Scaling the Steep Steps of Shibaozhai Temple

---

We finished our breakfast, already docked at the pier barge connected to shore by a pontoon bridge. Other boats were already mooring to The Viking Emerald. Ashore, women along the banks were do their washing in the waters of the Yangtze. Just outside a man walked by with a pole across his shoulders supporting about five gallons of water in plastic jugs from either end, the pole bowing under the combined 80 pounds of murky water in the jugs. Arnold had said on the bus previously that even locals must boil the water taken from the river, when discussing the safety of water taken from the local water systems in major cities, such as Shanghai or Chongqing; while, that water is safe for local people to drink directly it can still cause westerners problems. So bottled water only from reputable sources (which don’t include the various street vendors you might find peddling bottled water). Sharon remarked, “We have to walk up that?” pointing to the ramp extending from the river at about the 160 meter mark up to the high water 175 meter mark.

Arnold assembled our group ashore and turned narration over to our local guide for the day, whose real name is not Linda, but that’s what she wanted us to call her. She is 23 years old, learned English in college, and I might add that her conversational English is excellent, and this is her first job. We got to where Arnold was mustering the group, when Sharon realized that we had left the headsets in the backpack back in the cabin that I decided I didn’t want to carry. We had plenty of time, so I went back to get both headsets. It was really hard to get back onboard with all the people streaming off the ship, not just from our ship but those streaming through our ship from the two other cruise ships docked next to us and using us as part of their pontoon bridge to shore. I finally got back to the cabin, and probably should have ditched the jacket and umbrella because it was warming up and humid and not likely to rain; but, I chose to keep them. I got back as Linda was starting up the ramp with the group. Many locals were urging us fat out of shape barbarians to hire a chair to take you to the Temple for 40 Yuan. Sharon and I figured this was our training for the Great Wall that is now less than one week away. One in our group decided to hire a chair, and when you think about it $6.40 is not a bad price, and it would be a unique experience. The first row of building that the government had built above the high water wall was envisioned being a prime tourist commerce zone. The money sought for occupation of these buildings is too high, the guide said, and locals occupy other buildings, and this prime ocean view location today stands idle and unoccupied. There was still a considerable uphill stroll to the mini traffic circle where we turned left towards the temple. Here was the heavy tourist commerce zone, and vendors were out in droves, selling similar wares as the many street vendors that lined the ramp on both sides up to the 175 meter marker. Vendors offered things in great variety, from kites to T-shirts, from water polished stones to Chinese camouflage army caps with red stars, and from silk fabrics and dresses to painted fans. And some vendors were offering those bottles of water that it is best to stay away from, while another offered an Angry Birds kite that probably wasn’t licensed.

There is a suspension walking bridge that extends to the island that features the temple some one hundred and fifty feet up atop a sheer monolith rock formation. The wide walkway on the bridge is composed of strips wooden planks, and there is a definite rhythm to walking. Arnold says it makes people look drunk the way they bob and weave and bounce up and down. We’d been cautioned about using the handrail because outside the handrail the suspension cables hang vertically to support the walkway, and it’s possible for fingers to get pinched between the handrail and the suspension cable. Bob had noted in his talk yesterday that earlier this year a woman tourist lost her finger when this happened. What was funny, is that after crossing the bridge, your legs continued to anticipate the bobbing and weaving motion. In my case anyway, my inner ear took a while to readjust to solid ground. We got a nice picture back of the ship with the two other ships next to ours.

