploring marvelous new sights and sounds, or traveling from one place to another.  Must say we got our money's worth on this trip, as there was very little idle time.

What you see above is a view from the lobby of our hotel.  We were high enough in elevation to be close to the clouds, which were mesmerizing as they either shrouded or sent their tendrils along the sides of the many mountains flanking the Valley.

China - Chengdu Food, Colorful Ice Cream Toppings / Where Were You on 9/11?

There were several vendors in the Chengdu tourist quarter that sold ice cream with toppings like this.  With so much color, I couldn't resist applying Found and Glowing Edges per below:

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This being the "9/11" of infamy, I am taken back to 2001 when it all happened.  One of those "Where were you..." moments in life.  And I remember it very clearly.

I was off the year 2001-2002, having quit public school teaching to pursue another vocation, though at the time I had no idea what it would be.  As it turned out, however, being off was very fortuitous, as both my wife's mom and and a good family friend, Hadi Mahrous, died that year.  Hadi, at one time Chenjean's boss, had taken her in as his daughter since he didn't have any family here in the States.  Being executor of his estate I was able to dedicate the time needed to manage things.  And after my mother-in-law passed away it was necessary to devote time for overseas travel and be a part of things there.  Also, being our daughter's kindergarten year, it was a plus that I be home when she finished her half-day of school.  So being a stay-at-home dad was a win-win for everyone that year.

I'd also stayed home the year our son went to kindergarten, five years earlier, but forgot what it was like...and how hard it was to remain disciplined!  Because it was too easy to get lazy and start the day with television or other non-productive distractions while the kids were at school, I decided this time to stay away from TV altogether until at least 3:00 in the afternoon.  Thus on the morning of 9/11 I was clueless as to what was going on in the wider world.

That day, after doing the usual morning routine - mostly chores around the house - it was time to get a few things at the store.  So before lunch I went to Kroger.  The first sign that something was amiss was when I crossed paths with someone we knew named Lacey in the parking lot, she heading out to her car and me heading towards the store.  I said a cheery "hello", but she just looked at me and walked on, barely acknowledging my greeting.  Hmm...that's a little different.  Her eyes were red, too.  Hmmm.

Then I went into the store and did my shopping.  Had just a few things on the list, so it wasn't long before I was standing in line at the register.  It was here that I noticed something eerie.  The store was doing business as usual, but it was very, very quiet!  Why is it so quiet...where's the usual chatter?  I'm a little slow, so didn't catch on that something really big was happening until it was my turn at the register, and that was because the cashier was crying.  OK, so what's up?  She gestured toward the front and I saw a cluster of people standing around a CCTV monitor that was adjusted to broadcast the news, and that's when I saw the north tower on fire.  OK, gotta get home, and to heck with the TV rule...

From that moment until time to pick up our daughter from school I was glued to Peter Jennings' coverage on the ABC News.  I was frankly surprised when Allison said something about it and asked me what had happened, which made me think, Why would they make an announcement about this at an elementary school?  I assured her that New York is far away, and that we were safe here in Houston.

My spirit was drained with all the coverage in the days and weeks ahead, and I ended up getting seriously depressed.  Should not have devoted my days to hearing this bad news non-stop, but was drawn to it as if by a magnet.  But my malaise was nothing compared to what my step-uncle Johnny experienced...his Manhattan apartment had a clear view of the entire terrible event, and was close enough to see people falling from the heights of both towers.  Can't imagine seeing that.  His father was a long-time Baptist preacher, and they had to have many long conversations afterwards.

So that's where I was on the infamous 9/11/2001.  It's been 25 years, so there's lots of new and repeat news coverage on the 25th anniversary.  It's been inspirational for us to watch the occasional survival story on YouTube, and to focus on whatever positive can be gleaned from such a horrible incident.

China - Chengdu Food, Street Sugar Artist

Another street food vendor.  Very satisfying to watch someone work at a craft who is good at it and evidently enjoys it so much.

Didn't notice the bee below until post-capture:

China - Chengdu Food, Rabbit Meat

This was a street food vendor.  Do they really eat rabbit heads in China?  Had to look closely at the tray below before really believing it:

Suppose they also eat the rest of the rabbit, but couldn't tell where that was in the display...

China - Chengdu Food, Heads on Plates

...and here's one that ticks the cultural box.  Didn't see anyone eat anything from the head - as they do for the feet - so supposed it was there just for effect.

The dish below was grotesque in its appearance, but quite good when tackled with the chopsticks.  Once I saw a TV show that featured a dish served in China in which the gills of a fish were still moving as if trying to breathe.  Sure glad we didn't see anything like that.

China - Chengdu Food, Vegetable Dish

The leader of our group took pains to photograph every single dish as it arrived on the table, then very kindly posted them all after the trip for everyone to have as keepsakes.  I, however, only took pictures of the dishes I thought were artfully plated, per the above, or otherwise interesting from a cultural standpoint.

China - Chengdu Food, Table Setup with Lazy Susan

I'll also be categorizing food into its own group for posting.  These people aren't from our tour, but snuck one in from above to show what a typical meal setup looks like for every lunch and dinner we had in China.  The big "lazy Susan" in the middle was used for service around the table, but you had to watch it with the serving utensils lest they knock your drink over as the thing was turning.  Occasionally you'd get a conflict when someone wanted it to go clockwise and someone else wanted it to go the other direction.  But otherwise this is a very good arrangement, with every dish available equally to all.

At a few of the restaurants the lazy Susan was motorized and turned slowly on its own.  Then if you wanted something gliding by it would be necessary to hold it in place while getting your food.  It was hilarious when someone would actually try to make it go in the opposite direction, not understanding why it was fighting to turn the other way.

China - Chengdu, Things on Buildings

And speaking of getting around, these are some of the things we saw on buildings as we got around in the city of Chengdu...