books & travel & my various musings

New background!

2011-03-21T13:31:00.002+08:00

While updating my other remaining blog on blogger, I realised that they have a lot more new templates here on blogger, if only they had more templates and functions before, I might not move to wordpress. And I suddenly realised it has been two years since I have moved!

I cannot resist changing the background for this old blog though. XD

(Actually I seldom even update my new blog nowadays with Facebook, Plurk and Weibo...)

Trial Move

2009-02-12T19:08:00.001+08:00

Ok, I have wanted to move my blog to wordpress for quite some time, the functions here in blogger is kinda limited...

so I have exported my posts to wordpress, and here's the link to my new blog, let's see how it goes

http://booksntravel.wordpress.com/

Design for Living 華麗上班族之生活與生存 (edited)

2009-02-10T16:48:00.005+08:00

華麗上班族之生活與生存
Stage Play with 鄭元暢 and 張艾嘉, directed by 林奕華, mentioned in the previous post. (Already shown in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing and Singapore.) It will be shown in Hong Kong from 26 to 30 March. Should I really go and see? Seemingly crazy...

非常林奕華2008-2009華麗上班族之生活與生存巡迴演出香港站
時間：26/3(四)-28/3(六)7:45PM , 29/3(日)3:45PM
地點：香港葵青劇院－演藝廳
票價：$420 ,$280 ,$120
*註普通話演出　附中文字幕
票價有可能再作調整

HK ticket price is actually cheaper than that in Beijing =P hahahahahaha!!

Love or Bread 我的億萬麵包

2009-02-10T15:57:00.006+08:00

I've been crazily watching Taiwanese drama these days. (Mainly because I have nothing better to do after I have finished my exam in January. =P) People asked me if I like Taiwanese drama a lot, actually apart from Meteor Garden, I can't remember if I have ever watched any other before It Started with a Kiss and They Kiss Again.

As I tried to decide which drama to watch next, should I watch another drama series with Joe Cheng 鄭元暢? I thought I probably liked Zhishu (his character in the "Kiss" series) rather than the actor himself.

I tried watching another seemingly really hit series 命中注定我愛你, my conclusion is please do NOT watch this series.

The bad and cliched plot... the actor/actress are not as good looking as Joe and Ariel... their acting is no good... I got through 3 episodes and then stopped watching... (Kiss series started with a conventional plot as well but ended up being really special, because of the portrayal the real relationship, not just some fairytale story where Cinderella meets the Prince and they stayed happily ever after. =P) I don't know if the series is going to better in the next 21 episodes, I don't think I'm gonna continue to watch it.

Back from sidetracking, I also started Love or Bread 我的億萬麵包 around the same time, of course because of Joe and Ariel. I think the plot is original, the hero being a guy who cheats the heroine and owes debts from loan sharks. I can forgive the seemingly ridiculous parts of the story, given that it's a comedy. However, the execution of the plot is a bit weak, I felt even more so after reading reviews from this blog! (You can find reviews of all the episodes in her blog, I think the reviews are good, haha! and I like those screen captures.) The original ending from the novel is much better!! How come they didn't put those parts in the drama series??!!

However, after watching this series, I came to appreciate Joe Cheng, the actor. He's a really talented actor. Of course, his good looks managed to make this jerk actually attractive even when he's doing bad things. =P But you can see how good his acting is through all his facial expressions, postures, even when he stood with his back turned. Unbelievable!

These photos are all from the blog I've mentioned above.

I think it's a entertaining drama series with extraordinary actors, but not a classic like Kiss 1 & 2.

Which generates the next question, should I go and watch his stage play (see next post)? hmm...

Planning on Peru trip (part 3) - my itinerary

2009-02-08T22:01:00.005+08:00

Since many people have asked me about where we're going exactly, I'm going to put my itinerary up here.

We have asked a travel company to put the itinerary together for us. We told them where we want to go, and the dates of our arrival and departure. They have arranged all the transfers and local tours at different places for us.

