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 Yangtze River Cruise* | Xi'an and Beijing
Yangtze River Cruise*

*The Yangtze River is the third longest river in the world. The water is muddy.....it is narrow in some spots...sometimes there is one way traffic on the river and the boats have to wait until the other boats come through. The new dam is suppose to solve this problem. The tributaries are a pretty green color.

The tour from September 14 - Septenber 19, 2001

CAPTIAN: Demg Li Yang
Cruise Dir.: Brain Himwelstein* Operation Mrg: Merry Wang
River Guide: Simon Xia
Front Desk Super: Daniel Li Dinning Room Super: Lu Lu Zhou
Ships Doctor: Dr. Fan Yangtze Club Mrg.: Kent Mei
Housekeeping Super: Jessica Chen... 2nd. Deck: Jeri Lug... 3rd Deck: Sonya Hajang
*Brian is from New Jersey and has been doing this job for 6 months

TIPS

Each person paid $3.00 a day for our bus drivers, $3.00 a day for our tour guide, $3.00 a day for our local guides and $3.00 a day for our luggage. Each person paid $30.00 for the ship's crew ( waitresses, waiters, maids, bar tenders). Each person paid $30.00 for the river guide. Each person paid about $50.00 in airport taxes...airport building tax ( 4 flights in China).

September 14, 2001: DAY 1:FRIDAY...WUHAN - YUEYANG

Tonight's Journey: 235 km

6:00pm Embarkation begins
7:45pm Set sail for Yueyang
8:30pm Brief talk by cruise director

September 15, 2001: DAY 2: SATURDAY YUEYANG - YICHANG

Today's Journey: 387 km/197 miles

6:45am Breakfast
7:30am Arrive at Yaeyang and take an excursion to the Yueyang Tower which was built in 1100 AD
10:00 Return to the ship
12:00 Lunch
1:30 Simon gives a talk on the Yangtze River in the Library
3:00 Brian gives a talk on the Yangtze River dolphin
4:00 Chinese 101**..given by Simon on the 4th deck( Yangtze Club)
6:00 Captain's Recption ( appetisers and drinks) deck 4, smart casual attire
6:30pm Dinner
After Dinner....Fashion Show,( costumes from Han Dynasty-present) music, dancing

The ship stopped at Yueyang and we went through the Yueyang Tower on Dongting Lake. This lake is the 2nd largest in China. The tower is a watchtower and is 1,700 years old, contructed without any nails. There is a poem on a wooden board...this board was taken down and was found in the water by a fisherman that was going to take it home and use it for firewood. Someone reconized it and it was hung back in the tower.

** There were only a couple of Chinese words that we learned. Ni hao is "hello" and xie xie is "thank you. Another phase we were trying to learn was bu yao which is "I don't want it"

Septeber 16, 2001: DAY 3: SUNDAY: YICHANG - WUSHAN

Xiling and Wu Gorge

6:30am Coffee and tea in the Yangtze Club
7:00 Tai Qi with Dr. Fan ( Yangtze Club)
7:20 Go through the locks at Geshouba Dam
8:00 Breakfast
9:40 Disembark for a tour of the new dam project(8)
11:40 Return to the ship, sail through Xiling Gorge
12:00 Lunch
2:30 Pass Fragrant Stream Village
4:00 Learn about the game of Mahjong (multifunction room)
4:45 Coffee and tea in the Yangtze Club
5:00 Boat enters Wu Gorge
6:50 Boat passes Goddness Peak ***
7:00 Dinner
8:00 Arrive at Wushan and dock for the night.

