Labor Day Trip to Ya'an

On this labor's day break, I took a trip to Ya'an with some colleagues and graduate students. The traffic was very extremely heavy and we were struck on the ramp to the highway for more than two hours. Around 1 pm, we finally reached our first destination, Mengdingshan Mt. The mountain is not very high only about 1450 m in altitude but famous for tea production. The lunch included several local specialities cooked with fresh tea buds. Before waiting for the lunch, the students spent time in tea picking and of course mainly posed for photo-taking. The local tea farmer provided the free tea-making services for the visitors.
As viewed from the mountain, Ya'an area is hilly, scenic and covered by heavy clouds. The area is also known for plenty of rain and it is one of three Ya's, Ya rain, Ya fish and Ya women. Walking in the mountain, the temperature was cool but the air was fresh and it felt very comfortable. Besides tea, there is a statue of the Great Yu who was respected by Chinese for his contribution in water-control and a museum of the Red Army. The mountain was a historical battle between the red army and the Sichuan army led by Liu Xiang during the long march. Of course, like most famous mountains in China, there are temples which have turned into money-sucker in either decent or deceive ways. In front of a temple, there are dozens of ginkgo trees which was said more than 2000 yrs old. Their leaves are smaller than the common ones but the trees are tall and beautiful. They stand still there year after year, and witness the men and women passing by.


Since the mountain is famous for its tea, a super-big man-made was built at the entrance of the mountain.



In a tea field, two tiny figurines were found along the road. I guess they are landlord grandpa and grandpa. People are weak in mind and they need to materialize their hopes and worship what can see physically.