Sharon decided not to walk the 99 steps to the top of the pagoda that provides the normal entrance to the temple. By custom, visitors to the temple would come by the most difficult route, but then exit by the easier route at the rear. It’s got something about earning the right of passage or being worthy to enter the temple. Sharon decided to walk around the temple and meet me by the bridge. I chose to enter. The wooden pagoda is constructed against the face of a sheer cliff to provide access to the temple at the top. The pagoda has twelve levels, and accordingly twelve sets of eaves with their distinctly sloping roofs sporting ornamental carved eaves. Various gods in painting or statue or carved in the stone of the cliff appear at each level; and, there is a round viewing hole to serve as an open air window, improving the view at each level. It takes ten to thirteen steps of significant height up a steep open staircase that requires use of the handrail. People having any qualms about going up should avoid trying; because, once you start, you pretty much must finish… there is no going back. Besides the steady flow of people going up that would make this improbable, the steepness of the steps would make this extremely dangerous. It takes nine levels to get to the top. In the 1960’s, three additional levels were added to make the pagoda more beautiful, but there is only room for six people at the top. I decided the view from the temple level was fine.

Linda guided us through the various rooms of the temple, telling the stories of the various gods. This is where the walking tour ended, and we had about one hour to make our way back to the ship. I heard Sharon callout on the way down, and took a picture of her at the bridge entrance. I was soaking wet by the time we got back to the ship, and not because of the rain because it never did come despite the forecast, and the offer of 10 Yuan to be carried back down was tempting. We boarded the Viking Emerald. I opted for a shower and changed for lunch. We went up to the bar on Deck 5 first to check out the internet connection. Sharon wanted to post some pictures, and we each got a Coca-Cola. Mine was very good; but, when I gave Sharon hers, it was somewhat flat, so we traded. I don’t mind it being a bit flat; still, it was gone much too quickly, which is to be expected I guess; since, they fill the glass with ice then add a little Coke. Still thirsty I got a gin and tonic, which Sharon asked me if this was my new preferred drink. I don’t know about that, but it is refreshing. Program Director Bob began his Disembarkation Briefing, and he really is funny, especially in impromptu ad lib type situations. At his first briefing the captain had given a short horn blast, and Bob had said, “Uh oh, the captain is upset with somebody.” When a longer horn blast sounded, Bob said, “Ohhh, the captain is very upset with somebody.” And when an even longer and more piercing horn blast preempted Bob’s talk, he said, “This is unacceptable, I am going to have to have a talk with the captain about this.” Unfortunately the fluency and flow of Bob’s English makes it a little difficult to listen to. Hopefully it improves.

Today was a red-letter day, Sharon was able to order an entrée from the lunch menu: a hamburger! I ate from the Chinese buffet, and especially enjoyed the spicy fish, the spicy pork, the pan fried dumplings, and really enjoyed the shot of what one of the tour guides called “Chinese fire water.” It is a Chinese whiskey that is made from sorghum. It is very sweet and smooth, and I must ask Arnold what name it really goes by… I’m thinking that it is probably going to be hard to find stateside. I passed on dessert, while Sharon chose the “mixed ice cream”. She got a scoop of coffee and a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream with raspberry sauce. The lady across from got spumoni and rum raisin ice cream with raspberry sauce. Sharon speculated that this is how Viking finishes off its used ice cream containers.

After lunch we got our laundry back. And I must say that they do an excellent job, turning around laundry submitted in the morning by that same evening. In our case, today it was done by 2pm! Now this service is not cheap, but it keeps down the amount of clothes you need to bring. We spent a relaxing afternoon cruising down the Yangtze, at times spending it on our balcony (every room has one on Viking), which is enough for two chairs and not much else. The air was refreshing and we were near the shore and the whole experience was quite pleasant. I got caught up on the blog; while, Sharon got the morning’s pictures downloaded and organized.

