Hello,I am just back from HEISHUI KALONGGOU valley, now sharing my journey with you. It was very cold there, freezing, snowing, but interesting.

TRAVELLOG

　　The unexpected mud-flood prolonged¹ our trip to 12 hours,4 hours longer than original. More than 10000 automobiles² had piled up along the road since WENCHUAN. At 19'o clock we got HEISHUI county, which is remote and light populated. The 1st impression came to me was the free life style. The majority of the population there is TIBETAN, but most of the shop-owners are HAN people who were laid off from factories in different cities. Some of them have been there for years leading a poor but simple life.

DAY 1 ON ARRIVAL

　　Excited, and tired(becaused of the prolonged trip)getting off the bus, we ran into a local tour guide waiting for his group(probably delayed by the mud-flood). From him we got a bargain accomodation(20RMB each night). after laid down our heavy backpacks, we started our search in the town for food, but it's frustrating³ for there was no special flavor. anyhow, a twice-cooked meal and noodles refreshed my body. On our way back to the hostel⁴, a shop drew my attention. it sold tibetan clothes. i chose a gilet for myself, while my girl asked for a made-to-order. In those gilets, we continued our hunt in the town. our strange dressing⁵ style attracted many local eyes on us, and a bunch of local children at our heels. A HAN shop-owner even carefully asked us if we are HAN or TIBETAN.(giggle)
finished this day with a comfortable sleep in the hostel, which was small but clean.

DAY 2 TO THE KALONGGOU VALLEY TOURIST ATTRACTION

　　Early in the morning,after the daily cleaning task, i stepped out into the yard. At the very moment a snow mountain came into my eyes. With all the gears⁶ on my back, we came to bus station, but was told there was no regular bus to the spot which means we had to rent a minibus. Expensive, but it was the only solution, because we are not tough enough to hike to the valley which was some 71km away from the town.

　　On the minibus, the driver told us that communists are not welcomed here. Being asked why, he said their lives used to be difficult because the poverty of the land could bring them only enough for one family, but now the "farms give way for forestration"project(TUIGENGHUANLIN) is pushing them to the verge⁷ of starvation, and the tourism is not so advanced that life could be changed through it. I had heard of lots of projects about developing tourism in HEISHUI, so was wondering what it could be in the future. Mr driver told that only limited authorized⁸ companies would be allowed to contract the transportation industry from the county to the spot, so most of the locals would not get the profit.

　　What was most shocking---I saw a real hunter---with a gun and a long tibetan sword. driver told us nowadays the number of hunters decreased drastically⁹, for guns had been baned and expropriated. It reminded me of the traditional tibetan hat made of fox fur which was beyond of my affordability¹⁰.(sigh)if only me could get one...

　　On arriving the spot, we wrote down the phone number of the driver, for
we still ned him tomorrow. To be frank, the spot was not that beautiful, but the scenery on the way to the spot was much more absorbing. Heavy snow could be seen everywhere,walking through the bush becoming difficult, from time to time melted snow drop into my collar, freezing. and the plank¹¹ road was extremely slip, too much steps made snow into ice. probably, it was May Day holiday, too much tourists there(i don't like it).

ON THE WAY BACK TO TOWN

　　Coming out of the spot, surprised, no cars available, no signal for mobiles, even no settled-phone usable.(Huh?!We lost our touch with the driver) Have to walk back to town?Anyhow, we started our hiking. Some 5km later, ran into a tractor. It was my 1st time to hitch-hike on a tractor.(i'd like to have a try again if possible)about 10 minutes later, we had to get off. Continued our hiking. 5 minutes, another bus came. on the bus, many girls in sight along the road waving to us through the windows. Those tibetans are really hospitable¹², even a girl squating in a field relieving nature waved to us(giggle). Just like this we hitch-hiked back to town.and all the drivers who offered us a free ride were local tibetan, although we saw many HAN driver in cars, but no one replied to our help-request. how so?... We are all HAN people, but no help from our own people in our reach while we are in need of it.