Jumpin' Jiuzhaigou!

Tanu and I are basically rock stars.

Proof:

Exhibit A: Amazing Jump Pic abilities

During National Holiday (where everyone in China goes on vacation for a week, making it impossible to import some cells that you really really need for research), my parents, Tanu, and I visited southwestern China, including the national park, Jiuzhaigou. It used to be home to nine (that's the "jiu" part of "jiuzhaigou") Tibetan-esque villages dotted among gorgeous landscapes of waterfalls and lakes of vivid colors.

At one lake, some hawkers offered traditional Tibetan clothing to prance around in. Initially we poo-pooed the idea, but after seeing how much fun the Chinese tourists were having in fur-lined garments, we donned the robes (much to their delight). And as ambassadors of awesomeness, we effected cultural exchange by introducing jump shots to our pictures.

Judging from the gasps in the crowd, this was an entirely new concept for them. Now, the Chinese are very inventive when it comes to poses, but we got similar reactions when we'd add some air into our shots.

this is a lil twist on the jump pic. think pairs' ice skating.

okay, so sometimes our timing is off. but even olympic synchronized swimmers make mistakes!

These observers came over afterwards to look at the pictures.

At one point, the crowd was especially interactive. First they observed.

Then one woman tried some herself. We jumped in for support.

This spawned others' jump pictures.

And one novice hopper requested I document her glee.

All in all, I would say it was a successful day: we got to see beautiful natural scenery and start a photographic trend in China!