Xichang
Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture
Sichuan, China
Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture
Sichuan, China
Thursday December 30, 2006 9:32PM
A Xichang Christmas....
"Hey Riz, how did you celebrate Christmas in China?"
"Umm...I went out into the boonies of Sichuan Province and did research!"
I can definitely say that I had an unforgettable Christmas. There was a
point during the overnight train ride from Chengdu to Xichang that it sort of
got to me. I was thousands of miles from family and close friends, in a train
headed to the Liangshan Prefecture collecting plants and doing research
during the holidays. Sure you could say, "Wow, that's real dedication" but
at the same time, I was really missing Christmas back home.
So, the overnight train ride to Xichang was kind of lonely, yet at the same
time, it wasn't all that bad. I chatted with Professor Zeng and his grad
student and in the back of my mind, I figured, "You've had more
depressing holidays back in the States. Here you are in China, with yet
another opportunity to see more plants and see more of Sichuan." I started
to feel a little better about the situation and tried to go to sleep in a train
cart that felt like a walk in refrigerator.
A Xichang Christmas....
"Hey Riz, how did you celebrate Christmas in China?"
"Umm...I went out into the boonies of Sichuan Province and did research!"
I can definitely say that I had an unforgettable Christmas. There was a
point during the overnight train ride from Chengdu to Xichang that it sort of
got to me. I was thousands of miles from family and close friends, in a train
headed to the Liangshan Prefecture collecting plants and doing research
during the holidays. Sure you could say, "Wow, that's real dedication" but
at the same time, I was really missing Christmas back home.
So, the overnight train ride to Xichang was kind of lonely, yet at the same
time, it wasn't all that bad. I chatted with Professor Zeng and his grad
student and in the back of my mind, I figured, "You've had more
depressing holidays back in the States. Here you are in China, with yet
another opportunity to see more plants and see more of Sichuan." I started
to feel a little better about the situation and tried to go to sleep in a train
cart that felt like a walk in refrigerator.
Christmas morning we arrived in the capital of the Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture. We were greeted by
clear skies, vast farmlands and burnt orange mountains reminiscent of the hills in an Arizona sunset. But the
sun was just starting to rise from the east. Once we got off, we rushed to a local bus and crammed ourselves
inside to get us to our hotel. Accommodations were similar to that of our trip to Aba a few months back.
Once again, I was “disguised” as a Chinese national and stayed with the group instead of being ordered to
stay at the more expensive hotel for foreigners. The rooms were somewhat filthy with a TV that could date
back to the 50's, a bathroom that I only used during an absolute emergency (the bathroom flooded after
flushing just once....and no, I did not overflow it! The toilet had not been cleaned in what looked like 7
months.) Luckily, there was a public bathroom just outside the hotel (no big difference, but at least the
facilities were squattable.. The rooms weren't really bad; I was next door to the other students and I slept
pretty well (just making sure I was warm under two blankets and my pants and sweater still on). It was so
cold at night and early in the morning.
clear skies, vast farmlands and burnt orange mountains reminiscent of the hills in an Arizona sunset. But the
sun was just starting to rise from the east. Once we got off, we rushed to a local bus and crammed ourselves
inside to get us to our hotel. Accommodations were similar to that of our trip to Aba a few months back.
Once again, I was “disguised” as a Chinese national and stayed with the group instead of being ordered to
stay at the more expensive hotel for foreigners. The rooms were somewhat filthy with a TV that could date
back to the 50's, a bathroom that I only used during an absolute emergency (the bathroom flooded after
flushing just once....and no, I did not overflow it! The toilet had not been cleaned in what looked like 7
months.) Luckily, there was a public bathroom just outside the hotel (no big difference, but at least the
facilities were squattable.. The rooms weren't really bad; I was next door to the other students and I slept
pretty well (just making sure I was warm under two blankets and my pants and sweater still on). It was so
cold at night and early in the morning.
Our day trips were actually not as grueling as I had expected. We
woke up at 8:00am each morning, had breakfast, waited till 9am and
walked about two blocks to catch a local bus to take us to our
destination. The first day, after our lavish lunch, we caught a bus to a
rural area about 10 km away to study the impact of an invasive plant
species, Eupatorium adenophorum, on local neighborhoods and
farmlands. And oh boy was it a problem! This devil was
EVERYWHERE! Even as we ascended into the mountains at over
6000 ft, it dominated the region growing along pastures, field edges,
city ditches and even as an understory woody herb under stands of
Pinus yunnanensis on the hillsides! Aside from this devastating invasion
(originally from Central America), the landscape and climate in
Xichang was “fei chang piaoliang!” very beautiful.
woke up at 8:00am each morning, had breakfast, waited till 9am and
walked about two blocks to catch a local bus to take us to our
destination. The first day, after our lavish lunch, we caught a bus to a
rural area about 10 km away to study the impact of an invasive plant
species, Eupatorium adenophorum, on local neighborhoods and
farmlands. And oh boy was it a problem! This devil was
EVERYWHERE! Even as we ascended into the mountains at over
6000 ft, it dominated the region growing along pastures, field edges,
city ditches and even as an understory woody herb under stands of
Pinus yunnanensis on the hillsides! Aside from this devastating invasion
(originally from Central America), the landscape and climate in
Xichang was “fei chang piaoliang!” very beautiful.
