China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Live Side of Tree

The live side of the tree, with walkway in the background.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Tree Next to Lake

This tree can go both ways:  Crop the right side and it's a dead tree; crop the left side and it's a live tree.  The lake in its entirety below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Retaining Wall in Zhangzha Town

Always on the lookout for patterns, found this retaining wall interesting enough to post...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Crowded Streets of Zhangzha Town

This little town was a tourist trap in its entirety.  Being such, there were lots of places that sold hats, clothing, and colorful trinkets.  This was all very appealing, but Chenjean and I are very good about not impulsively spending money in these kinds of places.  The vendors weren't really aggressive, but at times I had to use my Chinese to redirect their attention elsewhere.

The girl in the foreground is...

not really a girl:

 

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Religious Installation in Zhangzha Town

The deterioration in the foundation tells us that this installation might not be new, but what's above is obviously very well maintained.  Different perspective below with colorful prayer flags in the background:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Stoney Symbol in Zhangzha Town

Don't know what it says or what the symbolism might be, but it's neat to look at.  More prayer flags can be seen in the background.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Religious Symbols in Zhangzha Town

Here we have the obligatory Tibetan prayer flags, there to provide blessings of various kinds.  Naturally these flags flutter in the wind,  which is exactly the purpose; those flutters are said to carry prayers to one of their three gods, and the color of the flag determines which kind of blessing is sought.

The casual observer might look behind these flags and see what looks like a swastika.  At first I was alarmed at seeing this, considering its hateful use in modern Western history.  But in fact the symbol predates Hitler by thousands of years, and is an ancient symbol of peace, luck, and divinity in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.  Still, it's just plain hard to look at through these Western eyes...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Downtown Zhangzha

On our way to the next thing we stopped at a teeny little town named Zhangzha that looked new, and likely established specifically to accommodate the growing tourist trade in the area (just my guess).  This is a very interesting town to look at in Google Maps; the exact location is 33.199783N, 103.894233E.  It's a picturesque little village, as can be seen here.  To the immediate left of this frame are some structures seemingly of religious significance, so had to grab some of those with the iPhone...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, The Valley Floor

A look back through the valley that makes up a small part of the Park.  The width and shallow depth of the river is evident here, but further downstream it narrows considerably, then cascades into waterfalls like those recently posted.

Next stop will be in a small town on our way to yet another natural wonder...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Roof of Retirement Shack

...and instead of all those prayer flags along the roofline, we'd settle for a bigger one like this.