Pingyao, Xian, Yangtze river

Muslim Quarter Food Stall

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This WAS our favourite restaurant for soup. They hand make their noodles and cook it in a huge vat. Erin got super sick the last time we went there, however, we did go back 3 times. AND it only cost us 11 RMB for 2 soups and 2 small sodas...approx. $2 CAD.

Our Mark in Xian, China

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This was the 2nd attempt to make our mark as Trevor forgot how to spell =). Thank goodness "Tony from Texas" was the scapegoat for the first attempt.

Chongqing

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Small city in China??? Only 10 million people. This was the starting point for our cruise down the Yangtze River.

Yangtze river

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The gorges do not seem to be big, the water level has risen high as a result of building the 3 gorges dam. At this point, the water has risen to 155m.

Height of the Yangtze River

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When we sailed down the river, it was at 155m depth. It was crazy to see the past and present...the gorges are not near as impressive as they would have been before the 3 gorges dam project.

Short boat trip through a smaller gorge

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This was one of our favourite parts of the cruise. These men rowed us on a old hand-made boat and then when the water was too shallow they hopped our and pulled us along the shore. This is something they did in the old-days as well...however, they would do it in the nude so their clothes (which cost money) did not get destroyed. It was amazing how they were all in such good shape and some of the men were well into their 50s/60s.

Puppet Show

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The guy doing the show was 72 years old with a couple helpers. He worked so hard, he was covered in sweat by the end of the show. It was pretty cool to see.

The 3 Gorge Dam Lift Lock

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We went through as series of 5 lift locks which took approx. 3 hours and a total of 50 meters down. It was absolutely fascinating to see the size of the lock and the doors alone were massive.

The 3 Gorges Dam

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Unfortunately the smog was bad the day we saw the dam. Shitty because you really dont get a true appretiation for the size. The dam has a length of 2309.47m, elevation of 185m, and generates a capacity of 18,200 megawatts of electricity. It is one of the worlds largest multi-purpose dam project. It is a lift lock, power generator, and used for flood control.

3 Gorges Dam Lift Lock

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This is a view of just 2 of the 5 lift locks. The locks has a max depth of 170m and allows 10,000 tons to sail through each chamber. Massive!