Down the Yangze River, the longest river in China and the third longest river in the world, beginning in the mountains above Tibet, flowing 6400 kms to Shanghai on the east coast.
Everybody is rushing to do the cruise before the Three Gorges Dam is completed in 2009. The largest dam in the world will submerge historic sites and towns and requires the relocation of millions of people.
Altho I've never relished the idea of cruising and hanging out with hundreds of people, I thought this was something I should do since I was in the area.
I arrived in the city of Chongqing (one of China's most heavily industrialized cities, population 30 million), checked into a hotel, and immediately started to source out cruise info. I was chased down by hundreds of touts - how many boats would be on the river?! I could take the 2 day/3 night trip on a luxury cruise ship ($300) or a Chinese cruise ship (300 RMB/$40). I chose the lower bunk in a six bed room on a Chinese boat.
At 6:30 pm it was time to board. I found my bed, introduced myself to the two older Chinese couples and the single Chinese woman in my room as best I could, then off to the top deck. The staff tried to tell me I had to pay 20 RMB to sit up here!! Sorry, boo ming bai - I don't understand (but I didn't think I'd get away with this everytime). I pulled up a little stool and got ready. At 8:00, just after sundown, we started to sail away, admiring the night lights of the city - how exciting!
Then I toured the ship (capacity about 600 people) and went back to our tiny cabin where the TV was at top volume. At about 10 everybody was ready for bed. It seemed they were going to sleep in their clothes, nylons, belts with attached cell phones. I showered and put on my shorts and t-shirt - was this ok? We discovered that the light switch wasn't connected to the light. Oh well, I'd read a bit longer and was thankful to have the lower bunk.
I was finding it hard to fall asleep in a daylight-lit room so I read until 1:30 before finally nodding off. Then at 4 am the ship's horn droned and another cruise ship pulled up right beside us. After 15 minutes of commotion and noise it took off for the opposite bank. Time for a bit more sleep? Nope, here comes another ship and what a ship! A red and gold dragon (Dragon Cruisers) and every room had a private piece of deck. And, we also noticed it was pouring rain. I gave up on sleep (and could feel a blog coming on) as everyone started to wash up, share my bed and slurp their instant noodles. It was also getting more difficult to breathe with the ship exhaust coming in the windows. And the 'elevator' music soon started.
Their first tour began at 6 - a chance for me to be alone and scout the town for some breakfast. The first stop was at Fengdu - a ghost town - a town being relocated. Some of the dilapidated and abandoned buildings were still occupied by residents who had small shops selling food and camera film to the hundreds/thousands of tourists parading the streets. I could count at least 8 ships out there - how could they fill them every day? (I would see later that boats stop at different interest points, so there were even more boats out there, including the boats coming up-river. Everything in China is on a grand scale!)
The first day was a very hazy grey/brown. The second day was green - thank goodness.
One of the highlights of this trip would be passing through the Three Gorges. After a goodnight's sleep (we found the proper light switch), we were awoken early with announcements, which of course meant nothing to me. I was guessing that everyone was being given instructions for the morning's stop - a separate tour through the Three Little Gorges, which I was passing up. I didn't want to be crushed on a small boat with hundreds and I didn't need a bright new yellow ballcap.
As my cabin mates rushed out the door, I thought yeah - I could change and wash with more privacy. I was wrong. After changing and washing, I strolled out to the deck to discover I had just missed the first gorge - oh well, there were two more later on.
While they were off on the Little tour, I toured the town and hung out on deck. I met a Chinese couple who retired to Ottawa ten years ago to be closer to their daughter. Their English was a little rough, but it was nice to talk. They insisted I join them later for lunch. Well, I had tried the food on board on Day 1 and it was nothing special... and I had just secured myself a place along the rail because once we set off, which would be about lunch time, we'd be heading into the second gorge. But how could I say no?
I was wrong. We were about fifteen minutes into the gorge, the scenery was good and then I got a tap on the shoulder. "Follow me."
In the dining room we took a table with a great view into the gorge from the back of the boat. And then the food started to arrive - it seems that they had special ordered. It was a very nice lunch. Then they asked me to join them on the last tour of the day - to the dam itself. I had planned to do a very cheap local bus version the next day to pass time until the evening train. I accepted.
It was 7:30 pm and we were docking for the last tour - the dam. On my way off the boat I ran into the two beautiful blonde Norwegian 20 year old girls I'd met in the dorm in Chongqing. They were at their wits end as they had done every side trip, and after all, who knows gorges better than Norwegians! I listened to them vent as hundreds of us pushed on to the cable cars to get up to the buses and vent more as we all pushed on to the buses. Nobody pushes better than the Chinese - I had quite a tussle with an old lady!
It was about an hour drive to the dam site. I feel incredible frustration here because I don't know the language - more than for my traveling convenience, I want to know what's really going on here. The tour guide on the bus talked non-stop. What did she say?
Everybody lined up with incredible enthusiasm to have their pictures taken in front of the dam. Given the controversy of the dam (any dam), what do they think of this project? I think the woman sitting next to me on the bus was trying to express her great pride when she excitedly talked to me, touching her heart, pointing out the window, beaming and spreading here arms out. After viewing the dam we walked backed to our buses along a beautifully landscaped promenade where one could relax on a bench and further enjoy the view of the dam.
A ten minute drive took us to another section of the dam park with colourful lights, large fountains, streams, statues, a huge indoor model of the project area and the largest gift shop I've seen yet, where you could buy everything from DVDs, jewelry, silk robes and NY sun visors. After confirming that it was 'New York' I had to ask why, there was only a little smile in reply.
Well, that was interesting, but I didn't think it was worth 120 RMB. Oh... but we weren't done yet.
At the next stop we passed by many food stands and then into an aquarium. I walked through the aquarium and followed everyone to the next area. We could hear loud music and a sign said something about War Horses and the Three Kingdoms. I walked through the Enterance and gasped - oh my! It was a large muddy outdoor arena with a grand Chinese gate at one end, through which strode 20+ horses and historically costumed riders. I didn't stick around for the entire mock battle because my stomach was set on some dumplings I'd seen.
Back on the bus I was thinking it would be quite late by the time we got back to the boat, I was tired and it would be an early morning because we were to arrive in Yichang about 4 am, but could sleep until 6 when we'd be kicked off the boat.
Another stop. I was on the verge of a giggling fit. We piled off and were toured through a temple, where among the artifacts there were corpses that had been dug up during the dam construction (only two). On the way out, through a large snack shop, I ran up to the Norwegians and asked with a laugh "So how many more stops do you think?"
They looked at me and said "This is it." After struggling with the English speaking guide, they had figured out that we weren't going back, we were to wait here for our boats. It was 11:30 and ours was scheduled to arrive at 2 am. The guide told us to find a seat in one of the many outdoor tea/eating areas, for which we had to pay 2 RMB.
Good thing I had bought a pack of Three Gorges playing cards at the last stop. While many of the tourists marched and sang pop songs, the three of us played Hearts.
There was no sleep last night, and I'm on the overnight train to the ancient city of Xian, where I should park myself for a week to catch up on my sleep.
Next attraction: Terracotta Army
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