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And so i’m back in one piece! 
Day 1 : Singapore - Chengdu ( Silkair flight 5hr )
Day 2 : Chengdu - Huanglong/JiuZhaiGou ( Air China flight 45min ), taxi ride for 3 hours to Huanglong and then another 2 hr ride to Jiu Zhai Gou
Day 3 - Day 5 : Jiu Zhai Gou
Day 6 : Jiu Zhai Gou - Chengdu ( Air China flight 45min )
Day 7 : Chengdu - Wolong ( 5hrs taxi ride of 200km of rocky one-lane-two-way-traffic mountain road )
Day 8 : Wolong Panda Nature Reserve
Day 9 : Wolong - Chengdu ( another 5 hrs of bumpy ride )
Day 10 : Chengdu - Singapore ( Silkair flight 5hr )
Made an unexpected trip to Huanglong ( which is near Jiu Zhai Gou but at higher altitude of more than 3200m at the entrance ) on our 2nd day of the trip.
My world transformed into the world of Narnia. Everywhere was thick inches of snow and icicles and not a single soul in sight. The road had been closed and the only way to get around is by foot. Greeted with a temperature of 10 degrees below zero and lugging ard 10kg worth of camera equipments on foot is no joke. Many a times felt my fingers going numb and purple… thank god for hot packs!
Jiu Zhai Gou was an eye-opener. It’s amazing how organised and clean the whole national park is, not a litter in sight! The Tibetans living and working there really took great care of the park… to which i believe the park’s natural beauty gave back alot to the Tibetans in terms of tourist revenue and natural resources. Although JZG wasn’t as wild as i had initially envisioned, it certainly did gave me a peace of mind that there’s still such a beautiful place on Earth where trees carpetted from the bottom to the peak of every mountains and birds bathing happily by the waterfall enjoying an afternoon sun bath.
The trip to Wolong was rough. 5 hrs of mountain road. It still beats me till this day how a two-way traffic is possible on such a small narrow road, with no barriers and road so rocky that it seems like tumbling down the hill. Doesn’t help when we saw the aftermath of an accident involving a huge truck and passenger car. The car was smashed head on into the rocky mountain…. but from the looks of it, seems like the passengers survived coz i could see no blood. If it had gone the other way, it would had been straight down the hill. There’s just no room for an accident to happen. Our driver have to drive dangerously close to the edge to maneuver ard the crash site. Makes me realized how lucky we were to have always met nice, honest and cautious cab drivers throughout the trip. We ARE REALLY THAT lucky. 
I photographed the panda cubs of 2005, 1yr + of age. They were such cute furry balls of mischief. Play-fighting with each other like there’s no tommorrow. Afterwhich, there’s only one natural response from the tired panda cubs…
Everyone, say “awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww….” ^_^
For more images from China, please visit C.S.Ling’s Sceneic China and Wildlife of China.
December 11th, 2006 at 12:57 am
First!! Haha, that’s besides the point. Welcome back!!!!!!!! =)
December 11th, 2006 at 2:00 am
heh, thanx thanx
December 11th, 2006 at 2:27 am
Welcome back, girl!!
December 11th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! The panda sooooo cute. Hmmm, how come so cold the bird still can dip in the water? Heh heh. More photos and details pls.
December 11th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
haha, amazing isn’t it? ^_^ I have no idea how the little bird can bath in such cold waters… and in such strong rapids too!
December 11th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
the bird looks like a Dipper. They are passerines like sparrows, crows, sharmas etc but can ‘fly’ and hunt underwater, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-throated_Dipper
December 11th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
yup, i think that’s what it is…. the White-throated dipper… thanx for the id! : )