Up at the blessedly civilized hour of 7 am. Breakfast buffet at the hotel, which is decent. There's a muted TV in one corner of the room, and I'm amused to see coverage of the Rob Ford affair. Canada makes the news in China! Unfortunately, the cold bug has claimed victory over my immune system, and I am not in good shape at all today. It's a warm (29°), humid and overcast day. Charles meets us in the lobby at 9 to start our city tour. The bus first takes us up Victoria Peak, the highest point in the city. This is the area where multi-millionaires and billionaires live. Magnificent homes are perched in the most improbable locations on the steep mountainside. The bus climbs and climbs, and eventually we reach the viewing area, if not ... read more

Today we have a free day in Shanghai. We give ourselves the luxury of sleeping in a bit, to 8 pm. Violet and I have mapped out our day with our two main traveling companions and have had breakfast and are on the road by 9:30. Both of us are still battling some cold symptoms, but we're not alone, because many of us are in the same boat. We were originally going to take the subway but opt for a cab because there are four of us. Cab fares in Shanghai (and presumably in China as a whole) are very reasonable: 14¥ for the first 3 km and then 1¥ per km. And plus you are treated to in-cab entertainment as the cab careens through the streets, between lanes, over curbs, on shoulders, forcing its way ... read more

So we are now starting the last leg of our journey. It's incredible how the time has flown. We wake in Nanjing, but we will not spend too much time in this city of 4 million with its wealth of history. Breakfast at the hotel, which makes a few concessions to Westen tastes but is mostly Asian. My new experience for the day is Mung bean porridge, which turns out to be fine with milk. On the bus with Jack as tour guide. It is overcast but mild. As we drive through the city, we garner impressions of Nanjing. In some indefinably way, it feels old. It has lots of older, faded buildings, many falling into decrepitude. There are frequent vacant lots where buildings have clearly had to be knocked down. At the same time, lots ... read more

Vi wakes up with a bad cold. And it turns out that 4 other people have bad gastro-intestinal distress. After breakfast, we attend a presentation called "Country Side to River Wide" given by Luther, the same guy who gave yesterday's presentation on the Yangzi. Luther was born and raised on a small rural subsistence farm, but studied hard, went to college in Chungqing to study hospitality, and now is an assistant cruise director. He tells us the story of his life, explains the customs of his people, and highlights the contrasts between traditional life in the village and modern life in the big city, complete with pictures and videos. Very interesting and enlightening. Vi retires to our room to sleep and I spend the rest of the morning trying desperately to catch up with the blog. ... read more

Up at 6 am. A long day ahead. Another less than spectacular buffet breakfast, them hotel checkout. On the road by 7:30 We are driving east from Chengdu to Chongqing to begin our cruise on the Yangtze, stopping along the way at the Dazu rock carvings. Our journey starts on major highways and then shifts to smaller two-lane and surprisingly narrow highways with no shoulder. Our driver, whom we nickname Horatio Hornblower for his almost constant use of his horn, is somewhat of a lunatic. We should already know that it is better not to watch the roads as we're driving, but we gasp as Horatio whizzes by bikes and old ladies with inches to spare. Just hang on and look at the floor. We have two rest stops along the way, each with a small ... read more