China Day 8

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29th September 2006

The day began with a brief lesson in Tai Chi on the forward deck from one of our dinner guests. One of the couples had the “Presidential Suites” at the front of the boat, which was a slightly larger room, and a private deck. They had kindly invited our table to view the Gorges from the privacy of their deck and had ordered coffee and biscuits for us to enjoy. The weather was not at its best and was blustery and showery. However, we were able to take cover inside at regular intervals.


The views of the Gorges were as spectacular as we had expected and we were interested to see the effect of the river flooding, as we were told by the crew that the river level had risen over 2metres overnight. The markers on the side of the river bank indicated the intended level of river rising and we were glad that we had had the opportunity to see the Gorges sooner rather than later.




We went through the first Gorge (Qutang) in the early morning, and we then went on an excursion up the river. We went up to the White Emperor City which was up a lot of steps. There were a number of locals selling things and they were quite prepared to follow us up and down the mountain to sell their products. Their persistence meant that Dad bought 3 backscratchers and a number of other useless items he really didn’t want. Despite the weather being against us, we saw the view from the top of the mountain that is on the 10 yuan note. On our way back to the boat, Dad couldn’t resist on buying one last thing before we left. He bought a walking stick with a metal dragon handle which he liked.





Later that afternoon, we travelled through the Wu Gorge to Badong, where we changed boat to go up the Shennong Stream. The boat trip took us further inland where it is still too shallow for the larger boats. Along the route we saw hanging coffins, suspended hundreds of feet up the steep Gorge sides. No one knows exactly how they got them up there, whether it was from the top swinging them into position, or by building a platform up to the position and then destroying it when the coffin was in place. We disembarked and got into peapod boats, which were for a short distance pulled along the river by longmen, however the changes to the levels on the river means that this is no longer the spectacle it once was. Previously the river upstream here was much shallower and to get up stream the longmen pulling the boat was the only method of travel.







The river at this point was surprisingly warm when we trailed our fingers in it with a temperature like bathwater. We were able to see the rope strung across the river mouth that in good weather acrobats perform on. However, the weather was too bad for us to see the demonstration. We did however see another cruise boat that was designed as a dragon which was highly impressive.






Back on board, the evening meal was the “Captains Farewell Dinner” (Chinese again) where once again the captain made a speech which we encouraged wholeheartedly. The evening concluded with the onboard “Talent Show”. I can confirm however that there wasn’t a lot on show, and it descended into a karaoke evening which was very popular with the Chinese and Mongolian guests.

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