After a tough week we decide to enjoy our free day at the happy valley amusement park just outside our hotel.
Ashley, Lisa
, Yumiko, me, Dan, David, Ileena
lookin at me?
Our chinese friends kicked our asses in laser tag
Unfortunately our free day didn't last long as we were called back to the hotel for a meeting during which we were told to go to Xilin mountains for a three day strenght regaining holiday without any disturbances and where we could spend the days walking around in the beautiful mountain area and focusing on our blogging and fulfilling our pambassador obligations from a mountainside villa.
Xilin mountains
We make our way through Chendu city with yet another speed racing bus driver and a very energetic tourguide. We soon realize that there are plenty of activities planned for our three day stay and our much anticipated holiday fading away. As we arrive we are met by a bunch of media and we are asked to plant bamboo next to the side walk. We don't get a good explanation of what really is going on and the whole thing seems to be a promotion for the ski resort.
Planting the bamboo near the sidewalk.
By cable lift we slowly ascend to the mountain resort area where the view is astonishing and the air crispy fresh. The hotel rooms are great but unfortunately the heating and the internet is not working. Since the whole trip doesn't seem to provide the free time and the facilities that we need in order to regain strength and blog we decide to go back to Chengdu the following day.
However, before we leave we decide to hike the mountain area and enjoy some of the many attractions provided by the ski resort.
Pambassadors on the porch
Panoramic view of the ski resort
Taking the lift to the skies
The outdoor activities include a suicide death slide, giant ball madness and balloon ride.
The silver snake looking construction is a "bob sledge" track. his ride gets even more scary when the instructor asks you to sign a "I take full responsibility in case of serious injury or death" note.
The giant ball down the hill ride is much more fun than it seems.
All problems aside we had great fun in the Xilin mountain area. However, as we walked around the mountain we noticed a lot of litter and garbage laying around the walking path. I have seen the same behavior in many other tourist destinations in China and it causes huge damage to the environment and the natural beauty of the landscape and will in time harm the people who live and work in these areas.
Whats remarkable is that a lot of the litter is just around the garbage bin.
Even if the staff in Xilin mountains pick up some of the trash laying around, most of the litter is blown into the nature.
The Chinese government is working hard to raise the awareness of environmental issues and my personal belief is that people will make the right choices once they have received logical and useful information. Children and tourists need to be made aware of the
consequences of littering and pollution and not just be told what they should and should not do.
Thank you for reading my post,
Pambassador Ali
