Yangtze River

I think the blazing question from last post can be answered first: yes, we made the boat! Eventually. LOL

It turns out that a three star hotel in China is a BIG step down from a four star. Our usual hotels have been rather luxurious, provide free water, etc. The three star was kind of like a run down motel: water stains down the walls, barely clean, smelling of smoke... we were all glad it was only one night. It was scary opening the curtains in the morning - I think we all had the same reaction "o. my. god." The fog had settled in to Xi' An, it was like looking out at a big grey wall. We ate breakfast watching it lift and settle, wondering what we were gonna do. However, by the time we got to the airport, the sun was out and burning off the fog, so we were good. It only took them about 45 minutes past our scheduled lift time for them to clear out the backlogged planes and off we went. (It was a tiny plane, by the way, about 30 seats - fortunately it was a pretty smooth ride.)


We landed in Yichang and went straight to lunch. It was ok, but too many deep fried and sweet things, even for me! Although, by that point in the day I was feeling pretty miserable, so maybe I was just off my feed. Congestion, sore throat, the usual litany of misery that you hear from me in full blown allergy mode.


After lunch, we went to the Three Gorges Project. Whether or not you agree with the decision to build the thing, you do have to be awed by the sheer, magnificent, ridiculous scale of the thing. It will be the biggest dam in the world, with 25 active turbines and it will still only produce 6% of China's current energy requirements. Insane. It's freakin' big though and landscaped in ways only the Chinese would think to do. :)


From the dam, we caught the coach to catch up to the Victoria Anna, our cruise ship. We were finally re-united with our luggage here and everyone showed up for dinner looking spiffy. After dinner I had arranged an appointment with the ship's doctor, hoping to get some herbs or something for my allergies. He took one look down my throat and said "You have an infection." Suddenly, I was hooked up to an IV getting approximately 750mL of antibiotics straight to the blood stream. I also ended up with oral antibiotics, what I think is the Chinese version of Tylenol Cold and a box of truly effective throat lozenges. All told, including the hour to monitor the drip, it cost $1200 yuan, which is approximately $150CAN. Dr. Xu had 7 years of medical school, comprised, he told me of 60% TCM and "physical treatments" (acupuncture, cupping, moxa, etc.) and 30% Western medicine. I mentioned that I had studied TCM and shiatsu and he made a comment about how young I was - he thought I was 20!!!! SQUEAMISH ALERT: if you don't like needles, skip to the next paragraph. The IV insertion went about standard for me - he tried to do it in the right hand first and either missed or popped out of the vein, so I got about a tablespoon of subcutaneous antibiotics and now have a lovely bruise. Fortunately, there was better luck with my left hand!

At any rate, I'm not 100% today, but I am feeling human again. This is two courses of antibiotics this year for me, which is way over my cut-off limit, but given the circumstances, I think it was warranted.

This morning after breakfast, we boarded a ferry to go up one of the tributaries of the Yangtze, called Shuodong (?). The effects of the dam became very apparent on this trip and one of them was regarding the Hanging Coffins. A very old group of people who lived in this region believed that your spirit went to the sky when you die, so you showed respect to your ancestors by climbing up cliff faces and wedging the coffins in crevises in the limestone. Nobody really knows how they managed it, but there used to hundreds of the things. Now most have been removed and taken to museums, because the dam is designed to raise the water level 175m above it's previous height and they were all going to end up under water. There are still a few deliberately left in the highest spots for tourism, but since they were almost level with us on the observation deck, it left a little to be desired.

Another thing is the 1.4 million farmers who had to be relocated, because the land their families had been working for the past 6 or more generations is now under water. They basically had three choices: move to new villages built higher up the mountain, find family somewhere else to live with or let the government re-locate them to other parts of the country. There are problems with all of these options, but since the project will be complete by the end of the year, there's not much they can do about it. We've seen a whole lot of the new towns that have been built by the government and they sit strangely on the eye. Because flat space is at a premium, the spacing of buildings is similar to pictures of Greek islands, but the buildings themselves are reminiscent of the Russian housing blocks. It's strange.

There's nothing to complain about with the natural landscape however. The mountains here are not so tall as we're used to at home. We passed the highest peak of the Three Gorges area today and it's approximately 1, 300 m tall. So for the most part, they are completely covered with the lushest, greenest vegetation I think I've ever seen. They are composed primarily of limestone, so you can see the action of all the water and wind - they are almost fractal in how every curving ridge breaks into smaller and smaller ones. Even with the boat engine evident under you all the time, it's very serene and peaceful.

Getting back to our trip this morning, we took the ferry up the tributary to a small station where we transfered to "peapod boats". These are exactly what they sound like, low flat boats shaped like half a pea pod. They hold 18 passengers, and are run by a crew of 4-5. They rowed us upstream using these strange paddles, which had low, narrow, curved blades. Given the wirey strength of these guys, they could kick Olympic butt with some real paddles! Then, when we got to the rapids, they jumped out to shore and towed us across with long bamboo ropes. Apparently, they used to do all this naked, but that was ixnayed with the start of the tourist boom. They still wear grass sandals woven by their wives though, so Teva could probably make a killing in there.

The crew had prepared us for cold and rain, so of course the sun came out and we all baked. It turned out to be one of the nicest days of the trip so far, finally encompacing the feeling that I somehow thought that all of China would have. What's the point of thousands of years of study and practice, just to throw it out the window to become more North American? Sigh. And on top of that, I forgot I had my hat with me and managed to sunburn my scalp!

The cruise line we're on is American and our boat is the Victoria Anna. After a week in China, it was weird to be given forks and knives again and most of us asked for chopsticks. The beds are American style though, which I was happy about! Somehow I thought a bigger boat would be smooth and quiet to ride on, but not so. You are constantly aware of the engine, everything rattles and clicks with the turbulence and I'm afraid that with my allergies, I'll never be really comfortable with the pervading damp, musty smell. Which isn't to say it isn't nicely appointed - dark wood, lush carpets and intricate carving are everywhere. Including for sale - this is China, after all - the center stairwell section on each level has all the same old things for purchase, and more expensive, usually, than at other stops. I did succumb a little bit though - I've seen paintings in several places that show some kind of scenery in a set of four, one for each season. I loved the concept but couldn't find pictures I actually liked. The artist on board had a set showing the Three Gorges area that was gorgeous and reasonably priced, so I splurged. Here's hoping Stuart likes them!

Well, I'm supposed to be "dressing" for the Captain's reception tonight, except I was told nice dress wasn't required, so I didn't pack anything. I'm sure the rich folks in my group will show up all gussied, but I'm not worried - there's a huge tour from the States on board too and they are totally living up to the reputation of Americans abroad. As long as I don't get drunk and barf on the Captain, I doubt anyone will notice me...

Cheers!