To Chengdu and back
Early in the month, I started writing a blog on how Su had begun to put to the real test what she had learned from the two Kintsugi classes we sat through in September. And this time was for real, as opposed to what she had done with the chipped dish after the first lesson, the results of which she had shown to Enders at the second session. Su had since acquired more stuff and equipment mainly by postal order from the Mainland Tao Bao, including gold and silver leaves, scalpel, cotton, glues and cleaning solutions, all rather inexpensive, compared with the kit she bought from Enders.
She started with the St Louis champagne flute which was only slightly chipped at the rim. We still recall the evening and the circumstances when two other flutes were broken beyond repair at a party in Mei Foo. The idea was to coat the chip with gold leaves and fillings in a few operations over a week. It worked. Encouraged by the success, Su worked on the chipped decanter, left to us by our very dear late friend Ko Ying, which was the whys and wherefores Su had signed us both for the Kintsugi classes in the first place. She had a good start but got rather busy with other chores so that she had barely completed the first layer and fillings, but things appeared to be looking good. She applied the finishing touches and completed the repair processes after we returned from Chengdu. Thus, her first job was done, and she appeared to be satisfied with the results.
Meanwhile we went on a 6-day package tour organized by EGL Tours to Jiuzhaigou National Park and Huanglong in Sichuan. The Jiuzhaigou valley is part of the Min Mountains on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and stretches over 72,000 hectares. Huanglong, also a National Park, features unique natural landscapes and diverse forest ecosystems, and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992. Its altitude ranges from 1,700 to 5,588 m, but we didn’t go beyond 3,800 m. Su had visited these areas with her travel friends some 20 years before and had said more than a few times she would take me there someday, which she finally did indeed, from 11 to 16 this month. We returned close to midnight last Friday, so that I was able to attend a Provincial Preceptory ceremony on Saturday and a District Grand Lodge Especial Meeting on Monday.
There was a bad earthquake in Jiuzhaigou in 2017, after which all the scenic areas were closed for about eight months. Su said that the landscapes had changed somewhat, but that the major attractions were restored and for the better. Su had posted quite a few photos and blogs in the social media during the trip – mostly rather eye-catching and self-explanatory – so that many friends had known about our whereabouts and for which reasons I would be brief and limit my narrative to more personal aspects. Day One was spent mainly on flying to Chengdu and settling in the Voco Hotel. From then on, we started early on most days for breakfast so that we would be on the bus by 8 am. Our group of 16 are mainly couples and together with the guide from Hong Kong – Jennifer Lee – and the local guide we picked up from Chengdu – Feng Mi or XiaoMi – making 18 not counting the bus driver. I am the eldest, age-wise. They are all civil and good-mannered folks, and no one appeared socially awkward. One couple couldn’t go up Huanglong because of the altitude; one lady hurt her knees and had to be carried down towards the final stretch while hiking downwards from Huanglong, while another lady sprained her ankle; otherwise it was almost a perfect trip.
Days Two and Three were spent sightseeing in Jiuzhaigou and we were put up at Indigo Hotel which offered very comfortable and friendly services. We took the High-Speed train to Song Pan Station, visited the obligatory tourist spots, tried the signature cuisines and we even managed a home visit and learnt a bit of the Zhuang culture. We also attended a local song and dance performance which billed itself as “a must-see show in a lifetime”. It was rather noisy, but it was worth spending an hour to absorb the culture.
Early on Day Four, we checked out from Indigo Hotel, and it was then all Huanglong. The bus took us to a parking lot nearly 2 km from the Park entrance, where we had lunch in a hotel before being transferred to the cable cars up to about 3,100 m where we boarded electric trailer-vans for the main park entrance. We then walked to the obligatory site: Multi-Colored Pond 五彩池 : which is at 3,576 m, which is one of the 14 scenic spots in Huanglong Valley spread across 3.6 km made up of travertine, which in turn is natural, terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate around mineral and hot springs. The main landscapes are travertine banks, colorful ponds and travertine waterfalls and caves; while the colors of Huanglong’s waters consist of yellows, greens, blues and browns, which can give rise to further shades of colors under the sunlight through refraction or reflection. After the ponds, we walked down all the way back to the park entrance on about 5 km of nicely planked boardwalks and stairs, flanked by more ponds and waterfalls. Initially it rained, but then the sun came out. At the park entrance, we walked the same route for our bus which took us to the High-Speed train station at Song Pan to catch our tarin back to Chengdu, where we had dinner before moving back to Voco Hotel for two nights.
Days Five and Six were spent sightseeing in Chengdu, with Day Five focused mainly on the Giant Panda, followed by afternoon tea and other sightseeing spots. We took off to a shopping mall, originally with Su’s plan to visit a fashion store she had picked but ended up not having access and thereby walking the streets as tourists. I even went for an opportunistic haircut. Day Six was spent on a floral garden which was huge and all man-made but colourful and beautiful. Afterwards, we were booked into a local teahouse with a stage for performance on the ground floor. We walked the streets a bit after lunch before parking ourselves at a local bar called Half Drunk. The whiskeys were cheap and good.
We must have taken numerous photos, on our cameras – we each carried one – and on our phones. Su was rather methodical and systematic with photos and certainly did a much better job than I. It would be disingenious to attempt to post too many photos. For example, I have taken many photos at the Giant Panda site and many more at the floral garden on the last day. I have always taken the view that sightseeing in scenic and picturesque spots is a rather personal pastime. It can’t be rushed; one needs to be mindful; one ought not to have preconceived ideas or undue expectations; and one should try to experience the environment with the body and the eyes, rather than relying solely on the camera or the iPhone to record visual images. After all, memories can’t be recorded solely on celluloid or paper. I have enjoyed the trip, and I am thankful that Su had got me there. I wouldn’t have done it by myself. At my present stage in life, I find it too difficult to organize these things. Indeed, I have found it safer to have Su around for my travels.
