China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Another Wide Waterfall / Mr. Waguespack and the Beer

Another stop for waterfalls.  Think of the millions of photos taken of these falls over the years.  Well, here's one more, with different perspective of same below:

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        I mentioned that Dad liked telling stories.  One of his that I still repeat today is the story of a neighbor across the street, Mr. Waguespack.  Mom and Dad were over there one afternoon on a social visit.  They were sitting around talking when a car door was heard closing on the street in front of the house.  Mr. Waguespack got up and looked through the blinds to see who it was.  Upon seeing that it was a deacon from his church, he raced around the room collecting everyone’s beer and cigarettes, putting it all in the refrigerator.  This he accomplished before there was a knock on the door.  After answering, he greeted this deacon and cordially invited him in.  They sat down and everyone resumed visiting, including the new visitor in conversation, albeit without the aforementioned accoutrements.

        Then, after the deacon left to make more church visits, Mr. Waguespack returned to the refrigerator, retrieved and re-distributed everyone’s items, and resumed as they were before.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, All the Little Fishies

As can be seen, the water is clear but we didn't see a whole lot of life in the lakes...perhaps because it was so cold, as snowmelt sources most of them.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Cross-Lake Reflection with Walkway and People

The presence of people make for more interesting reflection shots.

The sparse presence of individuals in this pic betrays the throng milling about immediately behind me.  Hiking across to the other side of the lake and back would require an extra hour, time that most people in tour groups simply don't have.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lake Reflection Shot #3

 

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lake Reflection Shot #2

 

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lakeside Reflection Shot with Foggy Mountain Background

The surrounding mountains block the stronger winds at these altitudes, so the lakes were normally smooth.  This offers some pretty good reflection opportunities, in this case with a cloud-shrouded mountain serving as a backdrop.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lakeside Roofline

The pictures captured in the Park are being posted in order of when they were taken, so the waterfall pics will be interspersed with more lake pics, such as what we see above, and vice versa.

Several rooflines with tiles such as this have already been posted from our travels in Taiwan (see here, here and here), so not surprised to see something similar in mainland China.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Wide Cascading Waterfall

Some of the waterfalls' grandeur surprised us, as their sources were wide, slow moving creeks perhaps several hundred feet across.  While crossing on a walkway you think, OK...what could this lead to?  Then you go to where the water is gathered into much narrower channels, resulting finally into what you see above.  Then you are struck with wonder, thinking, How many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years has this been in place?

Slightly different perspective below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Waterfall Through Vegetation

We were on a fairly rigid schedule going through the park.  We had all day, but there were so many and varied spots to stop and explore that our usual allotment of time in one place was only between 45 minutes to an hour.

So in between the various lakes we stopped to see waterfalls, among other sights.  Waterfalls are a treat no matter where a photographer goes, and this one would normally be considered very special, but it was just one of approximately a million more we saw that day, each seemingly bigger and more grand than the last.  I went crazy with the iPhone, and this is where I missed the Bigger Cahoona most, primarily because of the iPhone 15 Pro Max's lack of ability to extend shutter speed.  As an example, compare this and the following few posts with these posts from British Columbia.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Aspen or Birch (?) Tree Trunk

The water isn't the only attraction in this wilderness area...lots of interesting trees and vegetation.  The Bokeh 'ed stream in the background was a bonus that I didn't notice until post-capture.

Looks like there're some scratches and writing on this tree, but otherwise in condition good enough for a photograph...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Colorful Cliffside with Reflections

Had to saturate the color a bit on this one to increase the contrast between the rocky cliffside and the surrounding vegetation.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Reed Reflections

...and pics like this always take me back to Gormire Lake in the UK, on a fantastic hiking vacation with our son Andrew.

Wider view of lake below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Underwater Logs

Seeing logs under water like this always takes me back to one of the easier trails we hiked in Colorado...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Of-Through Pics of Lakes

A couple of shots of lakes through some trees.  Either some of the lakes were a brighter blue than others, or the iPhone's sensor interpreted the white balance differently based on shading and environment:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Smooth Lake Reflection Shot

It was a splendid day with good weather, so the lakes were generally smooth as glass.  Moving closer to the left-hand side of the lake posted yesterday yields this pretty good reflection shot.

We were at the higher altitudes within the park, so as a bonus it was nice and cool.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, 2-shot Panorama of Lake

...and this is the perfect way to start our adventures in the natural settings of the Park.  Our guide told us there are 110 lakes in the region, and that we would see just a few of the better ones.  Very interestingly, there was an earthquake some years ago, which created fissures into which some of them literally drained dry.  Can't have that since there's so much tourism money pouring in (no pun intended), so they repaired the lake bottoms, after which the lakes refilled for all to see.

This 2-shot panorama was captured exactly at 33.207353N latitude, 103.899553E longitude.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Ladies in Costume

At least one of these ladies seemed to be in good spirits.  Not sure, but based on dress they appear to be workers either departing from or arriving to work.  Figured this shot would be a good way to end our jaunt in this little town on our way to see some of the awesome beauty in China we'd been hearing about...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Stone Wall

 Glowing edges below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Stone Wall with Windows

 

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Pretty Woman Next to Prayer Wheels

...and while on the subject of people, my much better half with some of those prayer wheels that Monks use to spin around.  Would've done much more with this had I had the Bigger Cahoona with me at the time.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Someone Else's Group Photo

Don't know why, but always liked taking pictures of groups looking at someone else.  No need to know who these people are, though one appears to maybe have an objection.  I snuck away pretty quickly, so didn't get the chance to have a conversation with him...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Roadside Billboard

This sign happened to be in town, but all roadside billboards in the park were mounted the same way.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Giant Electronic Billboard

The huge sign posted yesterday ends here, next to a giant electronic billboard that changed regularly.  This billboard must have been about fifty feet high.

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.

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.