Photography inspection tour
Last year 2011 I travelled with world famous photographer Jan Vermeer and managing editor of National Geographic Traveler Paul Romer for an inspection trip to China. We had two major goals for this trip: 1. introduce Paul to the natural beauty of China and 2, develop an exclusive autumn time photography tour. After nine days, seven domestic flights, four mountains climbed and being able to photograph four endangered animals, our mission was accomplished ….
Going on an inspection trip with heavy weight travelers Jan Vermeer and Paul Romer brings with it a certain responsibility when you’re the Director of Discover China. Inspecting the unknown, which in China is half the fun, but with only 6 full days of travel time and visiting hard to get to places, you want to impress.
After a comfortable 10-hour flight to Chengdu, southwest China, Sichuan province, we take the connecting flight to Xi’an, capital city of the neighbouring Shaanxi province and home to the famous Terracotta Warriors.
Arriving in Xi’an we drive 4WD southwest into the province to get to the Changqing Nature Reserve. The 2000m high Qinling Mountain ranges are home to a wide selection of endangered animals; the Giant Panda, Crested Ibis, Golden Takin and the striking Golden Monkey all call this place home. What better place than here to begin an exclusive photo tour?
Three long nosed European men each standing nearly 2 meters tall walk into a local restaurant in a small Chinese village at 22:00 hours. Ni Hao! Sitting on small plastic stools, watching the snow outside falling, with fleece and wooly hat in a restaurant that has no apparent heating system, and wondering why that 2 year old child with his bottom hanging out his trousers is not in his bed at this late hour, is in my opinion best experienced in China. Culture difference we call that.
Beer, you want beer? Ok you get warm beer. Noodles you want noodles? Ok, everybody getting noodles. You want meat and vegetables and soup with chicken feet sticking out the bowl? Ok you get meat and vegetables and chicken feet sticking out the bowl. And you get it all so quick. Dish after dish keeps flowing out the kitchen all made by a an 85 years old grandmother who is more than happy to impress us with her culinary skills. Service we call that.
Next morning up early, track the panda. No sleep, the jetlag keeps me and Paul awake all night. Not Jan Vermeer though, according to him he can sleep anywhere at anytime. That’s nice for you Jan! Anyway I’m not complaining, the scenery hiking through the mountains is truly spectacular. The snow is fresh, the temperature is comfortable, there is broken bamboo all around with teeth marks on it to testify the Giant Panda actually was here about 8 hours ago. Should I be happy or scared?
16 kilometers further a rumble in the jungle. All of a sudden we come face to face with the mighty Golden Takin. A Takin is best compared to a Bison, an intimidating creature and you don’t want get too close. Which we don’t, well Paul and me don’t. Jan on the other hand, sets of full speed ahead straight to meet the mighty beast face to face to get a photo. The Takin doesn’t like the look of Jans Thika Travel jacket (private joke) and runs off into the wilderness. Paul and me can breath easy again, and typical of Jan, he managed to get the impossible photo.
End of the day no Panda was found. We have 1 day left tomorrow; with a 50 percent chance of a sighting according to the local ranger.
Next day we get within 6 meters of a troop of Golden Monkeys. We are watching around 100 of them swinging from the trees down the mountain towards us. With their vivid blue faces and golden manes, this is truly a wonderful sight. A Chinese local is singing a love song and feeding them. Jan is using a tele lens that looks like its last owner was from Libya. Paul is busy writing things down, interviewing and asking questions.
We depart the monkeys and drive back to the hotel. On the way we come across a nesting place for 20 Crested Ibis. We can get so close you can nearly touch them; the beautiful birds don’t seem to mind our presence and seem tame. The first 2 days of our adventure is a success and even though we did not get to see the Panda in the wild, we agree the eventual group of photographers will come here.
Next stop is the Gaoligonshan Nature Reserve, close to the borders of Myanmar in the Yunnan province. The World Wildlife Fund designated Gaoligongshan a level A grade protected area. In 2000, UNESCO accepted it as a Biosphere Reserves member. The reserve is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas. (Wiki). We’re here to photograph the numerous endemic animals that make this place their home and are looking to get close enough to photograph the Hoolock Gibbon.
Hiking three man next to each other into the mountains all is well. However the stone path soon peters out and now we’re clinging to the side of pure green jungle canopy on a muddy path no more than 20cm broad. We trek into the mountains for 5 hours, sliding down the mountain on steep slopes, and climbing all the way back up again. We come across a party of students following a local ranger. They say the monkeys are close and while one of the students is talking to us another falls (by accident) down the steep green canopy, tumbling, rolling and making strange noises all the way. Some 200 meters further down the mountain and 10 seconds later she shouts out she’s ok! Phew!
It seems that luck was not with us that day; we did not get to see the gibbon. Due to the steep terrain and narrow muddy paths we decide against bringing camera equipment worth thousands of euro and our customers (who are priceless!) in such a tricky situation.
Next stop is Jiuzhaiguo Nature Reserve in northern Sichuan province. We’re going for the snow, frozen waterfalls and spectacular wintertime scenery. We are not disappointed and spend 2 days exploring the park. At times we have the whole park to ourselves and it is agreed that Jiuzhaiguo will be part of both our autumn and winter time photography tours.
By the end of trip Paul is happy because his story for the article is developed and he’s experienced China far away from the mainstream. And me? Mission accomplished, and off to the next China adventure!
For photographs of our trip and the group tour that departed in October 15/31 2011 please check our Google Picassa webalbum here…..