This is our 22 day itinerary:

21/2 Leave HK--> Amsterdam
22/2 Amsterdam--> Lima
23/2 Lima--> Ica
24/2 Ballesta Islands (poor man's Galapagos =P) Tour, then Ica to Nazca
25/2 Flight over Nazca lines, Nazca to Arequipa (night overnight bus)
26/2 Arequipa City Tour
27/2 Colca Canyon Tour
28/2 Colca Canyon Tour
1/3 Arequipa to Puno
2/3 Lake Titicaca tour
3/3 Puno to Cusco
4/3 Cusco City tour
5/3 Sacred Valley Tour
6-7/3 2 Day Inca Trail (including Machu Picchu)
8-11/3 Cusco to Puerto Maldonado (going to Amazon rainforest, staying at Jungle Lodge for 4 days and 3 nights!)
12/3 Puerto Maldonado to Lima
13/3 Lima City Tour and plane to Amsterdam
14/3 Amsterdam--> HK

Looking forward to the trip!

Song from Love or Bread

2009-02-01T14:30:00.003+08:00

I didn't plan to start a new TV series so quickly, but after I have handed in my paper and exam AND finished It Started with a Kiss and They Kissed Again, I really have nothing better to do, so I started watching Bread or Love 我的億萬麵包 yesterday. The leading actor and actress are the same, but their characters are totally different from the previous two series.

The heroine is a thrifty and hardworking person, whereas the hero is debt-ridden because he buys expensive things with his 23 credit cards! I'm looking forward to see how the two of them can fall in love with each other, being so different from each other. =P It is funny to see how the hero become "clown-like" in the protrayal of the character "Frank", so different from his cool look in the previous two series. (He is still good looking, occasionally, in his expensive clothes when he's not making weird faces.)

I like this song from the series. It's sang by Ariel Lin 林依晨, but this is a clip from a new year's eve program where both of them sang together. It is sweet but Joe Cheng 鄭元暢 should not be a professional singer. =P

ok, this one is by Ariel Lin only, so u can appreciate how good this song is

麵包的滋味

回頭想起一切都還像昨天
我還天天對你生氣板著臉
時鐘才轉幾圈有了轉變
緣分太妙不可言

雖然你滿身數不完　的缺點
完美小姐也不是我　的頭銜
越看就越順眼　我們之間
舒服得像　星期天
是命運緊緊把我們　綁在一起
越吵越甜蜜　越吵越愛你　越不分離
生活的難題　考驗著愛情
才顯得我們的努力　多麼值得被珍惜
從今就緊緊的和你　綁在一起
不管壞天氣　不管壞心情　都不分離
麵包的滋味　有多香多甜
有你分享才真的完美

雖然你滿身數不完　的缺點
完美小姐也不是我　的頭銜
越看就越順眼　我們之間
舒服得像　星期天
是緣份　是愛情
是命運緊緊把我們　綁在一起
越吵越甜蜜　越吵越愛你　越不分離
生活的難題　考驗著愛情
才顯得我們的努力　多麼值得被珍惜
從今就緊緊的和你　綁在一起
不管壞天氣　不管壞心情　都不分離
麵包的滋味　有多香多甜
有你分享　才真的完美 ~~

就這樣緊緊的和你　綁在一起
不管壞天氣　不管壞心情　都不分離
麵包的滋味　有多香多甜
有你分享有你分享才是真完美

It Started with a Kiss & They Kissed Again

2009-02-01T13:45:00.001+08:00

Usually sequels are bad. Examples include Pirates of the Caribbean, Gone with the Wind, Meteor Garden. =P

This time, to my surprise, They Kissed Again 惡作劇2吻 is even better than It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻!

They Kissed Again is the story about Zhishu and ShangQin after they got married. It managed to convince me why their relationship can work. And how their character and intelligence (IQ 200 vs IQ 75), as different as they are, could be complementary to each other.

『這世上有90%的事是我做得到的而她做不到；剩下的10%我做不到的，她卻能做到任何一個人都無法模仿的地步。』

And it really surprised me-- the depth this "teenage idol drama" had. How both of them can grow together!

Highly recommended!

I finished all the 50 episodes in 1 week's time, I think it's a record for me. haha!

