Journey to Western Sichuan | Farewell gift from Zheduo Mountain

“This is a special feedback beyond mountains and water“

E101°.97, N30°.05

Gan character, Sichuan

I remember that we barely used our mobile phones on the way to Milk Sea and Five Color Lake. After going down the mountain, I discovered that the Internet was full of news that the road to Daocheng Yading was already overcrowded.

I'm a little lucky that my small group traveled a few days in advance to avoid this wave of traffic jams. But I can't help but feel a little worried. In addition to the bad traffic, the weather wasn't great either. And if we want to return to Chengdu from Daocheng, we still need to go back via Zheduo Mountain.

The heavy snowfall the night before basically paralyzed the traffic flow on the mountain road. I'm worried about congestion on the return trip, and even more worried about driving safety. On the way here, I was startled several times by seeing the peak cliffs outside the car window every time I woke up and opened my eyes.

We set off before dawn.

The altitude of 3700 meters at 6 o'clock in the morning is not very friendly. The continuous torment of high altitude sickness and the fatigue from hiking up the mountain the day before had not yet subsided. Everyone endured the cold and got up, packed their bags and boarded the car for the return journey. Like everyone else, as soon as I got in the car, I ignored everything and fell asleep with my headphones on and my jacket on.

When I opened my eyes again and woke up, the sky outside the window was already bright. The car had already left the quiet and peaceful Daocheng County and began to enter the vast mountain plains again.

Although it is the same stretch of road, Ganzi gave us a different visual display.

The grassland vegetation, towering trees and nearby and distant mountains are all covered with snow, leaving more or less gaps with a hint of dark green, as if they don't want to enter the cold winter mode early in the late October.

What a beauty.

The originally confused mind suddenly woke up. Although I rarely see snow scenes as a southerner, I have hiked on glaciers in New Zealand before and witnessed the contrast between blue and white between heaven and earth.

But this time is different, this is the snow scene in the mountains.

I can see the white crystal flowers clinging to the surface of the earth, layer upon layer, trying to stay a while longer before the sun comes out. It's probably another battle between the weather and the creatures: one doesn't want to leave yet, and the other already wants to come early.

Stretching his head and looking forward, he saw that most of his companions were still awake. The entire carriage was filled with a deep sleepiness, and the roaring sound of the car was like a lullaby.

Maybe we started too early and didn’t see many cars on the road. In a busy tourist area during the holiday peak during the day, I actually felt the loneliness of being alone in the world.

If there had been no snow, we might not have been able to see the layers of fir trees in the distance. I can’t help but recall that this time last year, when I was driving on the mountain roads in Norway, I saw the same scene in front of me. I always wonder whether these fir trees are evergreen all year round, surviving the harsh winter and ushering in a new year of spring, and whether they have never withered and died. If it has not died, where did it come from?

Just thinking about it like this. I don't know when, but thick fog has begun to surround the mountain forest. Against the backdrop of the gray sky, there is an air of mystery. As the snow grew thicker on the vegetation, I knew it was going uphill.

You know, the altitude of Zheduo Mountain is close to 4,300 meters.

The roofs of the houses on the roadside are covered with snow, and the mountains in the distance are connected to the sky. As the car kept moving forward, I felt that the houses, pastures and telephone poles passing by were gradually disappearing into the snow.

The boundaries between things are so blurry, as if the pencil drawing is erased with just a gentle wipe of the eraser, leaving no trace.

It's both beautiful and can make people feel a little anxious and panicked. The view was stunning, but it didn't bring that high-pitched joy. There is only silence, continuous silence.

As we get closer to the higher observation deck, there are more and more cars on the side. Master Zhong began to slow down. This road has sharp curves and is not wide. In addition, people traveling by car often stop when they see the scenery, so the traffic safety hazard is still great.

But that’s fine, the speed of twenty or thirty miles allowed me to take pictures smoothly through the car window. I also accidentally captured a group of older children trying to roll a giant snowball. Their excited cheers could be heard across the car.

Looking to the other side, a huge ravine valley formed between the two slopes. I don’t know whether it’s the sunshine or the slope facing the wind, but there is exposed black sandstone on one side and a layer of white snow on the other side. Looking at the past, the fusion of black and white is like the ink rendering on rice paper. It would not be an overstatement to say that this is nature painting in a happy mood. Of all the photos I took this day, this one is my favorite.

The observation deck was even more crowded. I happened to not be wearing waterproof and non-slip hiking boots, so every step I took was terrifying. So I didn't go exploring far away with them. I just walked around the White Tower and bought a steaming sweet potato. Ten yuan each, so expensive.

Prayer flags are symbols of faith that have been seen frequently since entering Tibetan areas. It is said that it is a messenger that conveys people's thoughts to the gods in heaven, and is the repository of human wishes and hopes. I'm just used to seeing colorful prayer flags with the blue sky as the background and the grassland as the background, but I never imagined that they can be so bright in the snow. Holy is probably the word I want to use to describe it most at this time.

The driver in charge, Lao Zhong, is a very kind person. Seeing that our group of southerners couldn't take their eyes off the snow, they passed a resting spot and asked us if we wanted to go down and play for a while.

This was great, the brothers, uncles, aunts and uncles in the team who were in their 30s, 40s and 50s all went crazy. I made small snowmen, rolled up snowballs to prepare for pranks, held snowflakes in my hands and sprinkled them one after another, and kept worrying about whether I could catch some good photos. He laughs and laughs frequently, and looks more like a child than someone who is relatively small for my age. Old Master Zhong, smoking a cigarette on the side, also found it funny. Once southerners encounter snow, the emotional outburst is probably an unsolved mystery.

The only thing I felt unsatisfied was that I passed through Shear Bay twice in total. The first time I got off the bus was because the fog made it impossible to see any scenery clearly with the naked eye. The second time was because there were too many vehicles and our car could not find a suitable parking spot and was constantly driven away.

In the end, Master Zhong had to say that there was only one lane, so he had to move forward if he couldn't pull over. We may not be able to stop and take another look.

Looking out the window, I also thought it was spectacular. The continuous winding curves are comparable to the Eagle Road and Elf Road in Norway. Posting a picture of a geography article online, I completely think it is visually stunning.

Despite the regrets, the snow provided by Zheduo Mountain on the way back still added a lot to this trip to western Sichuan.

Even though most of the day was spent in the car, there wasn’t much activity or play. I still feel that just looking at these snow scenes can make me feel the beauty of nature. I believe from the bottom of my heart that this is a farewell from Tibet, and it is also a commemorative gift.