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!)
Monday, April 3 -- Continued up the Yangtze, with stops at the White Emperor Palace, where we took some nice pictures of the same gorge that appears on the back of the 10-yuan note:
Being a nature lover myself, I was pleased to see the Chinese attempts to respect and preserve the landscape. This first sign really caught my eye because it appeared right next to the Gate of Hell. And the last picture? Well, who could resist . . . . ?
Saw some very unappetizing birds and fish on our way back to the ship, but Brigg's still smiling (the Steele stomach, you know). Click the pictures . . . if you dare . . .
Later that afternoon, we boarded a smaller boat and rode up the "Goddess Stream" gorge, where some of the local people performed a little show for us. Remarkable talent for such a remote area, and the scenery? Breathtaking!!
Tuesday, April 4 -- We arrived at the top of Three Gorges Dam and took the "ship lift" to the bottom, and from there we sailed a short distance to Yishang, our destination. Note how we waited for the green light prior to entering the ship lift. Once inside the ship lift, I kept waiting for the rollers, scrubbers, and soap squirters to descend (yes, it reminded me of a car wash . . . ) It was a foggy day, so it is a bit difficult to see how high we were, but we were up there! As we came out at the bottom, we had a nice look back at the largest dam in the world.
Next, we took a bus from Yishang to Wuhan, and from there we flew back to Beijing. We nearly missed our flight due to holiday traffic, but our bus driver was CRAZY good -- driving on the shoulder and weaving in and out of multiple lanes filled with cars, trucks, and other tour buses. We arrived at the airport in Wuhan about 40 minutes before our flight was due to leave. We (the Sandbergs and us) RAN to the check-in counter and went right up to the front. We RAN to the security line, where again we went right up to the front (actually, Brigg ran ahead of us to look for someone who spoke English -- when one young man said he spoke a little bit of English, Brigg asked him if he would talk to the people in line to see if they would let us go ahead of them -- they were very accommodating and even a bit amused). We RAN to the gate, only to discover that we needed to go downstairs to take a shuttle out to the airplane, which was on the tarmac about 1/2 mile from the airport. But we made it!! I'm sorry the bus driver had to speed along the road between Yishang and Wuhan because it was beautiful countryside -- green fields with water buffalo out grazing, cozy-looking country homes -- I was especially interested, given the fact that it was Tomb-Sweeping Day (the Chinese counterpart to our Memorial Day), in the little family burial plots dotting the fields. Because of the holiday, they were festively decorated with brightly colored flowers, banners, streamers, and lanterns. I snapped a few pictures from the bus window along the way -- so sorry they're a bit blurry . . . .