Entertainment for CNY

2009-01-25T19:22:00.008+08:00

It's time for the most boring festival of all-- CHINESE NEW YEAR!

It's already better now, compared to the days when I was a kid. No shops were opened. All the TV programs were about CNY, EVEN the commercials became more boring than ever. Still...

I've been searching for entertainment for my one day holiday... (coz I need to work on the 2nd day, perhaps sleep on the 3rd day of the New Year)

I watched this movie 醜女大翻身 on TVB last month and loved the movie and loves the songs! I told myself I would find the name of the songs after I came back from Israel, but I have totally forgotten until today.

From the movie《醜女大翻身》, these songs are really good.

I have just finished watching "It Just Started with a Kiss" 惡作劇之吻 on tudou.com, and plan to watch "It Just Started with a Kiss 2" 惡作劇2吻. Usually I hate stupid heroines, but in this one, the hero and heroine are both quite cute =), and the TV series is very funny, so I enjoyed it even though the heroine is unbelievable stupid... Quite surprised that I actually liked this TEENAGE idol drama, haha!

The songs from the series are quite good!

Any other good entertainment suggestions for a "mo liu" person like me? Even though I think the 2 episodes of "It Started with a Kiss 2" is quite enough for one day... haha!

Wish you all a really Happy Chinese New Year!

Devastated Gaza

2009-01-20T20:37:00.005+08:00

From Reuters.com

To help, please go to World Vision.

Seeing Aurora in a Glass Igloo

2009-01-20T13:18:00.004+08:00

This New York Times article sounds so interesting!!!

I want to go!!!

Birthday wish came true

2009-01-19T00:37:00.001+08:00

One of my birthday wishes came true... on my birthday. =)

Hamas announces ceasefire after Israel declares truce

Cat Cafe

2009-01-19T00:04:00.002+08:00

What's so special about this cafe?

CATS EVERYWHERE!

I like the membership card. =)

Don't touch them, they're poor =P

They're the reason why the chairs look like this...

A "horoscope crystal ball"... 1 dollar for fortune telling!

Haagen Daz ice cream!

Planning on Peru trip (part 2)

2009-01-12T18:43:00.004+08:00

The most expensive part of travelling to Peru is the plane ticket.

There is NO direct flight from Hong Kong to Peru.

Most people travelled to the States (e.g. Miami) and then changed their flights to Lima, Peru.

Or you can do it via Europe. Through Amsterdam by KLM. You can get one night of sleep in Amsterdam before leaving Amsterdam to Lima, but the downside is the waste of time, depends on the way you think.

Flights via the US costs more than HKD20000!! Plus you need to get the US visa AND will be searched thoroughly! KLM flights also costs ~HKD17000 (including taxes, and other charges).

There is one budget airline from the States, but the dates of departure doesn't fit into my plan, and I found if you leave from Madrid, you can actually get to Lima with ~HKD13000, which is HKD4000 cheaper than going via KLM. You need to go to London (or Paris or wherever) and then get to Madrid and then to Lima.

However, if you search on the net, you'll find MANY negative reviews on Air Comet =P. Mostly on flight delays and poor service. Poor service I can accept for the lower price, but flight delay... sigh... After thinking about this for a while, I have decided to use KLM...

Christmas movie

2008-12-17T21:36:00.003+08:00

I kinda want to watch this... but most likely I'll wait for VCD/DVD... =P

I think the Taiwan trailer is better

If you haven't watch the TV series yet, you can watch the whole series here with Chinese subtitles =P

Someone uploaded parts of the TV series on youtube!! I like the professor a lot, haha!

Thinking about a new camera... just thinking!

2008-12-14T16:18:00.005+08:00

The handgrip of my camera has fallen off, I don't even know when it did... Now I really want to get a new one, but the old one is still fully functional... And the functions are adequate for my use, I can adjust aperture, shutter speed, the biggest problem is just the noise control... plus it's small and handy as well.

I used to think if I were to buy a new one, I would have got a DSLR. After seeing my friend getting her "small" DSLR out from her backpack in our Jiuzhaigou trip, I'm not so sure...

