{"id":113,"date":"2017-04-06T06:39:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T04:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tracesontherock.com\/?p=113"},"modified":"2020-11-12T19:13:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T18:13:49","slug":"seascape-in-turquoise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tracesontherock.com\/en\/seascape-in-turquoise\/","title":{"rendered":"Seascape in turquoise and the complicated National Park system in China"},"content":{"rendered":"I walk from one crystal clear lake to the next. They shimmer turquoise, green and teal. I can see their bottoms. Like stones, tree trunks lie in the water and become bizarre pieces of art and beautiful sculptures at the same time. Many of the more than 100 lakes are interconnected. Between them are 17 waterfalls and several dangerous rapids. The water travels more than 1000 vertical meters to the valley and passes also through dark green moss-covered plains and lush grasslands. It gurgles and splashes everywhere. It is still early in the morning and the wooden walkways are covered with frost and ice. Some branches are still covered from hoarfrost, which glitter in the rising sun. In the background, snow-capped mountains can be seen. The air is fresh and pleasant. Jiuzhaigou National Park<\/a> is a jewel among the Chinese parks I have visited so far. I am inclined to jump into one of the lakes and take a cool, refreshing bath. I love to dip in ice cold water. But I am confronted with countless prohibitions and regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My experiences with the Chinese national parks can be summarized as follows: suffocating. The landscape is beautiful without exception, but the parks of the class AAAAA (no spelling mistakes!) are overdeveloped. Visitors walk on paved paths or on wooden boardwalks. Hiking over hill and dale, as I know it from the Alps, is not possible. There are surveillance cameras and Wi-Fi hotspots at each corner. Signs tell me every 100 meters that I should stay on the path and that I should not throw away garbage. Each 200-500 meters visiters can use luxurious restrooms with onsight cleaning staff.  Nobody will die of hunger or thirst as I am able to buy snacks and food regularly. Wearing my hiking boots and my outdoor clothing I’m feel like being in the wrong place, even if I’m at 3000m altitude. Furthermore, each park I visited so far, offers a bus shuttle. Hop on, hop of, take a photo, hop on again. That’s the rhythm of most visitors. And if climbing a mountain is too strenuous, as with Huashan mountain, cable cars will bring you to the top with no sweat. Everyone has the chance to experience a summit experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel incapacitated in the Chinese national parks. I want to run over hill and dale. I want to have the chance to get lost, to get off the path, and to discover things without knowing what to expect. I want to feel the forest, stones or roots under my boots. I want to be able to feel my feet and joints in the evening and say: I made it! But my mountaineering boots have been superfluous at each location so far. I could as well have used flip flops to explore the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n