Up the Yangtze to the Three Gorges Dam (April 2017)
Tuesday, April 4, was Tomb-Sweeping Day, a national holiday here in China. In honor of the day (and the fact that PKU and other schools around China held no classes), we joined several other BYU China Teachers on a five-day "weekend" trip. (Perhaps I should note that the holiday didn't impact our classes at all, as Brigg and I teach only on Wednesdays and Thursdays this semester -- we left for Chongqing on Friday and flew back to Beijing on Tuesday.) Of all the traveling we have done here in China so far, this trip was absolutely among the top!
Friday, March 31 -- We flew with the Sandbergs from Beijing to Chongqing (the largest city in China with over 33 million people -- over 53 million people in the "metro area") and spent the night at the Hilton on the Yangtze River -- incredible views of the city from our hotel room on the 19th floor!
On the morning of Saturday, April 1 (Happy birthday, Emma!!), we checked out of the hotel, hopped on a bus, and toured Chongqing, including stops at the "Old City" market, the People's Hall, the Three-Gorges Dam Museum, and the "Flying Tigers" Museum (honoring the U.S. airmen who volunteered to come to China, helping to build the Chinese air force so that they could more effectively fight the Japanese from 1937-1945 -- a seldom-mentioned and little-known part of Chinese WWII history. We even saw a "secret lettle" signed by President Roosevelt concerning the project). Following the city tour, we shared a Chinese-style "spinner dinner" at a local restaurant and then boarded our ship, the Victoria Sophia. From the balcony of our tiny cabin, we caught some spectacular views of Chongqing as we sailed away that night. You can click on the pictures:
A few more sights -- "Old City" Chongqing was a FUN place to explore! I seem to have stumbled upon Brigg shopping for some jewelry -- I'm still waiting !!???! (Click the pictures again)
Perhaps that jewelry was a bit expensive . . . . .
And, no, we didn't go inside here . . . . (but we should have!)
Sunday, April 2 -- I know, it was Conference Sunday in the USA, but we will be having our "Conference Sunday" on April 9 because we are 14-15 hours ahead of y'all. Internet was spotty along the Yangtze, but people in our group were able to intermittently catch various speakers from the Saturday sessions. We downloaded all the sessions as soon as we came back to Beijing. We did, however, have a somewhat "religious" day, visiting both the Gate of Hell (in the Fengdu Ghost City) and the Bridges to Heaven (at the Red Pagoda) on the same day! Because of the holiday, we stumbled upon many fun performances and parades (including a face-changing performance -- I had heard about these but hadn't seen one until this trip, where we saw two of them!) Click on the pictures:
As I mentioned, it was a holiday weekend, and we were sharing the tourist sites with masses of Chinese people, as you can see from the next picture. Fortunately, though, our interaction with the people is one of our favorite parts of living here, and the people at the sites along the Yangtze were very interested in interacting with us (especially when we were spending money!)
Not everyone was interested in taking pictures with us, however. This little gal, although very excited about chatting with Brigg -- practicing English words and singing little English songs -- didn't want anything to do with me. When her mother insisted on a picture, she put her hands on her hips and told her mother in no uncertain terms (and I don't even understand Chinese that well!) that she was NOT happy about it!
The ship's photographer caught us smiling a few times--and clearly, I've been enjoying that new camera Amy got for me before we came to China. (And, you know, I really hadn't thought about it much until I saw these photos, but you can sure see those scars on my neck!! Darn cancer!)