Not that I'm buying, but the directions where I'm looking includes

Canon Powershot G10 (G10! and the control knobs seem pretty good, even with an ISO control knob)
Canon Powershot SX1 IS
Canon Powershot SX10 IS (not so good as G series? but really expensive!! lens range from 28mm to 560mm, I don't think I need another camera!)
Panasonic LX3 (obviously an upgrade of my LX2, I can probably get discount buying it, and a friend said the noise control is much better and the photos he got are even better than those using DSLR, and it's got ultra wide angle 24mm, and even f/2.0)

And the lightest DSLR of all- Olympus E-420
and just 70g more, Canon EOS 1000D
obviously for me to learn more on photography, but heavy and most likely need more investment on lens... $$$

Just thinking out aloud...

Actually kinda worried that my camera, with so many external parts broken, it may have some interior damage... what if it broke down during my trip...??

Planning on Peru trip (part 1)

2008-12-13T14:48:00.007+08:00

Yeah, I know I still haven't left for my Christmas trip yet, hey, that's a trip for the idiots with my mom, so no preparations needed! Apart from paying for everything...

As many people know, the most famous sight in Peru is Machu Picchu (and I have wanted to go since I was in primary school), and you can hike a four day trail all the way there, or 2 day trail (and stay in the hotel at night time, no need to camp), or just take train + bus from Cusco to Machu Picchu.

I'm not sure if I can do the hike at high altitude for 4 days, the hardest part involves climbing 1000m in one day, not from 0-1000m, but from like 3000-4000m!

And March is the wet season in Peru, so you get lots of rain as well... (Wet season is from Dec-Mar, Dry season from Jun-Sept.)

Here're some good resources for me (and maybe you) to start planning on this part of the trip
Inca Trail FAQ
Lonely Planet FAQ Machu Picchu and Inca Trail
And this blog written by a Taiwanese girl who went to Peru on her own, great photos and details on her trip

I think a 2 day Inca Trail is more within my capability, I can still remember the misery I had (cold and wet clothes, cold food, shivering under my sleeping bag) when I hiked under heavy rain during my secondary school days... though I suspect this trip will be easier as there are porters and cooks, still 1000m climb... if it' not a rainy season, then maybe ok, well, this post I just read from the Lonely Planet site (by antarticmango) is encouraging =P

"The trek is hard if you are massively unfit and overweight as I was, but there is only one deadline each day - make dinner. Dinner's usually around 6-7pm and I managed to make it every day by at least two hours and I was the slowest person on the trail from any group or company! We were often among the first starters in the morning and I got to meet almost everyone on the trail as they passed me at some point during the day - it was a great way to meet people. At the same time as I was slowly completing the trail a four year old boy walked/almost ran the whole trail so anyone can do it. SAS, my tour company, were very good, always making sure that one porter was always close by to make sure I didn't get into trouble - it worked to his benefit as he met a local female tour guide and they hit it off big time :-) Slow and steady will get you there."

Good! Why are we so concerned about the lives of celebrities??

2008-12-12T18:59:00.002+08:00

I'm really not quite updated in celebrity news, I don't even read the entertainment news on newspaper.

Recently, the latest celebrity news headline is about the breakup of Ngai Chun and Vivian Chow. (It's all over the internet even when I don't read gossip columns.) Many people thought the statement she gave was classy, I just found that too fake. Breaking up with her boyfriend after being together for 19 years! And she was so calm? I highly doubt it.

I like what the "ex-father-in-law" said.