It was about 3:30pm that we went up to the bar on deck 5 and split a Coca-Cola. Sharon used the internet and before long it was time for Bob’s final lecture on “China Today”. Bob began by noting that to understand China today, you need to understand how the present came to be, from the days of feudalism ended in 1911 when the era of the Republic of China began, putting an end to feudalism and the Ching Dynasty. The republic had two presidents, the doctor who toppled the Ching Dynasty, and his hand-picked successor Chang Kai Check. Although the intent of the original revolution intended to create a republic, instead what China got was a dictatorship. During WWII the Republic and the Communists headed by Mao Tse Tung combined to oppose the Japanese who at their peak occupation of China controlled 70% of the land. After the war, these two bitterly opposed ideologies again went to war. Despite having 12,000,000 soldiers and being supported by the Americans with money and weapons, Mao’s half-million supporters, mostly farmers with inadequate weapons prevailed. Bob attributed this colossal David and Goliath failure to corruption whereby Chang Kai Check pocketed 90% of the resources funneled to his cause. Unfortunately Tao came in and became nothing more than the next dictator of China. Bob confided that he can say this on the cruise ship; but, not out in much of China because much of China’s farming population still consider Mao as a god. Bob emphasized that Mao was an evil spirit that invaded his country. He said that China’s support of North Korea during the Korean War was a huge mistake, costing China the deaths of one million lives. And Mao would always manage to blame things on someone else. China experienced three years of abundant harvests; and, Mao used this opportunity to further his communist agenda. Community reserves provided for all. Bob remembers as a boy enjoying ample food which his mother would encourage him to eat because two-thirds of all children are starving in America. But Mao was never satisfied unless he was at war with someone. Thus began his Great Leap Forward Revolution. Unfortunately, this period of time coincided with three consecutive years of famine in 1962 to 1964. The communes could no longer feed the nation and there wasn’t enough food to go around. Again, Mao had to blame someone else, so he attacked the intellectuals, the teachers, and of course any opposition officials. This began the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1967) where Mao formed the Red Guard composed of young students. At this time Gang of Four came to power, headed by Mao’s third wife, who was on a power trip and former movie star. The aging Mao died in 1976, but the Gang of Four continues to retain power until 1981. Bob confided that his own father, a teacher, had been sent to the concentration camp for seven years because of the Cultural Revolution and the fact he descended from the family of Confusious.

Bob said that China moved from a Closed Door Policy under Mao, towards today’s Open Door Policy. China is following what Bob calls “The Cat Theory”. This philosophy embraces the idea that “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, if it catches mice, then it is a good cat.” This is just one way of saying that it is okay to borrow ideas or policies of the west, if they help achieve China’s goals. China started setting up special economic development zones. These spurred economic and industrial growth, accelerated by tax incentives the remove all tax burdens for five years, and reduces taxes to 12% for the next three years before the full tax burden of 37% is levied.

Bob feels that for now China needs a strong government because given its multi-thousand year history, if the Chinese people had full freedoms then they wouldn’t know what to do because it’s been engrained into the Chinese psyche to be told what to do.

Bob said that in China, many young people are moving to the cities, looking for jobs, and saving for the opportunity to buy a residence, made possible because of the ability to borrow money from a bank. All of this is foreign thinking to the previous generation. Bob said that when he told his mother he was paying 700,000 Yuan for a condominium his mother told him that he’d made a big mistake. She felt he should continue to live in the family’s meager two-room home, with his wife and girl, mother and father and grandmother. Now, eight years later property prices have risen over two-fold. Bob confessed he has fears that this is real estate bubble that could bust. He also asked his mother how she feels now about his decision, and she replied “I told you it was a big mistake. You should have bought 3 condos!”

Bob concluded that women in China today have become much more materialistic, and he defined the 5 C’s of what a Chinese woman is seeking in a man. First, she looks for a condominium (a nice place to live). Second, she looks for a car (you must get around). Third and fourth is cash and credit cards (you must be able to spend both money you have and money you don’t have). Finally, the guy must be cute.

This is our last night on the Viking Emerald, so tonight’s dinner is the Captain’s Dinner. Sharon ordered me the pumpkin quiche and the filet entrée for herself. I ordered the carrot ginger soup and pan sautéed cod. We both had the black and white chocolate mousse cake. The food was excellent; although, we both agreed that the mousse part of the cake was not quite so mousse-like.

---