The cotton wool clouds, the fine grains of black volcanic sands, the clean sea waters - one can just lie on the beach and while the time away with a tan beneath the balmy tropical sun...
Ōnuma Park is known for its picturesque, island dotted lakes and majestic dormant volcano, Mount Komagatake. Surrounded by birch and maple forests, a total of 128 small islands can be found in its lakes...
A land of rocky mountains, snaking rivers, steep slopes, deep valleys, and harsh barren terrain. Yet in some places, lush greenery and crystal-clear azure waters abound...
In the middle of the Pacific Oceans lies an archipelago of islands formed from the fiercest violent volcanoes and made of the browns and greys of cooled lava rocks. The resulting landscape is breathtaking in its purest greens and blues...
Bordered by 100-metre cliffs formed by the erosion of tuff, Sounkyo Gorge is situated at the foot of Mount Daisetsuzan - the "roof of Hokkaido", and stretches for 24 kilometres along the Ishikari River...
Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟)
Sichuan (四川), China (中国)
March 2013
(This article is part of Merlion Wayfarer Goes World's People series on The Zangs.)
Merlion Wayfarer visited the Jiuzhaigou Folk Culture Village (九寨沟民俗文化村), one of the nine Tibetan villages in Jiuzhaigou. Although it was largely commercialized (By right, locals don't usually sit there in their villages to wait for people to buy their wares!), it was an interesting insight into the range of crafts made by the Tibetans...
Although brief, Merlion Wayfarer had a chance to meet Tibetans (藏族人) while in Sichuan. And being a typical city frog in the well (井底蛙), meeting someone from a different culture was a whole new experience each time...
Tall, much taller than Merlion Wayfarer are they! The man in the grey suit, a non-Tibetan,
is around 1.7m and the two ladies on his right are at least 1.75m tall...
The bonfire dance is characterized by lots of loud whopping calls and clapping. Merlion Wayfarer admits that they do have a very good sense of rhythm (much better than her!)...
Both the men and women are extremely good-looking, with their height, fair complexion, rosy cheeks and well-structured cheekbones...
Even the young have very ruddy cheeks. This is due to the fresh mountain air
and the exposure to sunlight at high altitudes...
As a guest, you are welcomed with warmth and friendliness...
Ethnic minorities are not limited by the one-child policy,
yet each child is the pride and joy of the family...
Broad-chested, wiry-haired performers in the 藏迷 Tibetan Cultural Show
at the Jiuzhaigou Zang Mi Theatre (九寨沟藏迷大剧场)...
Comb-making artisans in the Jiuzhaigou Folk Culture Village (九寨沟民俗文化村)...
As part of the tour package, Merlion Wayfarer had the opportunity to go to a Tibetan Cultural Show titled "藏迷". Held at the Jiuzhaigou Zang Mi Theatre (九寨沟藏迷大剧场) next to a 3-star hotel, the show starts at 1930 hours nightly.
The listed price for the show is RMB 150. However, tour groups may levy a surcharge for transport to and from the theatre to the hotels. For RMB 180, Merlion Wayfarer's group was seated in the Circle seats on the second level.
The poster for the show with its masked characters and religious symbolism...
The seats were generally clean and cushioned. However, one seat in Merlion Wayfarer's row creaked then sank. It had to be vacated for the duration of the show. It was not easy changing seats, since the theatre was full during the performance. Even the aisles were filled with rows of audience seated on the floor.
藏迷 (Riddle of Tibet) tells the story of an elderly Tibetan woman's pilgrimage all the way from Jiuzhaigou to Lhasa in Tibet. As she walks along, she bows and kneels every few steps. According to Google Maps, that is a total distance of 2,511.3km of bowing and kneeling!
As she progresses on her pilgrimage, she experiences a panorama of sights and experiences that represent the rich variety and depth of the Tibetan culture:
The prelude shows people walking around the stage, turning on the giant prayer wheels. Periodically, a Tibetan monk steps forward to blow a horn...
The protagonist, "Old Mother", is an elderly lady with a real live lamb, is introduced to the audience. As she embarks on her journey, she is surrounded by other pilgrims...
The stage darkens and a group of dashing young men troop into the stage playing the guitar-like Dranyen Lute (六弦琴)...
A bevy of ladies dressed in crimson dresses dancing a Long-Sleeve Dance (长袖舞) gracefully...
Halfway through the dance, they are interjected with men in fur pelts in a rowdy dance. A maiden appears hiding in the prince's fur...
Qu Erdeng's (曲尔登) powerful rendition of Amazing Jiuzhai (神奇的九寨) accompanied by the rhythmic beats of the Zangmi Band (藏迷乐队)...
Men in Black dancing the 夏拉舞 (宗塔地区民间舞), a folk dance...
As the Old Mother nears Tibet, she sees locals happily dancing, singing and cleaning the Potala Palace and nearby temples in Song of Mortar (打阿嘎)...
Lotus Tara (荷花度母) : Yang Liping (杨丽萍), an internationally-acclaimed dancer of Bai ethnicity from Yunnan province, takes to stage again as a follow-up to her successful music and dance production Dynamic Yunnan (云南映象). She first rose to prominence in China in 1986 after winning a national dance contest with her interpretation of the Dai (傣族) peacock dance...
Merlion Wayfarer liked the Yak Dance (牦牛舞), a comic skit with men dressed in yak fur...
As the pilgrim progresses further, the weather gets colder and it starts snowing.
She passes away in the snowstorm...
And the spirit bird Xiangxiang (向向神鸟) delivers her to the underworld (极乐世界). The spoiler is that she is reincarnated as a human and has to begin the pilgrimage cycle all over again...
The ending left Merlion Wayfarer somewhat stumped by the plot, as it was quite abrupt after 1.5 hours. She also found the storyline too religious and a trifle dark for a cultural show. At times, she was uncomfortable with the shouting and high-pitch singing. Regardless, the colourful costumes, the incredible lighting effects and laser display makes the whole experience worthwhile as a kaleidoscopic panorama of Tibetan culture...