倪匡語氣明顯變得不耐煩：「那你要問甚麼？如何看法？你和你男朋友分手，你的家長可以如何看法！可以講甚麼！你想也知道答案了，對吧？（那你個人有否覺得遺憾？）話明個人感受，我為何要告訴你？這只是他們兩個人的事，為何你們傳媒一定要浪費時間關注這些小事，劉曉波坐牢這等國家大事你怎不去採訪？社會付出那麼多資源裁培你們，你們為何不做點有意義的事？他們兩個到底做了甚麼大事，是牽涉到人類命運還是經濟海嘯，你們一定要追訪？」告訴倪匡，雖然分手是倪震與周慧敏兩個人的事，但因為導因是倪震和城大女生在夜店熱吻，破了學校的風氣，亦對香港教育帶來負面衝擊，已不是純粹的情人分手，所以傳媒才會追訪，他更加生氣：「那你去問城大才對，問我做甚麼！完全搞錯對象！（那請問你覺得一個成年男人和大學生在夜店鬼混對嗎？）你不用套我，我食鹽多過你食米，肯和你說這麼多，我已覺得自己好低B！」一向予人嘻嘻哈哈的老頑童倪匡，第一次發如此大的脾氣。

You have to applaud the ingenuity of these reporters, HK education!!!!! And his reply, haha!

Central December 08

2008-12-11T14:04:00.003+08:00

This photo is bad, but the advertisement is grand...

Not many people here in early morning, but I spot 3 other "mo liu" people like me taking photos =P, 2 with SLRs =P

State-of-the-Arts Gallery (I like both the name and the building.)

Really difficult to take pics of these skyscrapers... this is the only ok one... not good, but ok.

Finished Buffy Season 7

2008-12-09T18:37:00.007+08:00

I have finally finished all the seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It took me like half a year to finish all the episodes, mostly because it got quite boring in the middle and I stopped watching it. =P

I have wanted to watch it for many years, but since it wasn't shown in television here in Hong Kong, I didn't have the chance to watch it. And one of my favourite writers love the TV show, and since she also loves the West Wing (one of my fav TV show), I thought I would love the show, so I got the DVDs. (China version =P)

Even though the basic plot of a superheroine who fought vampire, but fell in love with one herself is so cliche =P, the good dialogue and the gorgeous and cool heroes made up for it. =)

As I have mentioned before, the hero in the first 3 seasons- Angel (David Boreanaz), Buffy's first boyfriend, is good looking and cool.

The second one is so boring, I won't even mention him...

The third one- Spike (James Marsters), is really breathtakingly gorgeous. =P

Since I started reading about James Marsters on the web, I found a lot of interesting stuff about him. He graduated from Juilliard, he is actually an American (his British accent in the Buffy show is just an act!), and he is a singer and guitarist with his own rock band.

And this quote of his impressed me a lot.

"I don't know much about the internet, I'm afraid.

I don't have a computer - I don't like to get into it that much 'cause it can screw with your head a little.

I have not, just because -- see this brings up a very interesting thing, I don't have a computer, because it so -- it's like bourbon, going to a fan site you know, it makes you feel so puffed up about yourself and so cool, and I promised myself when Joss asked me to come on the show as a regular, I hung up the phone after screaming like an idiot and then like I didn't even pretend to be cool, I sat down and I was like 'okay, I'm gonna be getting a lot of money, I'm gonna be getting a lot of fame, but the most important thing is if I can keep from becoming an asshole'.

What I noticed was that when I go on the Internet, or used to, my head would swell. Why am I an actor? God knows but some of it has got to be the need for acceptance and stuff, right? So I'm just drawn to that stuff like honey and at some point I just had to say, 'James, get off the 'Net, go back, clean your toilet.' Now I find I'm like a mentor to the guys in the band because they're tasting it now too. And I'm like, 'Charlie, get off the Internet. Get off your fan site now. You're losing it.' And he's like, 'Yeah, boss, right.'"

I have never thought much about this, how celebrities would react to the "good" stuff people write about them on the net. I like this guy even more when I read this.

Plus bad boys are far more interesting than the good ones. Just compared Buffy's two vampire boyfriends with her human one (the second boring one). =P

Christmas- one of the songs I love most

2008-12-03T21:20:00.000+08:00

It's December and Christmas is coming.

I have loved this song since I was in secondary school and heard the Chinese version the first time. Just wanna share this song.

This is the version with scenes from the Passion of Christ, if you are squeamish about blood, you can watch the next video, the song is the same, but video different.

Thoughts on Jiuzhaigou Trip- Environment

2008-11-13T13:42:00.002+08:00

The most frequently asked questions from my friends are
1. How much did I spend?
2, What is the best time for going to Jiuzhaigou?

