mrsjono

To reward ourselves for all the possible reasons we could think of, we spent the last 4 days sleeping past noon, shopping and eating! Such indulgence is a luxury for me bcos I'm a poor student in expensive Singapore.

Oh yes KFC never tasted so good. On the day of the release of results, we were so nervous and had no mood to do anything so we went to eat KFC. Ajisen again in Chengdu and local snacks (bottom row-冰粉、凉面、龙抄手) in Wenshu Monastery. Nice!

Bulk of my harvest were from Lijiang. Wallet, bags, scarf, stamps, dongba postcards, dongba art painting, a drawing, wild fungi, dried plums, dragon beard candy which became a lump of rock and I had to dump both boxes down the chute.

What better way to celebrate our results than having good food? 正宗麻辣火锅 & Pizzahut! The lean beef and soup base for the hotpot were irresistable! Shiok!

Another bulk of my harvest from Chengdu. We discovered a 五道口服装市场 which was enough to last me a few hours. More souvenirs from Wenshu Monastery, a big box of tidbits from the supermarket and a final last glance at Tianfu Square before heading to the airport.

Why are we smiling when we're going home? :'(

Upon arrival at Chengdu Airport, there were lots of people to welcome us. Wow, we're popular!

A poster at a newspaper booth in Wudaokou

I was going to the canteen to eat and the students were distributing these flyers and calling 饭后 捐血!

不能靠近你, 但要温暖你

清华师生热血献灾区

These are the blood donation buses going around the city

I've been watching the news these few days and it was very encouraging to see the Chinese people so enthusiastic in helping the vicitms of the earthquake; donating blood, donating money, writing songs and poems to express their sorrow and condolences, some even went as far as volunteering in the rescue team, in the hospitals and adopting the kids who lost their parents in the disaster.

我要捐血! 我要捐血! 我要捐血!
One of the many enthusiasts filling up the form

I brought back memories of the beautiful sceneries in Sichuan but just 1 week after I left, the place is totally destroyed. Families torn apart, buildings razed to the ground and the lives of the friendly Sichuan people with their funny Sichuan accent which I enjoy imitating are disrupted. I was at Mt Qing Cheng and Dujiangyan 2 weeks before the earthquake struck. I passed by the worst hit areas of Wenchuan and Maoxian on my way to Jiuzhaigou 2 weeks before the earthquake struck. I passed by Wolong too and I wonder if the silly pandas managed to escape. If I had come back slightly later, I might not be here anymore.. I couldn't find the donation boxes so I did thought of donating blood. However, by the time I got back to the bus again the person said the blood bank was already full. What a huge contrast to the situation in Spore. Here, people rush to donate their blood. Back at home, people had to go onto the streets to beg other people to donate.

Half-mast in Tsinghua

Half-mast everywhere

I decided to go Tiananmen today as it was the first day of the national mourning for the earthquake victims. I didn't expect it to be such a grand affair!

CCTV van and crew on standby reporting live from Tiananmen Square

I managed to squeeze my way in just behind the 2 guys holding the China flags

They held up their hands like this for quite long as the photographers behind snapped away furiously. Looks like I got a pretty good spot.

Oh jeez I might appear on China tv or some parts of my head might appear in the China press tmr

天府广场默哀仪式

I was here 18 days ago before the earthquake struck on 0512.

Chengdu residents hand in hand shouting "中国加油 四川雄起!"

On 19 May 2008 14:28pm, (1 week exactly after the earthquake) the whole of China comes to a standstill, observing 3 mins of silence while air-raid sirens blared and motorists stopped their cars and honked their horns. All flags were lowered at half-mast throughout the country and at Chinese embassies and missions overseas. All public cultural and entertainment activities are halted during the 3-day national mourning period. Major Chinese websites such as CCTV and the logo of baidu are in black and white. The video I took is too large to be uploaded here. Go here for a complete coverage of the mourning across China.

As soon as the 3 minutes of silence was over, the crowd burst into chants of 中国万岁! 四川加油! while punching their fists into the air.

I was standing on tip-toe all the time. Amidst all the chaos, I have no idea wad I was shooting.

汗水、泪水、鼻涕全都有

I am truly in awe with their level of patriotism for their country. Look at the lady leading the crowd in 中国万岁! She looked really emotional.

Climbing up to get a good shot

散场了

("让我们化悲痛为力量 一起重建家园...")

A tragedy which took away more than 35,000 lives but united the hearts of 1.3 billion people. This is truly an unforgettable experience.

独自在成都的最后一天,

却是我在这十天里最快乐的一天.

即使童话世界有多美丽,

川剧有多精彩,

我也宁愿不曾在这里.

之前一直很想离开北京市,

现在恨不得赶紧回北京去.

天府广场·成都

02052008 7.20pm

文殊院·成都

五花海·九寨沟

Jiuzhaigou is a great masterpiece of nature with dreamlike scenery and abundant natural resources. It combines blue lakes, waterfalls, verdant forests, snow-covered mountains, and the folk customs of the Tibetan and Qiang people. Hidden in the mountains 3000m above sea level, it has been known as "童话世界" (utopia) or "人间天堂" (paradise). It is not enough to visit this place once as each season is equally beautiful.

春韵九寨 浪漫天堂
夏情九寨 梦幻天堂
秋诗九寨 多彩天堂
冬韵九寨 晶莹天堂

Legend has it that long, long ago the deity of mountain named Dago had a crush on the goddess Semo, and he gave a mirror that was made from wind and clouds to the goddess. However, the devil appeared and created trouble for Semo. Inadvertently, Semo broke the mirror into 108 pieces, which fell down to the earth and turned to 108 colorful lakes. Be prepared to see the most beautiful sceneries that u can ever imagine ahead!

The plan was to go all the way up to the top right hand corner of the map (原始森林) and then view the sceneries as we come down. Stop at the middle (诺日朗) for lunch, then move on to the left side of the map. Proceed all the way down, past 诺日朗 again and down to the entrance.

My first time seeing snow-capped mountains!

I was aware of the vast temperature difference in the morning/night and afternoon and had wanted to bring an additional sweater along but decided against it bcos it was rather smelly and dirty from last night's Tibet dinner. Bad decision. It was so cold I couldn't even stand straight or talk properly. I was freezing at 3060m above sea level and there were people calling out to me "Very cold hor? Come la, we got clothes on rent! Come la! Wear already not cold anymore, very warm one!" Kanna sai...

The primeval forest felt like lord of the rings. It looked like it has been there since the earliest of times, superbly silent.