On this flight from Shanghai, I was literally the only person in first class. Everybody boarding the flight got to see me wearing my Duke Basketball Report hat. The flight was just over 2 hours, and the medication started to have its effect. I dozed for most of the flight, skipping the meal and making it easy on the flight crew assigned to wait on me. They used the time to smoke.
We were met at the airport by Lucy, the guide R Crusoe uses in Chongqing. She seemed bright, but was not joining us on the river cruise. Oh well.
We reached the boat just after 8PM. We were originally scheduled to visit the General Stillwell Museum, dedicated to American assistance to China in WWII, but the flight schedule precluded that. Stillwell is revered in this part of China.
Chongqing is now the biggest city in China. The administrative boundaries have grown to encompass over 80,000 square kilometers (larger than Connecticut) and the population exceeds 30,000,000.
On walking to the boat, I had a minor accident. There was a drainage ditch and I stepped in it, nearly breaking my leg. I ended up with abrasions on both calves, and a bruised pride. I also realized on arriving in the boat that I was running a fever again, so I arranged some Zithromax to treat the combined fever/sore throat/nasal congestion.
Dinner on the boat was western, spaghetti and chicken cordon bleu. Filling, but not why I came to China. I went to bed after dinner.
I have a standard two-person cabin, spacious compared to the standard cabins on the Nile cruise. The two beds are twin beds, and the cabin does have some room for walking.
I slept fitfully due to the head cold, occasionally waking with fits of coughing, and I apparently kept some of my neighbors awake.
I woke just before 6AM to the boat pulling away from the dock. It was quite breezy on deck when I went out for a walk before breakfast. Some people were practicing Tai Chi on the sun deck.
Sunrise on the Yangtze |
Lunch was another mixed buffet, I had braised pork and beef curry. After lunch, we had a talk about the Three Gorges Dam, and the construction plans for the dam. We talked a bit about the political implications, but not at length. They denied any issues about earthquakes.
Our shore excursion for the day was the highlight. We went to Shi Bao Zhai, the site of a Buddhist temple that will be on an island when the land is flooded as a result of the dam. We were carried on sedan chairs up to the tea house level, below the pagoda. 85 steps higher took us to the base of the pagoda on Mount of Jade Chop. Inside the pagoda, there were eleven levels. I was concerned with my lung condition that I couldn't make it, but slow and steady progress took me to the top of the pagoda, 220 meters above the surface of the river. The views were spectacular, I hope the pictures come out through the haze.
The hike back down the hill was almost as bad as the hike up, a steep concrete staircase back down to the tea house level, then walking through some narrow side streets in the town, filled with people selling their wares. I was pleased with myself for reaching the top.
After cooling off, we had a brief cocktail party, and then we went to dinner. The meal started with the traditional cold appetizers, I particularly enjoyed the bean curd and duck. The main courses included lemon chicken, beef in a brown sauce, fish with corn, steamed vegetables, rice, and pork. Filling, but not up to the standards of the food in Hong Kong, Guilin, or Shanghai. I was tired, so I went to bed early, the next day was The Big Day.
For me, the reason to take this trip was to see the three gorges of the Yangtze river before they were dammed. The date that the main part of the dam is projected to be finished is November, 2003, so I really didn't have much time to accomplish my goals. 2001, this year, is the year.
I was very anxious with anticipation of The Big Day. Although I did sleep well, I woke at 4:30. Too early, so I puttered a bit. At 6:15 I went up on deck in preparation. The boat cast off at 6:30, under ominous skies. It was cloudy, and very windy, with the wind blowing up river into our faces. The first gorge was the Qutang Gorge, a mere five miles long. The river was surrounded by steep cliffs, and clouds topped the mountains. The weather gave the experience and eerie feel. Being short, we passed this gorge in 15 minutes.
The Three Gorges |
The Three Gorges |
Everyone else left for breakfast. I paid a lot of money for this trip, so I wanted to soak up the scenery: I skipped breakfast. Light rain started coming off and on, but hey, so I got a bit wet.
7:50 we entered Wu Gorge. Wu is the gorge of wind and rain, so the drizzle and 40 knot winds were somehow appropriate, if bad for photography. There was one Japanese man who looked like the ancient mariner, with the wind whipping his yellow windbreaker. It wasn't pleasant, and eventually everyone else retreated below decks. My philosophy: It rains, I get wet. The views were too beautiful to miss.
The Wu Gorge has the twelve peaks surrounding the river, and many side canyons. The walls of rock rose on both sides, the wind and rain whipped down. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough rain to cause the waterfalls to run. To say I was awed is an understatement. To think that they're going to fill these gorges and make a lake... Well, we did the same to Glen Canyon, and with less reason.
Ninety five minutes later, we left the Wu Gorge. We disembarked in Badong for a quick ride on a small boat up the Shennong Stream through the dragon gorge. These were even more narrow and steep than the three gorges of the Yangtze. I'll admit being lulled by the oarsmen to the point where I was a bit drowsy. We did see swifts, swallows, and white cranes in this gorge.
We came back for lunch, it was a buffet. Nothing really stood out; I had some roast pork and sesame balls.
The Three Gorges |
Still, seeing the 175 meter markings on the side of the river all the way from Chongqing and seeing all the homes, buildings, and historical sites that will be submerged by the lake is sobering.
We visited the dam site. The five step lock for shipping is quite a project, but is basic technology re-used on a large scale. The shipping elevator is barely begun. Coffer dams surround the actual dam site, so one can see the actual size of the dam. The Chinese are proud of their efforts here.
The dam was both the climax and the anti-climax of the day. Just before dinner, we had a bridge tour (where we watched the docking of the ship in Yichang) and engine room tour. The engine room was hot, as one would expect of a diesel boat.
I did have a pleasant conversation with the tour guide, Maria. She was a British and American literature major at her university, so I asked her if she was familiar with Saki, my favorite author. She was not, but she did say she liked Somerset Maughn and Robert Frost. She also enjoyed Shelley and Coleridge. Not the kind of conversation you'd expect between a software engineer and a tour guide at one of the largest civil engineering projects in the world. She said she'd look up Saki and send me some e-mail.
Dinner was cold appetizers, pork with brown sauce, fried noodles, spicy pepper chicken, stir fried melon with cashews, and a lot of steamed vegetables. I added a liberal amount of chili sauce to suit my tastes. And then, to bed.
We've been docked at Yichang since yesterday, and today is a travel day. Breakfast was the buffet at the boat, and we left the boat at 8:30 for the drive to Wuhan. The drive was through a lot of farming communities. In Wuhan, we had lunch at the Shangri-La hotel. It was a large buffet with Western and Oriental dishes. After that, we drove to the airport for the flight to Xi'an. This was coach on a DeHavilland DASH-8 Turboprop.
All images are © Copyright 1991-2001 James C. Armstrong, Jr.