The ship stopped at San Dou Ping, the site of the new dam, new ship locks and a ship lift. We walked up Jar Hill to get a better look at the project. The building that is going on their is mind-bogling. Back on the ship we saw house on the mountain side that are already vacant. The government has built new cities and new apartment building farther up the mountains. You see single family houses with a trail running from the house down to the river. They have great looking crops growing in terrence beds. Their boats are tied up at the shore. We saw people come down to the river to get water... a pole over their shoulders with a pail on each end. We saw them fishing with big fishing nets. Some people have electric (for about 5 years) and others don't. Some of the houses have statellite dishes. There are caves that people are living in. They also use caves to store their crops. We went by a 2,000 year old village that is going to be flooded. We went under a bridge that was built in 1985 is going to be destroyed. Some of the farmers have been moved and given new land to farm on but the land is not as fertile. All these buildings will have to be destroyed so they don't interfer with the shipping.

THE CRUISE SHIP, VICTORIA:

The ship could hold 240 passengers plus the crew and had five decks. On the first deck there was the reception desk, the lobby and the dinning room. The second deck there were cabins. The third deck there were cabins, and a library. On the fourth deck they had a small exercise room, a bar, a big meeting room (Yangtze club) and a multifunction room. On this deck you could go to an outside deck and there was stairs to the top deck. As you entered the cabins that we were in, to your right was the bathroom, to the left was a closet. Next, to the right was a mirror and a desk, to the left a cabinet with a TV on it. Then a twin-side bed on each side. At the foot of the beds there was a chair with a small table between the chairs in front of the window. The ship and the cabins were air-conditioned. We had In-house films on the TV. We watched 2, one was The Three Gorges and the other was The Three Gorges Dam.

(8)THREE GORGES DAM

The dam will be the largest, hydroelectric dam in the world. It will take 20, 000 workers working 24 hours a day 16 years to complete it ( 1993-2009). The main reasons for building this dam is (1) flood control...in 1998 there was a flood that killed thousands of people, (2) electricity...not everyone has electric but they are still running out of electricity, (3) navigation....some parts of the river are so narrow that there is only one way traffic, boats have to wait until the other boats coming from the opposite way to come through, (4) irrigation. The cost of the dam is 28 million, financing almost entirely domestic...60% for the contruction of the dam and 40% for relocation. It will take 3 years to fill the reservoir the size of Lake Superior, Michigan. From the site of the dam Xiling Gorge to Chongqing. 570,000 acres of farmland willbe flooded , it will submerge totally or partially 13 cities, 140 towns, 1352 villages,and 657 factories. There will be 1.9 million people that will have to relocate. The body of the dam will be completed in 2003, when the first generator will beging to produce power. Whole construction will be competed in 2009.

THE GORGES

I can't put into words how beautiful the Three Gorges and The Lesser Gorges are. We saw and learned so much. We saw a mountain that is called Mao Mountain...it looks like Mao laying on his back. We saw colored paper made into a ring that are called "funeral rings. We saw caves in the mountains with coffins in them....these coffins have been there for thousand of years. It is thought by the people that put these coffins there that the higher up you can put these coffins the closer to heaven they will be. The people who live there, their houses, the terraced farming, the history....all amazing.

Going through the locks on the dam was an interesting experience. It took 3 minutes for the gate to close behind the ship, 5 minutes for the lock to fill with water. We passed through an area that is protected for two endangered species of dolphin(100)and porpoise(500)that are indiginous to the Yangtze River but we didn't see any.

***We didn't see Goddess Peak....the ship was late and by the time we got there it was dark.

September 17, 2001: DAY 4:MONDAY: WUSHAN - WANZHOU

Today's Journey: 167 km

Three Small Gorges and Qutang Gorge

6:00am Breakfast
7:00 Disembark and board motor sampans to sail up the Danning River through the Lesser Gorges.
12:00 Return to the ship, set sail
Lunch
2:00 Enter the Qutang Gorge, shortest but most dramatic..pass Daxi Village, 5000-6000 yr. old archeological relics.
3:00 Pearls, learn about Chinese freshwater pearls
4:15 Chinese Kites, expert on kites
5:15 Traditional Chinese Medicine by Dr. Fan
6:30 Dinner
After dinner
Show time...the Crew Cabaret plus any passenger that has talent.

