The Yangtze River Cruise - Aug 25, 2008 - Chongqing, Chongqing, China

From Yangshuo were travelled back to Guilin to fly out. The start of the cruise down the Yangtze River was at Chongqing. This city in Wikipedia is described as the largest city that you have never heard of. Within the city and its suburbs 30 million people live there, primarily due to the fact that it used to be the Capital of China when Beijing was overrun by the Japanese in WW II. To be honest though there was nothing special within the city or if there was, we missed it.

We arrived before Noon at the city so with a small amount of time to kill we were taken round the ancient opera house. The architecture was very impressive for such an old building and wax work figures were used to depict how the building was used many years ago. My mind though was not fully on the tour as my new camera, which was only two months old, malfunctioned such that the lens would not close and take pictures.

To try and fix it after we checked into the hotel we set off in to the city for a Canon camera shop. The first shop we visited could not fix it but they gave us an address of someone who could and vitally their business card. We tracked down this place which turned out to be on the 11th floor of a hotel (we would never have found it) and was a certified Canon repair shop. Within an hour and a half it was fixed and I was a very relieved man.

That night we planned to watch the Men’s Olympic Hockey final. So we hit the Carrefour supermarket for our exotic dinner of Pot noodles. Sadly the hockey clashed with the table tennis and volleyball finals, which are far more popular in China and so they never showed it!!

The next morning we visited the 3 Gorges Museum. This exhibition was to provide a legacy to the areas that were to be submerged by the rising waters of the dam reservoir. This included huge ancient writings etched into the cliffs which were cut out and transported in huge slabs. One somewhat ironic exhibit was about the endangered species in the area which included a full complement of these animals but stuffed!

One very interesting Exhibit was about the trackers who pulled the ships upstream before the boats had engines. Up to one hundred men all tethered together would pull the ships along narrow paths cut into the rock faces. The sad element was that if the current pulled the boat downstream or one of the men slipped off the path then all one hundred would fall to their death in the river. The other sad fact was that within a couple of months these historic paths would be covered by the newly risen reservoir.

After visiting a few other less exciting exhibitions in the museum such as ancient calligraphy we headed off to travel over the Yangtze on a cable car. The trip was eventful as the taxi driver wanted to charge us far too much and when we negotiated to use the meter he then didn’t know where the terminal was. We saw the cables and decided to stop the cab and walk up a hill to the station. We didn’t realise that to get there we would have to walk through the local slums. We made it in one piece and then travelled back and forth over the river in a rather dilapidated carriage.

That evening we started our trip on the ‘Three gorges River cruise’. In true Melissa and Geoff travel style (aka as the Phillips’ backpacking mode) the ship was a top of the range 5 star cruise ship. We boarded to the ships band playing and went to our lovely cabin, which included an en-suite with power shower and a private balcony.

That night it was just a welcome briefing by the cruise director explain what we could expect over the next few days.

Next morning was an early start as the first stop was a visit to the Ghost Temple. Our first meal gave us our first introduction to the wonderful food on the ship. The ‘all you could eat’ buffet included a great variety of both western and Chinese food and filled us up ready for the day ahead.

The ghost temple is situated on top of the Ming Mountain and paid tribute to the ‘King of the Underworld’. The whole ship was split into groups then we disembarked to be picked up by a procession of large golf carts.

Once at the bottom we started the climb of 629 stairs through different small temples along the way depicting the journey to the underworld. We passed over a bridge hand in hand that supposedly meant that we will now spend the rest of lifetime and after life together! Aren’t I lucky!

At the top of the mountain was a series of large Buddhas and to the side two rooms depicting Buddhist hell. Any Buddhists would certainly be put off doing anything which would send them to hell as the scenes depicted people being tortured in a multitude of ways. This included being boiled alive and sawn in two by giant monsters.

The trip was enjoyable, even though it was raining, because we met a wide variety of people on the way up. Many had been to Beijing to see the Olympics and we even had an Olympian, Stef, who had represented Canada at Sailing (He didn’t win a medal though).

After returning to the ship we then had a briefing on the river and the upcoming gorges that we would visit. After a hearty lunch it was a chill out for the afternoon in the room and on the balcony.

In the evening we had the Captains Welcome Reception. On Melissa’s advice that I my attire was fine, I rocked up in Sandals and old shorts. After a few stares from gentlemen in jackets and ties I quickly dashed back to the room to dress in something a bit smarter. Dinner followed which consisted of 8 different starters and 8 main courses which the whole table could feast on. For desert there were 5 or 6 birthdays so the Cruise Director planned to announce their name and then present them with a small gift. However the Chinese on board were somewhat impatient and so only 1 person was present the rest had all left! The crew then dimmed the lights and the crew brought in Birthday cakes for every table to the sound of happy Birthday in Chinese It was unfortunate that they were not there for their own presentations!