How much I spent: very expensive for a China trip, it's enough for going to Japan!

Best time: Everybody knows the best time for Jiuzhaigou is when the red leaves appear. However, it's usually also the most crowded time as well! I chose to go this year because I thought there might be less people after the earthquake.

According to my research prior to the trip, the best time should be mid October to late Oct for the red leaves. (Remember the worst time is early Oct, coz there're way too many people because of the National Day holidays.) HOWEVER, this year the leaves did not turn more red/yellow until after 22th. And I asked the local people while I was there (27-28 Oct), the colour of the leaves would be even beautiful when there was frost.

The best time is NOT mid-late Oct, it should be early Nov, this year at least.

November is NOT high season, so everything is like half priced!! I should have gone in November... =P

Why was the appearance of red leaves delayed? Global warming again?

I was watching the TV program on Iceland yesterday, how the scenic national parks in Iceland stayed pretty much like its original state, all the pavements were made with natural materials which can blend with the environment, and there are no cable cars, tourists have to walk to see everything. Which reminds me of what I see in the Jiuzhaigou trip.

Cable car at Huanglong

Pavement at Jiuzhaigou

We need to work hard to protect our environment and try to keep it the way God created it.

Thoughts on Jiuzhaigou trip - Tibetan Family Visit & Tibetan Culture Show

2008-11-07T17:41:00.008+08:00

Surprisingly, it didn’t turn out to be as commercialized as I had expected. Probably because we spent so much time in Jiuzhaigou (we left at 6pm on the second day of our visit), so we were the last two guests to arrive, and we were still eating when the other tourists had to leave.

We were served some Tibetan food, I forgot the names of most of the food. Because I don’t like lamb, they served us roasted chicken instead of lamb. The surprise came when the host told us he hunted that chicken that morning. (!)

Until then, I didn’t REALLY appreciate how much their life differ from ours, sure there is cultural difference, of course language barrier as well, but if we want a chicken, we will go to the market and buy one, but he HUNTED one for us.

It was delicious, by the way.

See the chicken on the lower part around centre of the table- that's what he hunted!

After some outrageous =P performances with really modern pop song-like pseudo-Tibetan singing, plus some teasing and games between the host family and some of the guests (which was really funny and entertaining, despite the spontaneity =P), the others left leaving the two of us.

The host family chatted with us while we were eating, they seemed really curious about city dwellers like us. None of them had education more than primary two level, the guy (younger brother in the family, aged 21) has never attended school before. However, they knew some basic English (!) from the guests they received. And the younger brother said he was the one who had traveled farthest among the family members, he had been to Chengdu, and he loved it, his comment was “such a big city and tall buildings!”

He was raised on horses, and so his first comment upon knowing where we came from was “Oh Hong Kong, that’s where the Olympic equestrian event was held!” (I was thinking if he thought Chengdu was so marvelous, what would he think if he had the chance to come to HK?)

The guy in front is the younger brother and the other two girls are his sisters.

It is really weird/unbelievable/maybe kind of sad when you think about it. When you look at the smog-filled sky of Chengdu (Really it’s a LOT worse than that in HK, just SMOG SMOG and SMOG), and these people (who is practically living in a fairytale land for us) actually want to move to Chengdu.

SMOG at Chengdu

No matter how much they try to preserve their own culture, it is going to disappear. And soon.

Which reminds me of the Tibetan show on the day before, the Tibetan “F5” (what my friend and I called them =P) who has got their own 主打歌 (not sure of the proper English translation, main promotional song?). The scenery may be preserved if they can generate money from it, but their culture once lost will be gone forever.

This is the guy who claimed he has a 主打歌 (main promotional song?).

This is "F5"!

Thoughts on Jiuzhaigou trip

2008-11-06T19:01:00.005+08:00

Really kind of unexpected, in my 3 days in Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, I only saw one piece of rubbish lying on the ground. (This is CHINA! Don't forget. A lot cleaner than ANY country park in Hong Kong.) And I don't recall seeing anyone smoking. Even in Chengdu, the amount of rubbish is no more than that compared to Hong Kong.

