We docked last night shortly after coming through the last lock and remained at dock through the night. We were very exhausted since it had been a busy day so we went to bed early last night. We woke up about 6 when the ship sounded its horn for some of the passengers doing the early tour - woke us both up. Since most of the passengers are going on the early tour and it will be crowded, our tour company arranged for us to go later to avoid the crowds. After those passengers got off the boat started cruising down river again. We didn't know why! Once again there was an incredible haze outside which we still think is pollution but the Chinese insist that it is from moisture in the air due to the river. This raises the question about propaganda and trust vs what the Chinese government want the people to believe. For example, I told David that several people died when the Hoover Dam was guild so how many died during the many years of the Three Gorges Project. The answer - not many, but no specific numbers. Do the people even know? Also we were told that there aren't that many coal fired energy plants - the main source of energy currently in China!!! We were told that they purpose of the dam was for flood control only - not energy - yet they have build the largest power dam in the world to supply power to almost all of China. Lastly, we are told that there is no capitalism in China (!). But we found out that our tour guide is a registerd member of the Communist party. They have a philosophy that they will focus on developing the eastern part of China and make many people rich - those people will then help others to become rich - and so on and so forth. Oh my!
So we have traveled about 300 miles on the Yangtze River - 3 nights and 2 full days of exploring the river. This was just the right amount of time for us on this river.
We left our cabin early since the housekeeper knocked on our door at 7 asking for the key but we didn't know why since she didn't speak English. We started walking around and saw absolutely NO ONE - and here was the ship cruising down stream AWAY from the dam - we were very confused and concerned that we hadn't understood the time and had been left. No one was in the dining room or on the upper deck or in the hallways - and this ship isn't that big. We finally found Jack and Dick in the library reading - WHEW!
We had the breakfast buffet at 8 am. Jacky our waiter was very attentive - He was a good waiter and we enjoyed him very much. I've just been eating too much during this adventure so had oatmeal and fruit this morning.
We left the boat at 9:30 in Yichang and met our local guide - also David. The bus took us through Yichang along a new Chinese super highway to the dam site. They call this the "Body Massage Road" since it is so bumpy - it was built that way but not intentionally.
The dam site is HUGE - massive - very impressive. We waw the upstream and downstream locks from the highway above. We then went to an Exhibition Hall tha was reserved only for visiting dignitaries. It had a scale model of the Three Gorges Project and David (local) did a commentary on the project for us. After this we went to take pictures in front of the dam face from a viewing area and then to a higher elevation where we could see the dam and the locks. The ship "elevator" facility is still being built and won't be ready until 2012. It will cost ships extra to use this as the locks are free but David explained that "time is money".
We then went to lunch for another Chinese bugget. Good. We were early for our flight so the bus took us to Yichang City. Tim and I went on our own exploring down a small alley way and discovered a "rock market" where they have stones for sale. They have retrieved stones that have special veining in them that actually make pictures on the stones. They have polished them and many are beautiful works of art - some abstract but some very explicit like the one that looked like a forest with trees. Some were huge and very heavy. Even the smaller ones were heavy. The river trackers had shown us small pebbles with this veining yesterday so now we were seeing these works of art made from natural stone. Tim and I zoomed through a department store to use the facilities and then got on a bus for the ride to the Yichang Airport.
David told us that our plane had landed but once we got through security we discovered that our plane was delayed. The Yichang airport had one gate. The plane finally arrived and they turned it around in less than 30 minutes. Plane full - with lots of German tourists. A one hour flight to the domestic Shanghai Airport west of the city. We identifiedour luggage and then loaded on a bus to go to the Four Seasons Hotel in Pu Sue (west of the Yuangpu River). David was so excited to be hme and his narrative on the bus was animated. About 22M people live in Shanghai but only 20k of them are native to Shanghai. Pu Dong (east of the city) is all new and all built in the last 15 years. As we walked in the elaborate huge Four Seasons Hotel, Tim exclaimed "We're back to civilization!".
Tim called Shirley Hiew and she had James, her driver, pick us up at 8 pm for the short drive to the restaurant on the Bund. We at at Highlights on the 7th floor of #2 The Bund. We had drinks at the bar and then ate on the rooftop patio overlooking the Pearl Tower, the Yuangpu River (Pu) and the Bund. Dinner was fabulous (Tim's treat) and we were there when the lights on the entire Bund were turned off at 11 pm. It was amazing to watch it all go off. After that, James picked us up and drove the 3 of us to a private club (G) to meet Eric (also a DuPonter) and Lewis from Ft Lauderdale for a drink. A drink turned into three drinks and we weere well lubricated. Shirley had James drive us back to the hotel and we poured ourselves into bed after 1:30 am. A fun, fun evening. I really like Shirley - she works for DuPont and is originally from Singapore but works in Shanghai. She was such a gracious hostess and picked a FABULOUS place for us to eat on our first night in Shanghai.
Larry
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