The evening’s entertainment was a fashion show by the crew which featured traditional costumes from all regions and periods of Chinese history. It was somewhat cringe worthy at times but overall it was good fun night.

Next morning we entered the first Gorge at 6:30am which was called the Qutang Gorge. I went up to the top deck to view the spectacle whereas Melissa chose to view it from the comfort of her own bed whilst looking out the window.

After breakfast we disembarked for a visit through the picturesque Lesser Gorges on smaller boats. We were very lucky with the weather. Throughout the trip there was ever present smog (mist to the locals). However when we entered the gorge we had blue sky which meant we could see the very tops of the towering cliffs up to a 1000 metres high.

Along these cliffs we could see a 2,000 year old hanging coffin. The Ba people would ‘bury’ their dead in small crags and caves in the rock face. Historians are still unsure how they managed to get the coffins up to these inaccessible places.

On the way back we had a great chat to an American couple from Boston. They had been to watch the Olympics including many of the event we would have loved to see (very jealous). The fact that he himself was an Olympian from the 1960 rowing team must have helped.

Another relaxing afternoon was spent chilling out whilst viewing the magnificent Gorges. We were becoming very accustomed to the 5 star cruise lifestyle and our final evening entailed the Captain’s Banquet followed by a cabaret show starring the ship’s crew. I followed this with a game of cards with Stef, Amy, Phil, Kathy and Jack whilst the rest of the ship went to bed.

The next morning’s excursion was to the 3 Gorges Dam. Our bags had to be packed and outside our room by 6:30 am so it was an early start for everyone.

Whilst the Olympics were taking place there was heightened security throughout the country. This meant that we were unable to travel the through the 5 locks to the lower part of the river. Instead we were split into our groups again and put on buses to be transported around the Dam.

Everything about Three Gorges Dam project was immense: the Dam itself was 2.3km long and 185m high; it cost 30 billion US dollars to build and the newly created reservoir was 600km long; This meant 1.5 million people had to be relocated into newly constructed towns and cities. What I found very interesting was the electricity production was only a secondary factor in why it was built. The primary reason was to control the floods during the rainy season. The last major flood in 1998 which was before the project started killed thousands, left over two million homeless and the damage equated to more than the entire 9 year dam project.

I was in my element and even Melissa was wowed by the sheer scale. The mist had returned so the photos were not as good as we would have liked but we still had a good sense of the dam’s huge size.

After returning for a quick buffet lunch we were sent on our merry way to the airport for our flight to Shanghai. After we were picked up by our transfer service they did manage to squeeze in a visit to a silk embroidery shop. It was a two minute demonstration followed by a 15 minute sales pitch. The workmanship was very impressive and Melissa was very tempted by a beautiful picture of a horse, but with no room in our bags it could not be done.

Shanghai

We arrive in darkness in Shanghai after another hassle free flight. We were again met by a guide and driver who took us to our hotel. The city reminded me of Hong Kong with its Neon signs.

The hotel was in a great location, just a couple of blocks from the Subway and the main shopping street (Najing Road). We were on the 15th floor which gave us some great views. This did have one downside that we forgot which floor we were on and Melissa tried to go into the wrong room.

That evening we headed out to try and find a restaurant that had a menu with pictures and didn’t primarily consist of intestines. Just as we were about to head back and probably eat more Pot Noodle we saw a Specialty Duck restaurant. I had already mentioned that I wanted Peking Duck at least once in China so it was a double bonus for us. The duck was amazing and the staff very helpful or tolerant of our language ineptitude. Part of the meal was that the chef presented the whole duck to the table and then proceeded to skilfully carve it in front of us with an incredibly sharp knife.

After a great breakfast on the 18th floor we had to get some laundry done before we flew. After finding a place he wanted to charge us the equivalent of £20 for a service wash (and probably the Ferrari he was saving up for). After a mini strop by Melissa and us packing up our clothes ready to leave, we managed to get it down to £8.

Next stop was the Pearl Oriental TV which is the famous landmark of Shanghai. To get there we navigated the subway without getting lost and headed up the Towers two express lifts. The views were impressive, although somewhat misty, and really showed the huge amount of building work in the city. In the basement was a very interesting museum showing the history of the city from the prehistoric times through to the present including when the British invaded during the Opium war.

For lunch we headed to the ‘Great Brand Mall’ which could easily have been in London, Auckland or NY. The majority of the shops were western and many of the sales assistants spoke English.

In the evening we headed back to Najing Road and braved the street hawkers. Melissa seemed to get targeted more than me with the offer of fake bags and watches at bargain prices. We found a great restaurant called Zen and had a lovely Chinese meal before heading back for our last night in China.

Next morning it was the end of our China trip. Our expectations had been far exceeded and our tour company had definitely taken all the hassle out of the trip. For me the Panda experience will be one I will never forget and for Melissa the Terracotta Warriors were her best highlight.