Yangtze Cruise

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The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia, starting in Tibet and reaching the sea at Shanghai. We boarded our ferry at Chongqing which is an absolute furnace at this time of year....it was 42'C in the shade when we alighted the train at 2 in the afternoon. The ferry was very basic, the carpets well worn and stained. We had to pay an extra 5 euros for the privilege of going on the top deck...most of the chinese stayed in their cabins....smoking, watching tv, playing cards and eating. In fact one couple we met slept up on deck because the chinese never left their room and the tv was constantly on (there were 6 in this room - 3rd class - and it was unbearable!...worth shelling out the extra for 2nd class methinks)

We had had a battle at the start as 4 of us were to share a cabin together but then we were put in separate rooms sharing with chinese. The clientele on this particular trip was obviously working class. In our room when we arrived, there were 4 chinese already stretched out having made themselves right at home. These particular ones looked like they had been plucked right out of the paddy fields. We had already spent the entire night on a train from Xi'an with similar types who had been asleep in our beds when we got on and also amassed an unbelievable amt of rubbish. The toilet was also disusting. So we didnt fancy this again esp when you have a tiny room with toilet-come-shower. It took about an hr to move them out....this meant a major conference of about 30 people!!! Then we insisted the sheets be changed which was another fiasco. The girls brought back the same sheets which I detected because I had marked one with an eye pencil (1st use I have got out of it in 3 months!) So had to hold those ransom while we sent them for more sheets.

So we were finally installed for our voyage. Many of the locals were on a work junket as they were all wearing their work shirts. They didnt show much interest in the scenery tho maybe they weren't missing much. The landscape is nothing spectacular. The yangtze is a wide, brown river. Most of the cities along the banks are huge. We passed under numerous bridges which were magnificent. The most interesting part is the Three Gorges Dam Project, which started in 1997 and is due for completion in 2009. The water level is to rise by about 40m. Many towns have been demolished and relocated up the hill. Over 2M people have been moved and many historical sites destroyed. From an ecological pt of view it is indefensible-effluent from CQ goes directly in as will all these other towns.

The main reason given by the communist party for its buillding is to prevent further flooding which occurs every year but building smaller dams on the tributaries would have been cheaper and probably more effective.

There are 14 turbines which are already working and there are another 14 on the way. When finished it will supply 10% of chinese power.

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