I had the most memorable holiday in Chengdu, JiuZhaiGou and HuangLong. We arrived in Chengdu late Sunday night (or actually early Monday morning) because our plane was delayed (typically). We stayed in one of the best hostels in China: Sim`s Cozy Garden Guesthouse. Even though they`re located close to the heart of the city, they have a charming garden and terraced restaurant to welcome travellers. They provided us with so many conveniences: books and DVDs to freely borrow, fresh fruit in our room, cheap bike rentals, a panda tour, and an excellent map to help us navigate the city streets. Anita and I rented bikes the first morning and joined the hoards of bicycles, scooters, and mopeds in the congested bike lanes. The city is perfectly designed for bikes: most of it is flat and all the main attractions are within a twenty minute bike ride from our hostel. We explored a temple, bought panda cards (for 1 yuan, which got us free admission to 11 attractions) and had lunch at Chen`s Ma Pa Do Fu. In the afternoon we went to people`s park where many groups were celebrating the 60th anniversary of the PRC with music, song and dance. We floated from group to group, overwhelmed by the intensity of the sound of adjacent groups trying to drown out the competing noise. At one group, we sat to watch a troup of Chinese musicians play Spanish music. Then they gave a big welcome to all the foreigners and invited us to get up and dance with them. To our surprise, they started playing Jingle Bells and we bunny-hopped in the hot summer sun (only in China...)
In the evening, we caught a flight to JiuZhaiGou. We had been debating whether to fly or take a bus, but since the flight was 45 minutes and the bus ride 13 hours, we opted to travel by plane. As we were flying, we began to see why the bus ride was so long in comparison. The flat plains of Chengdu soon broke into mountains as we came to the edge of the Tibetan plateau. The views from the plane were amazing. As we got closer to JiuZhaiGou, we began to skim the mountaintops, glowing in the setting sun. We had only planned to spend one night and return late the next day, but as soon as I saw the mountains, I knew we had to try to stay longer. When we landed, we went immediately to the check-in counter, where they miraculously changed our flights on the spot without charging any fees! We took a taxi ride to the city with Shirly and Mike, a Chinese-English couple from Bahrain. On the way, the taxi driver told us about HuangLong, another beautiful scenic area, and told stories about how his friend`s taxi had broken down on the road to JiuZhaiGou and been attacked by wild animals. The weather was significantly cooler in JiuZhai Gou compared with Chengdu, so Anita and I went shopping for warmer clothes (Anita had only brought shorts and flip-flops but the park was 10 degrees). We had spicy hotpot for dinner and went to bed early since we knew we wanted to hit the park as soon as it opened the next morning.
We made the most of our 300 yuan ticket price by getting in the park at 7 am when it opened. JiuZhaiGou is 30 km long and peppered with waterfalls, trails, lakes, mountains, and scenic spots. We took a bus all the way to the end of the park and then insisted on walking the whole way out. I can`t even describe how beautiful the scenery is. All our pictures pale in comparison to the real thing. Anita and I walked the forested trails singing our hearts out in praise to God and stopping every five minutes for every photo opportunity. So many times parks are Chinafied (ie commercialized and kitschy) but JiuZhaiGou reminded us a lot of parks back home. After 11 hours of walking, we hardly felt tired - we were so renewed by the beauty and peace of the park. So many places in China are terribly polluted, but JiuZhaiGou had air as clean as Terrace. I wish that Maple Leaf had a school in JiuZhaiGou - I would teach there in an instant!
