China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Huge Blue Bi-Lingual Sign

Taking a gander through this little town proved interesting.  One thing I observed about China is that they like huge signs and electronic displays...billboards if you will...the above being an example.  Even inside airports you'll see huge, billboard-sized electronic signs.

Closer view below of sign above, which stretched a ways along the hillside:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Bi-Colored Confluence

Here's something you don't see too often, this confluence of two differently-colored streams.  The water in the foreground has streamed through the town, and is probably snowmelt from further away.  In the background is water originating from points closer, carrying silt directly from the nearby mountainsides.

This is what is seen in town further upstream:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Reflection Shot from Inside the Tibetan Structure

Nobody was inside for obvious reasons, so stayed on the edge to capture this reflection shot created by the perfectly smooth pool of water.  Had some questions about this place, but everyone was moving and hustling and bustling so that I lost the group, which moved on with the crowd.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Tibetan Flag Structure in Pengfengcun

Though I had no idea what the significance is of this structure, the way it was made and how it looked against the mountain backdrop was captivating.  It was big, and obviously a big deal to the Tibetans, but I wondered whether there was a purpose to the ragged flags that partially make up its roof.  Are they replaced once in a while?  Are they prayer flags or what?  Regardless, think it makes a pretty good picture...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Tibetan Religious Fixture

...and as can be seen, most others had the same idea, bypassing the Visitor Center to see what this is all about.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Scenery Visitor Center

...and this is where most of the hustlers and bustlers were headed, the Juizhaigou Scenery Qu Visitor Center.  We didn't walk in, passing it by to view what we see in the next couple of posts.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Pengfengcun Traffic

 

Our first stop on this busy day was in the small town of Pengfengcun, a bustling tourist mecca for Chinese nationals.  In spite of the awesome scenery on all sides there was plenty of honking and impatience, with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds jostling for position on the sidewalks.

The green license plate on the car in front means it's fully electric.  More on that later...

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.