Day 1: Chengdu to Taoping Qiang Village

 

On Sunday, 13^th of September, we left early in the morning with all of the grade 9s and grade 10s, when the bus came to pick us up I was quite confused on where they would pick us up so when we drove with the car to the main entrance of Luxehills, we passed the bus but luckily we stopped it and I got on in time. We were all at school at 8:10 so we could leave at 8:30 which was the plan. Once we left school, everybody was in a good mood and everyone was happy that we were going to miss the next few days of school to go on a trip. After a 2 hour drive we arrived at the first stop, the Wenchuan village where in 2007 a big earthquake destroyed everything. First we went to a museum about this earthquake so we had an idea of what it was like, then we went to see a school that was completely destroyed by the earthquake. I had been in the Wenchuan village before with my parents but I had only seen the school, this quite shocked me because I have never been in an actual big earthquake so I had no idea how much it destroys. After we ate lunch, we drove to the homestay in Taoping Qiang Village. The way there was very beautiful because we drove in between the mountains and a river. When we arrived in the homestay we went to put our luggage in our rooms and then we went up a mountain to see the view of the whole village. We went inside a local house and the people showed us what the houses used to look like. We then went back to the homestay, ate dinner and had some free time before we had to go to sleep.

 

Day 2: Taoping Qiang Village to Heishui

 

On Monday, 14^th of September, we woke up early to go eat breakfast and to then leave towards Heishui. After the 4 hour bus drive to Heishui we ate a late lunch, went to put our luggage in the hotel, and drove up to a monastery. The monastery showed the beliefs of the monks over there and it was decorated absolutely beautiful. When we came in we had to take of our shoes to respect the people, but once we entered the monastery I was quite overwhelmed because of all the colours and patterns. Our guide explained some of the beliefs and why some of the things were there. She explained what it was like and what the day of a monk looked like. After the tour in the monastery we went outside and had the chance to play some Ultimate Frisbee. We then left and drove back to the hotel to go eat some traditional Tibetan food. The food was amazing. We had yak which was really good, cornbread, some vegetables, bread with on the inside vegetables and amazing flat noodles. That was the best meal I ate while we were on the field trip. We then stopped in a grocery store and Hadiya and I bought a lot of food because we were very hungry the night before. We then went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

 

Day 3: Glacier Park visit

 

On Tuesday, 15^th of September, we ate breakfast and then left quickly to the Glacier Park. At first when we arrived there we drove around in a bus that stopped at some beautiful places for us to see. After driving around and stopping for about half an hour we arrived at a big gondola. Where we got in groups to go up the mountain, we went in groups of 8 people in a cable car for about 10 minutes that brought us up the mountain. Once we got there, we were quite overwhelmed by how beautiful it was but also by the cold and how difficult it was to breathe. I had been on a mountain that was about 3500m high before but I was only there for 5 minutes so I didn’t get a headache or had real breathing problems. This time the mountain was about 3850m high and it made a very big difference to me. When we got there I felt like I had ran very long and fast and I was about to pass out. Luckily after sitting down and trying to get a normal breathing rhythm again I felt a bit better. After everybody got used to the amount of oxygen up there, we took a few pictures and got to walk. It was very beautiful but after about 30 minutes of walking around we bought some food and drinks in a shop up there and the guides brought cocoa so we could drink hot chocolate. When we went back down, we went to have lunch and after that returned to the hotel. At the hotel we had a few hours free time, we went to buy some souvenirs and walked around in heishui to see some more of the town. In the evening we all met again to go see the local people dance at a local square. It was very nice to see how these people came together because they wanted to and not because it was some show, which is what you usually see when you go to see the local people. It was fun because all the people over there convinced all of us to join them while dancing. When everybody went home we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

 

Day 4: Heishui to Chengdu

 

When we woke up we ate breakfast and started a long journey back to Chengdu. We were in the bus for about 3 hours until we stopped for lunch. It was quite boring on the bus because most people were either on their phones playing games and listening to music or sleeping. When we stopped we ate a good lunch and continued the trip back to Chengdu. There was another 3 hours of doing the same things on the bus but as we came closer to Chengdu the mood in the bus went up. When we finally reached Léman everybody was relieved because the ride back was very long. We reached in time for the normal buses of Léman to return so part of us went to volleyball practice and the rest went home after a tiring but amazing trip.

 

What I think

 

I thought this was a great trip, it was a good experience for us to go out with school and to get to know each other better, I also think it was a good opportunity to see parts in China that you normally wouldn’t see. My family and I go to the mountains sometimes with the car but there is many families that have never done that before so it’s also a good chance for those children to see this part of China.