A River Runs Through It

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There are several “must sees” on our China travel list, so we decided to use our May holiday break to visit one of them: the mighty Yangtze River. Spanning the distance from Tibet to Shanghai, the Yangtze is wide, rugged, polluted, and flanked by spectacular scenery and a cross section of many Chinese lifestyles. Our cruise vessel: the Victoria Katarina. A comfie little river cruiser complete with such unexpected amenities as private stateroom balconies for primo viewing, great food (a real perk for Sheri), HBO (Uggg - a real perk for the kids), a wonderful top viewing deck, lots of elderly foreigners, and even neighbor friends from Shanghai! Trip duration: 4 days from Chongqing to the 3 gorges hydroelectric dam. Most interesting point: 1.3 million people are being displaced from the riverside villages due to the raised water level once the dam begins full operation in 2008.

We began our adventure in Chongqing, China’s largest city with a population of 32 million. Nice little town… While there we toured a silk museum where we learned how very difficult it is to pull apart a single silk cocoon into a large square the size of a bed. Nonetheless, intrigued and impressed, we decided to purchase our very own silk quilt for our China bed and now feel like royalty and sleep like baby bear - not too hot, not too cold, JUST RIGHT! Boarding our cruise at 9pm, the lights of Chongqing and the warm air invigorated Ty and Jessie and set the stage for the next few days of lovely weather amidst interesting scenery. The highlight of the cruise was the trip through the gorges. Tall, steep riverbanks with each view more breathtaking than the last at every crooked turn of the river. Especially fun were the side trips, including a small motorboat exploration of a narrow tributary. There were staged musicians on the hillside, bellowing singers in boats and 3000 year old caskets mysteriously dug way up high into the face of the steep cliffs. But perhaps the most fun staged scene was the monkeys romping down the hillside for food, flailing off the limber trunks of the bamboo as they scramble along.

At the conclusion of our journey, we toured the 3 gorges hydroelectric dam. Soon to be the largest dam in the world for electrical output, this dam extends more than 1 mile across the river. Not quite as deep as Hoover dam, nonetheless, if the cement used to construct this dam could be chunked into 1-meter square sections, it would wrap the world 2x over! From the income raised by taxing those who receive the benefit of it’s generated power, the $23 billion investment should be paid back within 2-3 years. Just as important as the electrical output, the flood control provided by the dam is already being appreciated by residents along the river. While it is disturbing to see the many areas soon to be flooded once the dam is fully operational next year, we are told that many feel that the benefits far outweigh the relocation disturbances. Much of the riverside is now cleared and barren up to the 175m mark in anticipation of the rising water. New towns, new roads, and multitudes of new bridges. Very interesting for Matt, whose favorite childhood book was entitled “Who Built The Bridge”!

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Photos

China street snacks
Crabs and silk worms - fried to perfection. Nothing is wasted in China. They crunch these down leaving not a morsel for the mice!

Hot Pot
Sizzling Sichuan food! This favorite meal in Sichuan provence is known as "huo guo" - hot pot. The center of the pot is VERY SPICY! The outside, just a delicious hot broth. You simply dump anything you want to cook into whichever bubbling pot, wait about 2 minutes, and then fish out your cooked goodies. There's an accompanying buffet where you can choose anythingfor your pot, from fish skin (women like it for beautiful skin), duck tongue, sausages, chicken breast, beef, vegies - all sorts, fish/shell fish - all sorts. A meal could take all night!

Fish skin anyone?
Hot pot buffet choices

Sun tanning China style
First night on the boat sun deck soaking up the rays-uhhhh-the city light rays that is.

Here today, gone tomorrow
The "175m" sign marks the new water level once the dam is fully operational.

Riverside farm
The way of life along the river varies from big cities to small villages to individual farms that appear to be untouched by modern influences.

City life
In contrast to the small farm houses, many of the river residents, though they are also farmers, live in big city high rises. What's the preference? Well, like the USA, the city offers many modern conveniences and social life while there is peace and tranquility, but meager lving conditions, in the small farm abode.

Roof repair
On the top of a lush hill, sat this lovely temple. Caught this man repairing the roof piece by piece.

Ty the water guy
A scenic sidetrip down a narrow tributary offered this photo opportunity to dress up and play boat guide.

Safe and sound
It's a mystery. How did the ancient Chinese river dwellers hoist caskets up to caves in to face of the sheer cliffs using the technology available 3000 years ago?

Last of the gorges scenery
The setting sun illuminates our final view as we exit the last of the 3 gorges, Xiling gorge.

A dam memory
The cruise transported us through the most beautiful natural scenery to the most impressive man made structure. Under construction for 8 years with as many as 30,000 workers at one time, this is a dam big project!