There were never any definite planned lunch stops. Mr. Wang would just drive through towns and if it happened to be around the lunch hour, stop in front of local restaurants and check to see if the food was fresh and good. Today was no exception and we stopped in Guzan on the way to Hailuogou National Glacier Park. This Guzan restaurant…View image… turned out one of the tastiest meals of the entire trip and I stood mesmerized while watching the chef whomp out four different dishes in less than 10 minutes that only cost $10 U.S. FOR FOUR PEOPLE! (Watch this video…) When I attempt to stir fry a little Chinese at home, the sink is filled with prep dishes and it’s impossible to use that kind of wok fire in my kitchen without burning the house down.

Filled to the brim, the Land Cruiser continued along a better road sill under construction…View image…, past different fields that had rice, sunflowers and corn all growing together and many waterfall flowing from the glaciers above..

sweet and sour pork meatballs in China
Let me get out my soapbox for a minute and compare travel though China and India. It’s no secret that these countries are two of our travel favorites. They are both huge and impossible to see in one trip and filled incredible sights and cuisine. My articles are filled with references to “India’s roads” (a synonym for very bad in comparison to. China’s fast-growing construction of “decent” to fabulous roads. On the flip side of the coin, let’s compare the so-called four-star hotels in both remote areas.

The last India trip through remote Orissa, India wins hands down in contrast to the Eastern Tibetan Plateau in China. Again, four-star hotels only. I can’t remember one hotel in Orissa, and I’m talking apples-to-apples, that had filthy dirty carpets like these (my feet literally stuck to sections of carpet), showers that either dripped cold water, leaked from under the shower base, toilets that also leaked or didn’t flush, mold growing and staff that never even used a broom to “sweep” the room let alone vacuum. If you accidently dropped something, it stayed…probably for the next year or two. What made it even funnier is every Chinese hotel gives toothbrushes, shampoo, shower caps, combs, body lotion and other amenities. Look…we’re excellent travelers, don’t expect a Ritz Carlton, and suggest you stay in a in small hotels/guesthouse, usually a million times cleaner. Soapbox put away.

sunflowers at rice growing together at lower altitude levels in China 

waterfall in the Hailuogou Nature Reserve, China
We drove into Moxi Old Town in western Sichuan late in the afternoon. The itinerary had stated three nights at the Long March Hotel**** (right…we’d see about that) but the Long March Hotel was occupied by Chinese Government VIPS and no foreigners (us) were allowed. Instead, we checked in to the Ice Mountain Hotel**** directly across the street. This hotel was also very crowded with Chinese tourists who come for the weekend from Chengdu.

Moxi, altitude 2,000m/6,561′ at the foot of Hailuogou National Glacier Park (also called “Conch Valley” because of its “Conch shape”), is the biggest glacier park in China, formed 16 million years ago. Hailuogou has China’s largest glacier waterfall and hot springs all in the same range. The hotels and restaurants are located within a four-block radius with a tremendous building spree of new hotels, condominiums and shopping centers going on. A short walk to dinner and the tastefully laid out yak heads skeletons, horns and all (the Chinese are crazy about them and buy to decorate houses)…

yak head skeletons for sale in Moxi, China
…bed in preparation for a visit into the park tomorrow…