In a motorized large sanpan we cruised up the Daning River. There were two men on the front of the boat with long poles. In places the river was so shallow that the boat would get stuck on the rocks and the men would have to use the poles to push the boat along. Smaller gorges but even more beautiful. There were young boys that would wade out to the sanpan to sell us things. We saw monkeys in the trees, caves and rocks on the side of the mountain. When we stopped there was a group of people with things they wanted us to buy. We all got out of the boat to stick our feet in the water and look for pretty stones. At the talent show, besides some of the crew members, four other people on the tour performed...one of them was our tour guide, Bi, who sang opera.

September 18, 2001: DAY 5: TUESDAY: WANAHOU - CHONGQING

6:30 Coffee and tea
7:15 Tai Qi with Dr. Fan ( 4th deck, Yangtze Club)
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Arrive a Wanzhou, disembark, excursion of the town, free market, acrobatic troupe.
11:00 Return to the ship, set sail
12:00 Lunch
2:00 Snuff Bottles by Mr. Zhao ( 4th deck, Yangtze Club)
3:00 Mr. Zhao, traditional Chinese brush painting
4:15 "Wall of Stone" An open and frank discussion on the Three Gorges Dam by Brian (4th deck, Yangtze Club)
7:00 Farewell Banquet
After banquet: Dancing, Disco, Karaoke ( Yangtze Club)

We went to the market which was very busy. Alot of different things to buy, but all we bought was a Jasmine necklace and some water chestnuts. The little white jasmine flowers were strung on string. Besides it being pretty, it smelled good. Several in the bus bought them too, so our bus really smelt good. We saw all sizes of boats, cruise ships, sanpans and another boat that we saw often was, hydofoils. These boats are the fastest boats on the river and are used to transport people up and down the river. Before dinner a couple in our group invited everyone in our group to their cabin. We all had brought wine, beer, and snacks on the boat and wanted to use it up before we left the ship tomorrow. Our tour guide, Bi, again "showed his leg"* and surprised us by playing the flute. When we were at one of the gardens Bi took a musical instrument ( i didn't reconize it) from someone and played it. He is a very good musician.
*performing a talent

WANZHOU (formerly WANXIAN)

Long known as " the Gateway to Sichuan", prosperous Wanzhou is said to have perfect Fengshul. Facing south and situated between a mountain and a river, Wanzhou is the traditional ship-building center for all junks plying the treacherous gorges. Wanzhou is best known for its free market, world famous Mandarin orange orchards, thriving silk-weaving industy, wide stairway reaching from the river to the town center and an infamous clash between British gunboats and the local warlords known as "the Wanixian Incident of 1926". The incident effectively ended "gunboat diplomacy" on the Yangtze River. About 120,00 of Wanzhou's 400,000 will be displaced after the new dam is completed.

September 19, 2001: DAY 6:WEDNESDAY CHONGQING

The cuise boat's home port.
Today's jouney: 396 km

6:30 Coffee and tea
7:45 Tai Qi with Dr. Fan (4th deck, Yangtze Club)
8:00 Breakfast
10:40 Boat arrives in Chongqing, 841 miles upriver from Wuhan...disembark.

This morning we saw one boat loaded with cars and another loaded with vans. Before getting off the ship I asked our river guide how long it would be before the new groups of tourist would be getting on the ship....he said, a half a day. The next cruise would be down stream (we cruised upstream) and that would take one day less. We were told that the trip down stream the ship would also use less fuel.

CHONGQING IS THE "MOUNTAIN CITY". THERE MAY BE MANY STEPS TO CLIMB.
The porters in Chongqing can be quite aggressive. They mean no harm but "assisting" passengers up the steps is often their only way to make a living. The standard rate for portage or assistance is 10 yuan per bag. If you do not want their help, a firm "NO" will be sufficient.

ZAI JIAN (Good bye)