Blogs from Chongqing, China, Asia - page 8

Today we started our day of with our usual hotel breakfast, same food, still interesting. At 10am we gathered in the lobby to walk to a traditional Chinese calligraphy class at the university. It was amazing. We were each paired up with a student from the class and learned to write traditional Chinese characters (most of us stuck to our name). The view from our calligraphy class was amazing as it looked out to the city and the surrounding mountains. With everyone feeling refreshed, the whole “were in China” epiphany really started to set in. After calligraphy class we scoured the campus looking for food. We ended up at a campus cafeteria we have started to buy meals in pairs because we have realized how huge the quantities are (its not like were cheap meals cost ... read more

Emei Shan 20-22 April After the Pandas at Chengdu, and the huge Buddha at Leshan, we jumped back on the bus and made our way to the town of Emei, to stay in a Buddhist temple. The Temple of 7 Buddhas as it is known, sits at the foot of Emei Shan (Mount Emei to me and thee) and includes accommodation for about 40 people. We were warned beforehand that the accommodation would be basic at best, and not up to the standard of the hotels we had been in until then, but it turned out to be just fine. The only minor intake of breath happened when we were shown the shower (photo attached) but the water was hot and plentiful so who cares what it looks like! To say it was a unique setting ... read more

Final Day of our river cruise today and a relaxing morning. Another additional excursion which was mainly aimed at the Chinese tourists. It was to a temple that is below the water level of the dam so to preserve it they have built a concrete wall all around the temple and you actually go below the water level to tour the site. We didn't go but preferred to rest again - got a good position on the deck and got some photos despite the heavy fog. Then it was on to Fengdu to the Ghost City - a shore excursion for all tourists. Interesting place - we were told that this is the place that all ghosts (spirits) of everyone who dies (whether they are Chinese or not) go to, to be judged whether they go ... read more

We arrived in Chong Qing early so we could visit some sites before the cruise. Hence the BIGGGG Chopsticks.lol While in Chong Qing after lunch we toured around the city. Did you know that the population of this city is 37,000,000. Yes the population of Canada and a bit more. Down by the waterfront we went to an old hotel where they had converted it into multiple restaurants. The old charm was there and the photos tell the story. One thing that sticks out is that there are few restrictions. As long as no one is hurt. Examples: Dogs sitting at tables and eating like humans. I saw a dead pig on the road. It wasn;t hurting anybody, so it was left. Oh ya, dead pig no. 2 was floating in the Yangtze river. Drivers do ... read more

Our cruise was wonderful. A beautiful ship.... read more