Working and living in the eastern Himalaya…in 2008

As the "peak" season comes to an end and the quiet period starts to settle in it's time to reflect on a turbulent year (if there is time for reflection amid future planning) in one of the most beautiful places in China and the world. The October holiday time, when most Chinese people take their annual holidays, is typically Jiuzhaigou's busiest time. Daily visitor numbers have surpassed 20,000 in previous years. It was this year's busiest time but we may have had 20,000 visitors in the whole week. It was a sign though, that tourist confidence is steadily being restored. For the tourists that did come to get the all important photos of the red and yellow leaves forming a magnificent contrast against the green firs and ferns and the blue lakes, they had the national park virtually to themselves.

The upcoming China International Tourism Mart in Shanghai will be another opportunity for Jiuzhaigou to present herself to the world market and reiterate that it is a safe place and the locals need the support of the international market to restore tourism to all of Northern Sichuan province.

So what is living in a place like this like? If you look at the photos you get to see our back garden.  China has a reputation for having big polluted cities with grey skies and bad air quality.  Nothing could be a bigger contrast from Jiuzhaigou. Indeed many people who visit Jiuzhaigou that are living in China simply say "this isn't China".  It is not the China that hundreds of millions know but this is also the real China to those of us who are lucky enough to live here.

Being a foreigner and not speaking fluent Chinese in China will inevitably bring many frustrations…but nothing a quiet walk in the park won't solve. I have been lucky to see the four seasons in Jiuzhaigou and at the risk of wishing my life away I'm looking forward to seeing the whole cycle again. I arrived in the winter and it was freezing. A lack of insulation or central heating brought me down to earth with a thud! But the barren hills, snow capped mountains, blue skies and crisp fresh air put all that to the back of my mind.

Spring arrived with flowers blooming and trees budding.  A little more (much needed) rain arrived but mostly at night.  Spring rolled into summer and everything was green. At this stage I had still seen very few rainy days. The vast majority of days had clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine. Unfortunately there were very few tourists here to enjoy it as a result of the earthquake of May 12th.

Then the kaleidoscope of colour that is the autumn arrived and the tourists started to come back.  The tourists' excitement at seeing the colours that they have read about and seen pictures of all their lives was uplifting for everybody. Adults behaving like children on Christmas day. Running from spot to spot to get the next photo like a child opening their presents before they have had time to really appreciate the first one.

Hopefully the local government's post-earthquake plans will continue to restore tourism through the winter and into 2009. Involving local people, making everybody, tourists and locals alike, appreciate the environment will hopefully restore and increase the quality of tourism in the region.
                                     
                                     Kieran

Kieran Fitzgerald
Sustainable Tourism and Marketing Advisor,
Jiuzhaigou National Park, Sichuan, China