Armchair Traveller: Sichuan Province
Sichuan, 'Four Rivers', the heartland of China. More than 100 million people live in this mid-west province which is roughly the size of France. The eastern part of the province consists of fertile plains bordering the four main rivers (Yangtse, Jialing, Dadu and Min), where most of the population live. The north and west of the province are mountainous regions, inhabited mostly by ethnic minorities such as the Li and Tibetan nationalities. The highest mountain in the region, Mt. Gonga at about 7,500 metres, marks the edge of the high Tibetan Plateau; the surrounding ranges separate the Himalayas and the grasslands. This western region is a land thick with culture, where minorities herding sheep inhabit yurts, and where the air is thick with insence. Roaring rivers carry timber from the virgin forests down to the cities on the plains. The mountains make access difficult, and towns have tended to follow the course of the rivers; the road to Sichuan, Shu Dao , is a common idiom synonymous with extreme difficulty. Western Sichuan is a harsh, unforgiving region to live in, but a place where the traveller is rewarded with extreme natural beauty,
oliver@halo.ps.uci.edu