Some of the photos my mother took when she was over in Sichuan (四川).

She didn’t take too many as the entire holiday mood was dampened by the earthquake. The pictures of the giant pandas were taken in Huanglong (黄龙). The others were taken at assorted places around Sichuan.

They were unable to enter Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟) as the local public security (gong’an 公安) officers were concerned that the roads might not be safe as there’s possibility of aftershocks and landslides. Those who insisted on going in were allowed to do so after they sign some kind of documents indicating that they will not hold anyone responsible for any mishaps including their deaths.

My mother informed me that one of the cities she visited – Mian Yang (绵阳) suffered large scale devastation after they departed. In fact, my uncle was pretty adamant he saw one of the schools with many student deaths when he was there.

Either way, my uncle and my two aunts all came back a little sick as a result of the anxiety and fear they felt at the area. The entire region was quite chaotic as the Chinese authorities tried to balance incoming air traffic and outgoing ones. Some people on the flight out had slept two days in the airport trying to get an air ticket out and flights were held back and delayed as priority was given to incoming rescue teams from other parts of China and the world.

Fortunately for my mother, the local tour guide managed to arrange with the tour agency to put my mother and relatives in a proper hotel while they try and get tickets to get out. There were some unfortunate souls from other tour groups which end up in hotels whereby they spent most o their time in the open anyway.