Visiting the farmlands was a special moment as I walked through the pastures
and took in the humble yet spectacular scenery before me. I was talking with
Zeng laoshi and expressed this inspired feeling that came over me as I was
reminded of my original homeland. The endless rows of cabbage, peas, bok
choy, bai cai, and other crops grown to perfection in the fertile soil and under
the abundant sunshine was impressive enough, but paint the image of
surrounding hills, simple homes constructed with the same oil, small trucks
going along the unpaved, rocky roads, small children just returning from
school, and a young lady with a small load of vegetables in the back of her
bike headed home to help prepare dinner. Then the picture gradually changes
as the warm sun sets and my long awaited friend, the moon, appears upon
the opposite horizon. I chuckled at the sight of a little boy who entertained
himself peeling the outer layers of bamboo shoots reminding me of a favorite
pastime when I was about his age and seeing fields of sugar cane (a favorite
snack even today!) with its grassy foliage towering as tall as I remembered it
made me savor every minute of this experience.
and took in the humble yet spectacular scenery before me. I was talking with
Zeng laoshi and expressed this inspired feeling that came over me as I was
reminded of my original homeland. The endless rows of cabbage, peas, bok
choy, bai cai, and other crops grown to perfection in the fertile soil and under
the abundant sunshine was impressive enough, but paint the image of
surrounding hills, simple homes constructed with the same oil, small trucks
going along the unpaved, rocky roads, small children just returning from
school, and a young lady with a small load of vegetables in the back of her
bike headed home to help prepare dinner. Then the picture gradually changes
as the warm sun sets and my long awaited friend, the moon, appears upon
the opposite horizon. I chuckled at the sight of a little boy who entertained
himself peeling the outer layers of bamboo shoots reminding me of a favorite
pastime when I was about his age and seeing fields of sugar cane (a favorite
snack even today!) with its grassy foliage towering as tall as I remembered it
made me savor every minute of this experience.
Working with the freshman biology students in our program was
pretty fun. All of them were very kind and seemed eager to
learn. All of them spoke fairly decent English and being the
freshmen they are, they were still a bit immature entertaining me
with cheesy English pop songs and phrases they’ve picked up in
their studies, but it was fine. We got along pretty well and it felt
very fulfilling teaching them about plants and my experiences not
only in school, but in life as well. It was fun feeling like I was
teaching students in EHUF 331 (Landscape Plant ID) but
actually trekking the mountains of Sichuan! Hahahah. One
moment that stood out was when I asked Wen Yu (who asked if
I could come up with an English name for her, so we went with
Winnie) to look at a wild plant of Zanthoxylum (Sichuan
Pepper). “Zhe ge, ni zhidao ma? (This, do you know?)” “Wo bu
zhidao.” “Zhe shi Hua Jiao!” “Umm..I don’t think so.” I crushed
the small pungent fruit and had her smell it. “Oh, wow! It is, it
is!” she reacted excitedly as she ran to share the sprig I clipped
with her classmate, “I think it would be amazing if I have your
knowledge. It’s like magic!” I’m not really sure what that meant,
but just her reaction was priceless to me.
pretty fun. All of them were very kind and seemed eager to
learn. All of them spoke fairly decent English and being the
freshmen they are, they were still a bit immature entertaining me
with cheesy English pop songs and phrases they’ve picked up in
their studies, but it was fine. We got along pretty well and it felt
very fulfilling teaching them about plants and my experiences not
only in school, but in life as well. It was fun feeling like I was
teaching students in EHUF 331 (Landscape Plant ID) but
actually trekking the mountains of Sichuan! Hahahah. One
moment that stood out was when I asked Wen Yu (who asked if
I could come up with an English name for her, so we went with
Winnie) to look at a wild plant of Zanthoxylum (Sichuan
Pepper). “Zhe ge, ni zhidao ma? (This, do you know?)” “Wo bu
zhidao.” “Zhe shi Hua Jiao!” “Umm..I don’t think so.” I crushed
the small pungent fruit and had her smell it. “Oh, wow! It is, it
is!” she reacted excitedly as she ran to share the sprig I clipped
with her classmate, “I think it would be amazing if I have your
knowledge. It’s like magic!” I’m not really sure what that meant,
but just her reaction was priceless to me.
