The Marginally Forceful Yangtze

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Next in the works was a Yangtze River cruise and we had the minor misfortune to find ourselves on a boat that I can only describe as, well, how do I describe the boat? Hmf. It’s as if you took what would have been considered a modern building circa 1968 Czechoslovakia (only not as fancy), turned it on it’s side and sailed it down river. Our room was so small I could actually place my feet on one wall and touch the opposite. Small sleeping quarters on any boat is to be expected, but this was tiny and I’ll let you judge the décor.

It also rained the entire time which added some cool mist effects on the mountains around us, but made excursioning soggy. A) yes, I used my Mickey Mouse rain cape (so at least I looked cool), and b) I know “excursioning” isn‘t really a word. I wanted to put “excurting” ‘cause it sounds cooler (and I can make words up if I want to, it’s my blog after all), but my years of fancy book learnin’ wouldn’t let me. It has given me a chance to catch up on writing the blogs and sort out my photographs, so that is all good.

Since it was not my cup of tea at all (to the point that if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t), I thought you’d rather hear from someone who enjoyed the whole thing. As such, I’ve invited a guest blogger - Big Daddy himself (scorpion eater extraordinaire) to give you his take.

“Big Daddy says……
First, we must comment on the food. It is buffet style and acceptable fare but not in keeping with that of the hotels/restaurants that we have had. The big difference is that there are 20 westerners and 240 Chinese at the buffet. The Chinese people have learned to eat quickly which means, “get to the trough first” and have only been introduced to the concept of queuing with the preparation for the Olympics. Although there is lots of food, we often find dishes depleted and forgo rather than be stampeded.

On the cruise, we go through the three gorges and visit the “Ghost City” of Fengdu and take a side trip up the Shennong tributary . On the last day we will visit the dam.

First, the Ghost City is one of the few sites not ravaged during the Cultural Revolution. This town has a people with a tradition of burying their dead in coffins placed in the walls of cliffs and of worshiping the Buddha responsible for gate keeping to the hereafter. The temple is full of statues of ghosts and Gods who sit in judgement, making it very, very risky for anyone to upset them … thus the lack of damage by the Red Brigade. We don’t believe but why take a chance? Must have been their motto. Good enough theory for me! One of the neatest displays was the series of statues depicting the tortures one could be subject to in hell. The bible has nothing on these guys. Hung upside down and sawn in half, crotch to head seemed like one to avoid. When final judgement was given out, it could be to a) go to paradise, b) return as a human, c) return as a lesser species such as domestic animal, wild animal or insect or d) be damned. With these choices, I kind of lean towards reincarnation to any lesser rank on the wheel of life if I can’t have door one or two..

The Shennong tributary enters the Yangtze at Wushan and has been used for transporting goods for centuries. The problem was that the P-boats (because they are shaped like a pea pod) used to have to navigate very fast water that was, in places, only one metre deep. To do this, the boatmen would have to haul the boats by poling, walking in the water and pushing/hauling or by walking along the shore pulling the boats by rope. Remember, these were fully loaded with supplies and (here’s a good one), as the wet clothes would cause chaffing or abrasions, the boaters were naked. Really hard, dangerous work. Now that the dam has been built, the river is navigable for 150 kilometres and P-boats are used for local hauling and tourism. Each boat has four rowers and a captain at the tiller…all fully clothed! Along the tributary, we were able to see two hanging coffins. Very few remain as the rising water destroyed most and others were moved. These coffins were over a thousand years old and still hanging on.

Since the early 1990’s almost 2,000,000 people have had to be displaced due to the rising water. Many, (especially the young) chose to accept relocation to the city where life and opportunities abound, other adults not wanting to move far, chose life in nearby “new” towns or buildings constructed for displaced people and the old went kicking and fighting as they knew no other home than the family homestead that was their’s for many generations. Another great loss is the many historic sights, found or not yet discovered that are now under water.

The scenery along the Yangtze is breathtaking. Terraced hills, cloud covered mountains, pastoral scenes.
The factories cause the air to also be breathtaking. Mines, cement factories all billowing out smoke that covers mountain tops and at times obliterates all scenery. The government is in the process of cleaning this up but it may take generations to reverse.

In summation, the area is beautiful; a can’t miss for any visit to China”.

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Photos

Scary, scary
Fengdu "Ghost City"

Wushan
(I think - can barely see through the rain)

Shennong tributary
The water was so still and black that the reflection was perfect

The third guest in our cabin
It had to smack it four times with a hardcover to kill this beastie.

Comments

[The Cuz]

Big Daddy
And what is the first, I mean the very first, comment out of our intrepid adventurer's mouth? Not the family is doing well. Not 'Hi my name is Maurice.' Not even 'What a loverly country.' Oh no!! Big Daddy's first comment was "we MUST comment on the food." Now I KNOW all is right with the world. :-)

[Assy]

Big Daddy
Really should we have expected anything else? Love you Uncle "Big Daddy"!

[Big Daddy]

Happy Buddha says...
Big Daddy is also known as Happy Buddha with arub on the stomach by the locals. It's lucky to rub Happy Buddha's tummy so of course, maintaning that charm about myself is a priority and food is the path to happiness. My alternative was to begin by describing toilet facilities in China. You were lucky to have food as the appetizer!