Photo Trip - Sichuan, Aba Province

[zoossh]

For those who want to travel to western Sichuan, I just received a news from Sichuan. The Chinese gov have put a restriction on tourists who are traveling into Tibetan region. Nobody know when it's going to lift. This trip I guess have to be canceled.

actually, i think by a year later, things should have calmed down. i dun mind to join if it is a year later, though i'm itching for central asia. now isn't too far off from the recent suppression. but you can take chance. binbeto went szechuan in late march when tibet is walled up after the uprising, and though with some days wasted due to roadblocks, he still got excellent photos. do search for his thread. i didn't get to join him due to my exams.

 

[brian]

For those who want to travel to western Sichuan, I just received a news from Sichuan. The Chinese gov have put a restriction on tourists who are traveling into Tibetan region. Nobody know when it's going to lift. This trip I guess have to be canceled.

I was in western sichuan last year around oct and there was no issue moving around. Aba was ok, and I was travelling alone.

But going back to the original story, the area is amazing and you will never run out of things to photograph. However because of the earthquake some of the major roads (Like Chengdu to siguniang shan) is closed for repair. I was told it should be completed by this year, and it sounded like mid or end 2009.

 

[ziploc]

Well it depends on which part of Sichuan. Wulong (卧&#40857 and Yingxiu (映&#31168 in Wenchuan county (汶川&#21439 were badly devastated, including the highways. The pictures below were taking last Dec when we passed by the heavy disaster zones. The roads were closed (there were police guarding the entrance) and we needed to have special permission to pass through. Avoid the heavy disaster zones and you would be ok.

Almost the entire highway was covered in landslide. In the heavy disaster zone were miles upon miles of endless landslide areas like the one shown in the picture below. The dirt road that our vehicle was travelling on was a temporary road built in a hurry to deliver essential items like food and fuels to the refugees to help them get through the winter. I was told that there were still many vehicles and people buried in the landslides beside or beneath the makeshift road.

A partially damaged tunnel. Safety was a question mark and that was part of the reasons why the roads were closed.

A collapsed bridge near the severely damaged hydroelectric power station.

The risen water level running through the damaged houses located nearby the river.

 

[djinn]

Well it depends on which part of Sichuan. Wulong (卧&#40857 and Yingxiu (映&#31168 in Wenchuan county (汶川&#21439 were badly devastated, including the highways. The pictures below were taking last Dec when we passed by the heavy disaster zones. The roads were closed (there were police guarding the entrance) and we needed to have special permission to pass through. Avoid the heavy disaster zones and you would be ok.

I definitely will avoid disaster zones. I was in Dujiangyan(都江&#22576 last year, few weeks after the earthquake. The sight was very depressing. I don't think I want to experience that again.

Anyway, I will be in Chengdu for quite a while. Perhaps I will organize the trip once the ban is lifted.