One factor may be the number of rubbish bins available, you can find rubbish bins within short distances.(They have two bins joined together, one for recyclable materials and one for non-recyclable, even though I don't see much difference in the stuff being dumped in the two bins. =P)

However, I think Chinese people do realise these areas ought to be treasured.

As for Chengdu, is that an post-Olympic effect? I am not sure...

China is improving, I still remember when I got back from Yunnan, I was saddened by the way people act in these scenic areas.

I guess this is evidence that China is changing for the better.

Obama Speech 4 Nov

2008-11-06T10:26:00.005+08:00

If you haven't heard it yet (I watched this live), you have to watch this. The guy is so charismatic. It is so moving, makes you feel like he's really gonna change America. I am not sure if he can. I guess the first step of doing anything is to have a dream.

Jiuzhaigou in 2 days

2008-11-02T15:42:00.005+08:00

I think one should do Jiuzhaigou 九寨溝 in 2 days at least, if you have time you should do a 3 day tour.

If you don't like photography or nature, you can probably do it in one day, getting on and off the bus at the scenic spots, take a look and leave on the next bus.

However, if you enjoy taking a good walk (not really strenuous, the level is like those Family Walks in Hong Kong country parks), and taking pictures, two days' of time is a minimum for you to enjoy Jiuzhaigou.

There are basically three valleys (溝) in Jiuzhaigou- Rize Valley 日則溝, Zechawa Valley 則查洼溝, Shuzheng Valley 樹正溝. They formed a Y shape.

The best valley in terms of scenery is Rize Valley 日則溝. 1 day should be allocated to Rize Valley and another day to the other 2 valleys.

Basically once you get into Jiuzhaigou, the bus travel onwards up to the highest point on either side of the Y, and then you can travel downwards with bus which stop at different scenic spots.

You won't know which way the bus is going until it gets to the middle- Nuorilang 諾日朗, because the bus driver will be told by the director which way to go only when they get there, if you want to go to the other side, you need to get off the bus and wait for the next bus.

I did Zechawa Valley 則查洼溝, Shuzheng Valley 樹正溝 on the first day because the bus I got on happened to go that way.

I started early the first day, got to the entrance at about 8:30am, but it was so crowded with lots of tour groups, but I finished early that day. On the second day, I started at 9:30am, with a lot less people around, but finished late at 6pm, because there is so much to see in Rize Valley 日則溝.

This is a picture I took at the entrance on the second day. Almost no people!

I didn't take any pics on the crowds on the first day simply because all my energy was used to get on the bus, here's a photo at the last stop of the bus, imagine these crowds times 10 for the crowds at the entrance!

Either get there VERY early like 7am (this is what some travel books recommend), or a little bit later to avoid those doing 1 day tour.

If I were to plan it again, I'll probably start later on the day I'm doing Zechawa Valley 則查洼溝 and Shuzheng Valley 樹正溝 to avoid the crowds, or you can do it on the second day if you think you might want to revisit some of the more beautiful spots after going through the two valleys.

Some people do it in 3 days, one valley each day, I think if you do it in 3 days, you can walk a lot more, which is good. Because the bus does NOT stop at EVERY scenic spots, so in order to visit all, you need to walk. Due to our limited time, we chose to walk if the bus stops were nearby (within 1-2km) or if the spots could not be reached by bus but are really beautiful according to travel books.

You are going to miss a lot of things if you just get on and off the buses, that is why I recommend TWO days minimum.

One very important thing- when you get on the bus, sit at the FRONT! otherwise you won't be able to hear whatever the tour guide on the bus are saying, because those people in the bus will be talking VERY LOUDLY!

I can't hear a thing on my first day. The tour guide tells you important information like where the next bus stop is, what you can walk to from a certain bus stop. Therefore, sit in the front! (Unfortunately only Putonghua tour guide is available, I am not sure if the guides can speak English, but good English guidebooks can be bought, and lots of people who don't speak Putonghua are doing the trip on their own, so it should be ok.)