20/7/25
At 5:50am we heard shouting. Waking from our deep sleep we couldn’t help but be pissed off. Less than half an hour later someone knocked at our door. A red coated staff member insisted we followed her, making the now familiar symbol for sunrise with her fingers. Chasing after her we were led to a suite where we could see the beautiful ‘Jinshan Mountain’. Not a cloud in sight. Its English name was hard to work out, but we think it was Mt. Tai.
Another family was there, taking pictures. The hotel was the Golden Mountain Photography Themed Hotel after all. Once the Sun rose, the name made mountains of sense. Gloriously golden. The man shared our sadness at the continued loss of the glacier. He gestured to his children, “They won’t be able to see it when they’re older”.
Breakfast wasn’t until 7:30am. It was only ¥20 to take the cable car for a second time. Hopefully with less clouds. We understood the food would be brought to our room. Meanwhile Jonathan snuck into the breakfast room and powered up the coffee machine. Bean to cup obtained, At 7:40am we went looking for our missing breakfast. We’d misunderstood entirely. It was in fact in the breakfast room.
Everyone else, all 6 others, were already there. Delicious vegan breakfast dishes were brought. Nothing special apart from the attention to detail. As we finished up an apologetic receptionist returned to guide us. Hurrying us along to catch the cable car as soon as possible. Storming along the road we saw a bus and waved it down.
What ensued when we got off the bus was insane. The bus was carrying a tourist hiking group. As though we were celebrities, we had group photos. Then individual photos. Holding flags. The whole nine yards. It was manic. We just wanted to get on the cable car but felt honoured to of be of such interest. We couldn’t imagine doing the same to anyone at home.
Far less fog obscured the view of the glacier. At one point we could even see the top of our old friend Mount Gongga. As we were watching, we were once again struck by the number of avalanches. We could even see a large waterfall on the right hand side that had not been visible the day before. That area collapsed even further while we were watching. It was sobering to stand watching the crumbling ice fall. It was a horrifying, and mesmerising reminder of the seriousness of climate change.
On our way down, we attempted to calculate the retreat of the glacier over the last three years. The most recent figure for the altitude of the bottom of the tongue, 2850m, was from 2022. Looking down below us, we could see the rubble covered glacier reaching a mere 3110m. That put the yearly retreat at 86m per year. An increase from the 66m per year figure that was in the museum in Moxi for the years 2021-2022. Exponentially disappearing. Sadness.
Caohaizi visitor centre was a few kilometres down the road. After stashing our belongings we took the tourist trail into the woods. From the banks of the Dadu River, to the top of Gongga, the altitude rises 6500m in just 29km. Thus seven markedly different habitats are present in very short thrift. This area was dominated by native rhododendrons. Dripping in lichen, a temperate rainforest.
Scenic Spots have various photography features, information boards and signs. Dubious though we were at first, they’d grown on us immensely. Nowhere more so than here. Every path, and barrier was designed around the terrain. No fallen trees were moved. Just bare minimum of work done to make the path traversable. Signs were informative and easy to understand. No overly complex language. Images indicated pertinent concepts. Access to nature was being highly encouraged. Signs repeatedly reminded visitors of their environmental obligations.
Stepping quietly and whispering as we trod on the paving stones was our attempt to see red pandas. Despite being the perfect habitat, we of course we didn’t see any. Insects and butterflies aplenty though. There used to be a lot more forest bathing to enjoy. Since the earthquake the most exciting bits, including bridges, had yet to be repaired. Instead we crossed the road and visited a hidden temple built into the rocks. Then we took the bus all the way back down the steep winding road to Moxi.
Immediately frustrated by the heat, albeit only 26C, we sought a hotel. We couldn’t find the one we were looking for, so went to a smart looking place on a whim. Only once in our room, did the green tiled bathroom let us know that it was in fact the very hotel we were looking for in the first place. It was still early afternoon, so we watched Up In The Air. Free to watch on the box and in English.
Getting back to our bicycles had taken a turn for the worse. According to our host, the road between Luding and Shimian was still under repair. An earthquake in 2024 had rendered a tunnel impassable. A detour to avoid the 20km section was more than 500km. What should have been a short taxi ride had turned into an epic of buses. There was little choice. Sadness.
The affectionately named ‘peasant restaurant’ served us an almost identical dinner to the night before. Vegetarian dishes were just sides to most people from what we could work out. It suited us. It was cheap. The only food that was inexplicably expensive, to us, were mushrooms. Around £9 a plate.
Glad to be back in our room early, we watched Paycheck. One of Jonathan’s favourites. There were so many classic films available he would have been quite happy to spend a couple of days enjoying them. The room was very clean and comfortable. Apart from the loud thundering beats that played for over an hour, and fortunately stopped before our bedtime, it was a perfect resting hole.