Anita and I were reluctant to leave the park at the closing time of 6 pm. At that point we were still a good 5 km hike from the park entrance and there were still many scenic areas we hadn`t explored. We decided that even though the sun was setting behind the mountains, there was still quite a lot of light and our legs weren`t tired, so we would walk the rest of the way out of the park instead of taking a bus. Now, we had the option of walking along the road (where we would take the risk of being picked up by a bus and escorted out of the park) or we could take a meadow path parallel to the road (where it would be less likely that the rangers would notice us). The meadow path was so appealing - wild, full of mountain flowers and birds, and away from the traffic. We jumped into the meadow and kept traipsing along, stopping for photos of flora and fauna. As we walked, we noticed it was getting darker, but we weren`t too concerned since we were relatively close to the park entrance. Eventually the meadow path led to a bridge which crossed the rapid river into a forest. At that point we had to decide whether to go back to the road or continue. I noticed on the map that the trail we were on would cross the river again after 4 km and connect back to the road, so we decided to walk in the forest. As soon as we did, it got noticeably darker and the stories that the taxi driver had told us about wild animals started filling our minds and making us imagine moving shadows. Anita and I started singing more loudly than before to keep away any animals and we started walking faster, with resolve. We must have walked for an hour, when it really started to get dark. We didn`t have any flashlights but thankfully there was still enough light to see the path. That`s when I heard the noise. As we passed by a clearing, from the underbrush, so close on my right hand side that I could almost feel the breath on my arm, I heard a loud growl. This was no dog growl either - it was more of a snort through the nose, a loud territorial sound. My skin crawled and I grabbed Anita`s hand and pulled her abruptly in the direction opposite direction. At first instinct, I wanted to break into a run, but my Jerry`s Ranger`s training taught me to back away slowly. We were trapped - ahead of us was a mysterious wild animal, behind us was an hour trek through now-almost-completely-dark forest, to our left was a raging river and the deceptively close highway, and to our right was the tangled underbrush. We walked back into a clearing, where we could see the sky and make out the highway through the trees. At first we were both terrified. I wasn`t sure whether to try to climb a tree, cross the river, or just stay put. Thankfully we had our cell phones and we called our hostel to see if they could send someone to get us. The people at our hostel were so kind. They couldn`t come to get us because the park was already closed, but they called the park staff for us. Meanwhile, Anita and I were singing and praying at the top of our lungs, trying to keep the animal away and asking for protection and guidance. Our hostel called back and let us know that the whole park staff was in a meeting and none of them were answering their phones. At this point we had already been standing in the clearing for an hour, getting cold in our totally unsuitable outfits. I was beginning to think we might have to spend the night in the clearing and try to make our way again at daybreak. I rummaged through my purse to see if I could find anything to serve as a weapon, and only managed to find a hairbrush, which I brandished in my right hand. That`s when the skies started to cloud over and it began to pour, complete with thunder and lightning. We sang and prayed until our voices were hoarse, and amazingly both of us were overcome with a sense of peace and joy. Suddenly all our songs about being lost, deliverance, God as our light... took on a completely new meaning. Ironically, we got some random text messages from other teacher friends asking us how our holiday was going and telling us to have a good trip, which made us laugh hysterically. Our hostel called us again and told us that they were in contact with the police. The police sent a search party out to find us, but not before giving our hostel friends a lecture for not registering us properly. They yelled at the hostel and threatened to shut them down, while the hostel begged that they could figure out the paperwork later, but find us first. Thankfully, we had a map and knew exactly where we were, so we could direct the search efforts. The police drove down the highway with their lights flashing and we called them as soon as we saw the light (another hour later). They told us we were pretty close to the exit and that we should just walk out of the park. Are you kidding
? With a wild animal potentially in our path? We insisted that they send some people in with a flashlight, so a bunch of young park rangers came to get us. 
I can`t describe what it felt like to finally see that flashlight shining through the dark forest. The rangers were goofballs and kept teasing us and hitting the trees with their umbrellas so that water would fall on our heads and make us jump. When we came to the place the animal had been, we heard the growl again, and asked the rangers what it was. A cat, they said, a bird, a bunny... I still don`t know what it was but I was glad to get past it. In the end, we had only been a ten minute walk from the exit. Maybe if we had known how close we were, we would have just run past the animal instead of backtracking. In any case, we made it out alive and unharmed. We had to go to the police station afterwards and write a statement. The atmostphere was tense. Our hostel staff recommended that we pretend not to know any Chinese and act apologetic. The police seemed to be on a bit of a power trip and seemed annoyed that we had made them work that night. They insisted that we write our full-page statement formally and they even corrected our English. It was almost as unnerving being stuck in the police station as being stuck in the forest. But we eventually made it home and collapsed in our beds without even eating dinner. We learned so many life lessons that night - that even though sometimes we insist on walking our own paths that really look appealing, they can eventually lead to trouble. We were amazed by how God provided us both with such a sense of His presence and protection that we were filled with peace, even at the scariest times.
At the same time, the deep blues of the various lakes looked like they belonged with sandy ocean beaches and palm trees. We experienced the remnants of summer in Chengdu, with temperatures touching thirty degrees and plenty of sunshine.
Fall is definitely the best time of year to visit JiuZhaiGou. The vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows of the changing leaves contrast beautifully with the crystal clear blue lakes and waterfalls.
