More photos on Jiuzhaigou

More photos on Jiuzhaigou can be viewed at my website at this URL.

Flowers in Jiuzhaigou

Look not at just the beautiful scenary but also give some of your attention to the smaller creations of nature that are just as lovely. Along the pathways of Jiuzhaigou Valley I found these unassuming beauties.

Sparkling water and a careless act

Every time I think of Jiuzhaigou I inevitably recall how beautiful the waters were - sparkling, crystal clear and almost transparent. Nothing I have seen in all my life can compare to the pristine state of the water especially in the 5-colour pond where these photographs were taken.

Because I have seen with my own eyes how remarkable the state of water from natural sources can be, I am saddened by the news about the contamination of the river Songhua in Harbin, China because of a careless industrial accident. Newspaper reports described how a factory explosion had spilled benzene into the river causing massive pollution and resulting in Harbin shutting down its water supplies for fear of harming the population.

According to the same report, 70% of China's rivers are polluted by untreated sewage and industrial waste and close to 14% of the population or 180 million people do not have safe drinking water. What a contrast it is to what I had seen in my 8-day trip to Jiuzhaigou when all I saw were the extreme purity and abundance of water. This report on the contamination of the Songhua river has put my impression of China's water resources into a more realistic perspective. For a while I had imagined how lucky China was to possess this wealth of natural water and thought that people had no worries about drinking water. I am further depressed by how economic progress has resulted in a total disregard for what nature has bestowed on this vast country in the interest of creating material wealth. One day, we will lose this earth to the greed of humankind and die in the hands of those who build factories and industrial plants with no thought for the conservation and preservation of the earth.