China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Tufted Top

Was intrigued by this haircut, which wasn't that uncommon there in China.  Well, I saw maybe a half-dozen similarly adorned, including a policeman somewhere.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, The Throng...

...from both ends:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Tired Traveler with Wife

...and it appears our guy from yesterday wasn't the only tired one in the bunch.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Tired Traveler

It appears our group wasn't the only one with a packed schedule...

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.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Our Retirement Shack-O'-The-Falls

This would be ideal for a second retirement home, except the constant noise from the river might get on one's nerves.  Walking around yields the following views:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Perpetual Prayer Wheels

Yes, we have here an apparatus that actually keeps the prayer wheels perpetually turning, at least so long as the river is high enough.  Curious, I asked the AI question what the function of prayer wheels is in Tibet and got the following answer:  A prayer wheel (mani khorlo) is a cylindrical device used in Tibetan Buddhism to accumulate spiritual merit, purify negative karma, and spread compassion.  Spinning the wheel clockwise is believed to have the same powerful spiritual effect as reciting the sacred mantras stored inside aloud.  Cylinders are tightly packed with scrolls containing many printed mantras - most commonly Om Mani Padme Hu, the mantra of compassion.  As the wheel turns, these blessings are released into the universe.

So now we know...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Prayer Wheel Housing

Another little structure with Tibetan prayer flags along its roofline.  This one serves as housing for two prayer wheels.  The reason they are situated alongside the flowing river will be more apparent in tomorrow's post.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Shack with Prayer Flags

Being a fan of rustic shots, couldn't pass this one up.  Note the prayer flags, some of which are in tatters, along the roofline.

Different perspective of same below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Posing Girl

We see here some period costumes rented for the purpose of getting some pics for families back home.  Though I exercised caution, it's easier to sneak in these kinds of pics of others because everybody's taking pictures everywhere anyway.

And there was the one that got away.  A few moments later the girl sitting on the rail in the background was by herself, posing for the photographer.  She had such an angelic look, and I was angled to capture her profile perfectly.  The backdrop was perfectly situated also from my perspective.  But unfortunately I didn't think fast enough to compose a shot, and the opportunity was lost...

Two more pics below of the girl in the foreground:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Bird

This guy barely, barely made it into the blog, being the best bird pic captured on the trip.  My more-serious photo bud specialized in awesome bird pictures, and had an app on his phone that would readily identify the species using either a photo or recording of the sounds they make.  Amazing.  As for me, I'll settle for wresting the best image the iPhone 15 Pro Max can provide.

See this post for comparison with what the D850 can deliver under similar circumstances.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Shallower Falls

How nice it would've been to do this one at 1/10th or even 1/6th shutter speed.  1/6th of a second would certainly require a tripod, but if given the time and circumstances would gladly haul one around.

And tripods do make a huge difference.  Since we drove up to Nashville back in August of 2012, I was able to more freely bring equipment along, so had the tripod for pictures taken indoors at the Gaylord Resort.  When Chenjean was done with meetings for work, she watched the kids while I carried the tripod around to capture pics such as these.  I'll get a neutral density filter for better falls pics outdoors if we ever settle down enough in retirement to devote serious time to take my photography to the next level.

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:

_______________

        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: