June 18th, 2006
On the train from Beijing to Chengdu, Sichuan Province:
ÉThe fieldweek in Mongolia was pretty great. It was so awesome to be with Baatar, Sanaa and Byamba
again. I've missed them and Mongolia so much. The conference (in Beijing) was great. I got to meet
many Asian [Chinese, esp.] dendrochronologists that I've only exchanged emails with previously. I got
to introduce Gordon for his lifetime achievement award. It was an honor to do that.
I've been amazed at the similarity of species between here and the Eastern US. I mean, Liriodendron
chinensis looks exactly like L. tulipifera. It is amazing. But, there are so many similarities
- Diospyros, Catalpa, Acer, Quercus, etc... It's amazing.
June 19th, 2006
The overnight train ride wasn't so bad. Aside from the smoking of a few cigarettes just before lights
out, it was fine. I got an aisle window seat and watched the landscape go by. I saw a lot of small
farms being worked by hand-shovels, hoes, the bundling of straw. People were irrigating 1-3 rows of
land at a time. It wasn't obvious how or why they were irrigating such a small area. Did they only
own a narrow strip? Or, did they only work a few strips before it got too hot out?
For the last 2-3 hours we have been passing through a highly dissected landscape. The mountain slopes
are not very high, but they are steep. We are traveling on the north side of a small river at the bottom
of the canyon. There are some amazing cliffs and other geologic structures. There appears to be much
terracing on the slopes. I don't see how, or, more importantly, why they would terrace so high up on
these steep slopes. I guess they have to: the slopes we just passed are certainly terraced.
The slopes are so steep and the soil, apparently [must be], is so shallow that the slopes cannot support
a forest. The slopes are covered by shrubs and small trees. It reminds me, somewhat, of the chaparral
in no. California.
I really can't wait to see the forests of Sichuan Province. They should be spectacular. With the
diversity of tree species in the region, I do not understand why they only plant poplars, Juglans regia
[once in a while], and a handful of other species. I've seen tree of heaven [Aliathus altissama],
chinaberry, some kind of locust - you know, typical stuff.
Maybe it's human nature? Maybe we just get fixated [religious] for certain species. Maybe most people
aren't so creative? Maybe it is easier to only grow and plant a handful of species? Maybe they are the
only ones that can survive in the settings? [I highly doubt the last one].
The pocket villages that line our route and the river remind me [and seem typical] of small villages in
Mongolia: poor in economic terms, falling apart, having a smaller population than they once might have had.
I'm real curious of what life in those villages might be like. My guess is that they aren't too much
different from small villages in New England, Appalachia, the Rockies or the Pacific Coast: people likely
related to many of the other folks in their town, eeking out a living as their parents might have. It is
amazing how isolated they seem: on a river at the bottom of a narrow and steep canyon, in an area that seems
very far from Beijing or any other major city. They are connected by road & rail. The cities and villages we
pass all look a bit run down/not kept up and dusty. I don't know why this is so. Maybe it is just the
economy?
June 20th, 2006, 9:45 pm
We did not core 1 tree today, but did hike to the top of the mtn. to the temple on top, ~1280m above MS.L.
I bet we went up ~3-500m, which ain't so bad. But, the entire path was composed of stone steps. The entire
path is paved! Plus, I was wearing the Chinese army shoes. They got no sole. No more of those shoes for
field work.
The lunch we had was nice: squash, mashed potatoes, chunks of potatoes with pork, etc. It reminded me of
nothing more than southern cooking, slightly Chinese [Sichuan] style.
The forest was interesting. It is mostly an evergreen, broadleaf subtropical forest type. We saw
Cryptomeria, Pinus ??, Sabina and other species that are planted in the S.E. US frequently.
The most interesting species are: Platycarya stanoptera, Magnolia wilsoni, Castanea henryii [whose bark
looks a little like Q. montana], Phoebe hui and other species and an Aralia species that
grows into a large tree with a very sparse canopy. The temple at the top of the mountain has been there
~300-400 years. There has been a temple in that location for maybe 2000 years. In the upper portion of
the top temple is a statue of a Buddha riding a large golden ox. The statue is ~10-15m tall. It was a
very nice and full day. We met the Qing Chen Shan forest head and the regional forester. They quickly
gave us permission to core.
June 21st, 2006
Dujiangyan City, when we first drove in, reminded me of Gatlinburg, TN. It reminded me of Gatlinburg because
a sign at the gate said ÒTop Tourist Destination in China.Ó Evidently, it is a top destination for Chinese,
not westerners. The way they stare at me is incredible.
~10PM
Finished day 1 of sampling. We sampled above the pagoda where we bought cucumbers yesterday. We were told
there were many Castanea in the area. There were not that many. We only cored 14. Part of the problem was
that, although we got to the mountain around 9-9:30AM, we hiked up a trail away from our main sampling area
to: 1) stay away from tourists and 2) so Teacher Zhang could collect plants. We took the long way around the
mountain and didn't take lunch until ~1:30-2PM. We started sampling around 3PM and had to leave around 5:30PM.
The Castanea have a ring-porous structure, but none looked too old. The one Platycarya could be
old, but it is hard to say.
The area we sampled was interesting and dangerous. We walked along the ridge and then went up a steep and
narrow cliff-like wall because I sensed there would be some stressed and possibly old Castanea up there;
access is difficult. When I got most of the way up [I was leading], I thought it perhaps not the best idea.
When we scooted across a soil scree slope that was just above a 60-80m cliff above the temple, I thought it
really wasn't a good idea. We both slipped badly. But, we made it up and found some gnarly and twisty trees.
They don't, however, look too old. But, the whole time I was up there, all I could think about was the
descent.
We finally started making our way down. We made it down the soil scree [more of a dry, crumb soil structure]
just fine, which was a huge relief. No one would die on that day. We then had to go back down the cliff-like
wall that was hard to climb up using roots of shrubs and trees. Going down wasn't so bad. We could climb
down it like a ladder.
We got to the bottom and walked the main ridge towards the cucumber pagoda. We went back into the valley
forest below tree #1. It was below the cliff we were on top of. We sampled in a beautiful mixed forest of
Lauraceae trees, Castanea, Platycarya, Cryptomeria and other trees, obviously. It was really gorgeous,
though young and having an occasional pole-sized tree [10-20cm DBH] cut out. It would be great to come back
in the fall in 15-20 years. It should be one heck of a forest.
I learned that this mountain is a world heritage site. It is funny, despite the Taoist Temples, how
commercial the joint is. You could even get carried to the top! It was sad to see so much trash on the
slopes behind the cucumber pagoda.
June 23rd, 2006, 10:00 pm
I have a little less energy tonight and may write less. One important thing: Teacher Zhang forgot that
yesterday was his birthday! He must be so busy and taking so much time out of his life just for this. I
really owe him.
Second, when we climbed to a side temple for a rest, we were somewhat mobbed by a group [family] of locals.
They started peppering Zong-Shan with questions. They wanted to know how old I was for some reason. They
thought I was in high school or ~22. They were stunned when they learned I was 38. After some astonishment,
gathering and staring, I told Zong to tell them I was a university professor. Then they asked how much money
I made. I told them, which was silly to do that. They thought I was rich. When I said I didn't care about $,
they didn't believe me. They asked if I could lend $. So, I offered my bunch of lychee. They scrambled and
began devouring the fruit. It was somewhat animal-like. They left about 4-5 lychee.
We cored in a small valley above this temple. The borers were very loud today for some reason.
The day began a little down. We learned the Jeep was being repaired and no one would be at Teacher Zhang's
station, so he had to stay back and we could not go to the area with Red Dragon Lake and the monkeys. They
were going to take us to the Buddhist Temple. That place has little or no potential, so I insisted we go
back to Qing Chen Shan. So, we went back. Then we had a long discussion of how and where we would go.
Zong insisted we climb those bloody stairs again. So, we did - agh! [my calves are dying!]. We went behind
the temple where the lychee incident took place and found a foot trail up a valley. The best access was to
go by these pagoda pavilions built in honor of the defeat of Japan in WWII - the anti-Japan pavilion. We
hiked up and started finding the trees I had been hoping for, sort of. The Castanea looked older; smoother
bark, twisty trunks and thicker hubs. We hiked to the top of a steep and high cliff. I felt a pang of
vertigo. We later learned that cliff was ~700m high!
The Castanea seem older, but not old, except for the 1 tree where I was approached by the two locals.
That tree had classic form. Probably not much older than 150 years, though. I've got some good pics of that
tree. We cored ~7 Platycarya. They have good rings, but are young.
June 24th, 2006, 6:00 pm
Just finished a full day of sampling in the Longxi-Kongkou National Reserve, a reserve to the north of
Dujiangyan. We passed a massive hydroelectric dam being built, went through the mountain in a long tunnel
and then along a steep mountain. We went across a river and up the other side of the valley. There are many
modern and active resorts through this valley. Once you get within ~1-2 miles of the museum for the reserve,
the resorts, which are much, much larger, are abandoned. There may be one of them still in operation, but
their condition is awful.
June 26th, 2006, 11:00 pm
Too late, too tired and a little too tipsy to write coherently. Today was a day of wildlife - a woodpecker
[a bit smaller than the pileated], a tit?, a fly catcher?, and monkeys in the forest!!
June 27th, 2006, 4:00 pm
We have now officially completed our sampling for the excursion. We were on Qing Chen Shan for the fourth
time. The first time we just hiked to scout the mountain and forest. Today was just a relatively easy day.
We only had to core 6 Platycarya trees. So, we were tourists. We took the boat across the lake and
then took the chair lift up the mountain. We walked past the Ginko Temple to scout one forest. It was not
good. So, we went to the forest below the Cave Temple. It turned out to be pretty good. We cored 8 more
Platycarya. The last one I cored was not a Platycarya.
June 29th, 2006
Bloodshot eyes and just plain groggy. There was a banquet last night held in honor of a young couple's
child turning 30 days old. But, my presence might have turned it into a real drinking fest. I had too
much of that Chinese liquor.
The banquet was held after a long visit to the Irrigation Project. Project is the correct word because it
seems it is continualy being developed. For example, Li Bing put in place a flood-control spillway. However,
sometime later a second floor-control spillway was put in. This second spillway, the second project, is at
least [if not more] than 2x the first spillway. Evidently it became apparent that the original project was
not fully suited to the natural range of variability; the low-frequency extremely large flooding event. This
philosophy would be a good model for the NYC water system & drought.
July 2nd, 2006
I was surprised a few times on this trip by the food we ate. I've already talked about the squash, southern
[Sichuan] style. I was surprised the other day when one of our side dishes was boiled peanuts. Yup! Boiled
peanuts, much like south GA.
I commented to a couple of friends over email that I felt like I was in north FL or New Orleans with the main
difference being that we were at ~2100 feet and next to ~3000-6000 feet. I did learn that at the "backside"
of Longxi-Hongkou Reserve, there is a ~12,000' peak [more than 12,000', actually]. These mountains are on the
other side of 5000-6000' from Dujiangyan. If Dujiangyan were in the US, I could live there happily.
The biggest surprise may have been the amount of pork eaten by the Ôaverage' person in this country. I was
given some stereotype. I am unsure of its source. But, quite often when a dish came out, and I asked what we
were eating, the answer most often was pork.
Speaking of which, we are more than one hour into the flight and they are about to serve dinner. One of the
main dishes?? Pork!!!!