The students were amazed and seemed somewhat envious that I had
the opportunity to study what I wanted to study. I actually felt that I
had the confidence to give them advice that others have taught me
over the years. As they prepare to study abroad at the UW in two
years, I encouraged them to look beyond the boundaries that have
been placed around them and pursue their interests and hobbies. They’
ve all worked exceedingly hard to get to where they are and they have
the potential to use their knowledge, skills, and overall work ethic in
accomplishing their aspirations in life and making a difference in people’
s lives. Overall, these students certainly taught me several things about
myself over this trip.
the opportunity to study what I wanted to study. I actually felt that I
had the confidence to give them advice that others have taught me
over the years. As they prepare to study abroad at the UW in two
years, I encouraged them to look beyond the boundaries that have
been placed around them and pursue their interests and hobbies. They’
ve all worked exceedingly hard to get to where they are and they have
the potential to use their knowledge, skills, and overall work ethic in
accomplishing their aspirations in life and making a difference in people’
s lives. Overall, these students certainly taught me several things about
myself over this trip.
Hiking up the mountains reminded me of how terribly out of shape I was! As I
struggled along and was interrupted by several interesting species, I started getting
irritated by the students saying, “Let’s go!”, “Hurry up!”, but their was no rush! We
made it up the mountain promptly and ascended down to visit temples, have a
refreshing drink of sweet sugar cane juice, and again, enjoying a spectacular view of a
lake and the city of Xichang 5000ft up.
struggled along and was interrupted by several interesting species, I started getting
irritated by the students saying, “Let’s go!”, “Hurry up!”, but their was no rush! We
made it up the mountain promptly and ascended down to visit temples, have a
refreshing drink of sweet sugar cane juice, and again, enjoying a spectacular view of a
lake and the city of Xichang 5000ft up.
On our last day, we visited another farming region where the students
interviewed local residents about how they’ve been affected by the invasive
species and a little lesson about the potential impact of such species if
measures aren’t taken. It was so encouraging helping them out and giving
them a little lesson about modes of reproduction and how current methods
of control are actually making the problem worse (just cutting down to
ground level or administering herbicides). Following another plot sample
taken, we headed back kind of early, but spent the rest of the afternoon
just chillin’ at a local hotel, which looked quite elaborate for China having a
spectacular view of the lake and interesting gardens. It was a good end to a
short, but very worthwhile field trip.
interviewed local residents about how they’ve been affected by the invasive
species and a little lesson about the potential impact of such species if
measures aren’t taken. It was so encouraging helping them out and giving
them a little lesson about modes of reproduction and how current methods
of control are actually making the problem worse (just cutting down to
ground level or administering herbicides). Following another plot sample
taken, we headed back kind of early, but spent the rest of the afternoon
just chillin’ at a local hotel, which looked quite elaborate for China having a
spectacular view of the lake and interesting gardens. It was a good end to a
short, but very worthwhile field trip.
The train ride back, I think capped off a most unforgettable Christmas for me. About 100km from Xichang, I looked out the
window and it looked like we were in another world. It was almost completely white and flurries of white flakes appeared as we
passed streetlights of the next town. I never thought I’d see snow while I was in China, but here it was. As we stopped at the next
town to pick up passengers, the students opened the window and I poked my head out to take in the cool air and smell the snow.
Being that it was night, our views of the snow-covered hills vanished in the darkness and I buried myself under my covers to stay
warm until we arrived in Chengdu the next morning.
window and it looked like we were in another world. It was almost completely white and flurries of white flakes appeared as we
passed streetlights of the next town. I never thought I’d see snow while I was in China, but here it was. As we stopped at the next
town to pick up passengers, the students opened the window and I poked my head out to take in the cool air and smell the snow.
Being that it was night, our views of the snow-covered hills vanished in the darkness and I buried myself under my covers to stay
warm until we arrived in Chengdu the next morning.
So that was my trip! Interesting eh?! Hehe
Life back in Chengdu; sigh, I didn’t want to leave Xichang! There
was certainly more to see and experience aside from my rave reviews
about the farmland scenery and great weather. I’m back to my usual
antics up in the lab, I have all my plants in the press, I still have
photos to sort through and post online, field notes to compile and a
but load of other work that has to be taken care of, plus the daily
grind of studying! AH! And it’s almost the New Year, I owe my
family and friends a phone call back home!
Rizaniño
Life back in Chengdu; sigh, I didn’t want to leave Xichang! There
was certainly more to see and experience aside from my rave reviews
about the farmland scenery and great weather. I’m back to my usual
antics up in the lab, I have all my plants in the press, I still have
photos to sort through and post online, field notes to compile and a
but load of other work that has to be taken care of, plus the daily
grind of studying! AH! And it’s almost the New Year, I owe my
family and friends a phone call back home!
Rizaniño
Photographs and Site Contents Copyright © Rizaniño H. Reyes. All rights reserved