Why I never reached Juizhaigou (and what I did instead) - Part I -

1. An (im)perfect plan

It had been in my agenda for months. On October 2nd I would meet my good friend in Sichuan's famous nature park Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟) Due to the huge tourist crowds everywhere, the October holiday is of course not the best time to visit a well-known place like that, but since I am a teacher here, I of course have to adhere to the Chinese holiday calendar too. My friend, whom I know since I was 12, is currently traveling in the south of China. Around Christmas time she will visit me in Xi'an, but our planned meeting in Jiuzhai would be a nice mini-reunion after not having seen each other for over a year. However, I never reached Jiuzhaigou.

On the afternoon of October 1st, I took the bus to the exceptionally crowded Xi'an train station area. The bus couldn't even make it to the end of the line, and we walked the last streets to the main plaza in front of Xi'an central station. My god; it seemed like the entire population of Xi'an was gathering at this square and calling it a beehive or an ant nest would certainly be a grave understatement. Needless to say, it took me quite some time (and a lot pushing and pulling) before I reached the entrance of the station building and getting to the actual platform was an equally challenging experience.
Everybody who has traveled in Chinese trains (except for those who only stayed in soft seat or soft sleeper carriages) knows that there's always a big amount of people in the train without any seats. They just have to stand somewhere in the hard seat compartments or they park themselves in the narrow spaces in-between the train carriages. Unimaginable in the west and definitely not very comfortable, but this is just the Chinese way. The sheer number of people that was in this October 1st train to Chengdu was however downright outrageous. They were everywhere. Really everywhere, since some people took over the toilets, while others squeezed themselves in the overhead baggage racks. On the one hand I felt lucky to have a seat ticket, but on the other this meant that it was impossible to get anywhere else in the train. So, during the 11 hour trip I didn't drink anything since a visit to the lavatories would've been virtually impossible. But as time went by, I actually did have to go. The last hour of the trip I was trying really hard to think of anything but the toilet and became increasingly jealous at the people who had made the inside of the toilet cubicle their seat. Hence, it was in multiple ways an enormous relief to arrive at my destination Guangyuan（广元）shortly after midnight.

I spent the night in the place where I also found the much desired toilet; a shabby railway station hotel where the reeking room only was 35RMB for a night. You get what you pay for of course.
The following morning I woke up very early, and walked across the station square to the long distance bus station. It wasn't hard to find the bus to Jiuzhaigou, which was parked precisely in the middle of bus station's parking area. The bus was supposed to depart at 8 o'clock, which gave me another hour to have some breakfast and buy some food for on the road. I learned that the trip from Guangyuan to Jiuzhaigou usually takes about 8 to 10 hours according to the condition of the road.
At 8:30 I was back in the bus, which by now was filled with a lot of elderly men that smoked as if there last day had come. I positioned myself all the way in the back, which was the only place were the windows could open, so I could let in some clean air. In the smoke-filled bus I waited impatiently for the bus to start driving, so the wind could blow in some much needed oxygen. Nine o'clock became nine thirty and eventually half past ten. It was then that the bus driver came in to tell us, that we wouldn't depart at all today because of the bad condition of the road. He told us that some heavy overnight rainfall in the area between Guangyuan and Jiuzhaigou had caused some mudslides and that the road therefore was closed for the day, so it could be cleared. The bus service would be resumed tomorrow. I had no choice but to look around in Guangyuan for the day and find a new place to spend the night.

On that moment, my friend was traveling to Jiuzhaigou from Chengdu. Since that road is much better, she was able to reach the nature park on the agreed date. And waited for me in the village of Pengfeng near the gate of Juizhai.

2. Guangyuan; an aspiring tourist destination

Guangyuan is a pleasant city of modest size that is built on the banks of a Y-junction of rivers. The city's landmark is formed by the oddly shaped Fenghuang beacon tower (凤凰楼) [see above picture for night view] that is built on top of a small, woody hill of the same name that looks out over the downtown area. I decided to walk to that hill across the river from the railway station and look out for a hotel on the way. The city streets were pleasantly busy with the usual mixture of shoppers and vendors. The arrival of the autumn meant the snacks sold on the street now included delicious things like flame broiled sweet potato and roasted chestnuts. I like this time of the year!
The city's commercial district lies at the foot of Fenghuang hill and is for a large part closed for all traffic except pedestrians; still a rarity in China. In the nearby East Street (东街) a sign saying "The Warm Home Hotel" (家馨旅馆) caught my attention. I entered a small passageway, walked trough a patio and then had to climb to the third floor of an apartment building. At the end of the corridor was an open door and I walked into a homely little apartment. The lady that apparently owned the place came to me and showed me the few rooms she had. All were very clean and incredibly snug, with their flowered curtains, small ornamental bed side lamps and miniature water dispenser, so I decided this would by my residence for the night. For the corner room, with private toilet and shower I paid 60RMB. I dropped my backpack and –after a short rest- went into the city again.

Guangyuan's local government has set their mind on becoming a tourist destination. The plan was conceived a few years ago, and it seems that since that time neither money nor efforts were spared to promote every site of any interest in the wide surroundings of the city. Literally every street corner has a display with some posters of tourist sights in or near the city, huge billboards saying “Guangyuan, Tourist destination" can be seen all over the place and there are several large tourist information centers where the walls are lined with all kinds of tourist leaflets, maps and brochures in both Chinese and English.
I chose to climb the abovementioned Fenghuang hill to get a bird's eye view of the city and to see the curious Fenghuang tower up close. The hill is covered with thriving plant life and also houses some small amusement park rides and a few tea pavilions. All are past their heyday. On the top of the hill there are some nice panorama terraces with the tower amidst them. For 20RMB I also climbed this Fenghuang watch tower and got a phenomenal view of the city with its bridges and rivers and of the surrounding mountainous landscape.

A curious sight that you won't find in any of the tourist brochures is a very, very multifunctional church I spotted in one of Guangyuan's streets [see picture]. The church building houses an electronics store, a hotel, some apartments and yes; an actual church.

3. Jiuzhaigou, take two

That night I slept like log on the comfortable bed of my home-style room, but still rose early the next morning to make my way to the bus station. I wasn't very hopeful to begin with, because in Guangyuan now too, the rain was pouring down. And as soon as I entered the hall of the bus terminal it was made very clear that all hope was gone; a large sign said "Due to bad weather conditions, no bus service to Jiuzhaigou for the coming 2 days"

Disappointed I thought of what to do next. Of course it was possible to travel to Chengdu first and take a bus to Jiuzhai there, but this would cost me an additional two days. And since I had to be back in Xi'an again 4 days later, that actually wasn't an option at all. So there was no choice but to accept my loss, and to enjoy my days in Guangyuan. I turned around and checked in at the same Warm House Hotel again.


< More stories about (my experiences in) Guangyuan and its nice surroundings in Part 2 // Please don't forget to leave your comments on this story! >