Yangtse River Cruise

We arrived in Yichang in the afternoon, and met our new guide and driver who told us about the city and took us to a government run museum that was dedicated to artifacts from the three gorges project excavation. Although this museum seemed a little run down and was by no means as big as the Shanghai museum we’d been to, our museum guide did a great job explaining how they’d found artifacts dating back 6000 years. He told us that thousands of archeologists excavated for over two years before the whole area was flooded and the three gorges dam project was complete (2009). Later he took us to another room that had jade, ceramic pottery and bronze artifacts they’d found that were relatively young (100 to 150 years old). The museum was selling a few of these items in order to raise money for renovations. Although we are not antique collectors, a number of items caught our eye and we unexpectedly bought a beautiful red jade incense holder dating back 125 years. Hopefully it makes it back to the USA (China shipping).

Later we had a yummy and spicy dinner and then our guide took us to our river boat, which is really a big cruise ship (not Royal Caribbean size, but larger than expected). When we got to our room we were surprised by the size of it and gladly unpacked for the next 4 nights (we hadn’t stayed anywhere long enough to bother unpacking since Auckland). The rest of the ship didn’t offer much entertainment so we were thrilled to have a large room with a balcony.  We spent a lot of time playing cards and enjoying the scenery from the privacy of our own space.  

The Yangtse River Cruise took us through gorges, the now famous dam, stepped farmland, new towns and absolutely beautiful scenery.  It was hard to imagine how the river must have looked before it was filled because it is still dramatic after rising an average of 155 meters.   The river is much safer now for boats to travel, but the downside of this is that there are now many more boats and barges.  It is difficult to imagine how the water will not end up incredibly polluted with the extra traffic and changes to the natural purification process of before (the air is already rather polluted).  We were especially curious to hear the local people’s opinion of the project since so many people’s villages were flooded (over 900,000 people were displaced by the project).  Generally, their impression seemed mixed, with the younger generations having more favorable opinions because they ended up with larger homes and more space, and the older populations being less thrilled because they watched an entire lifetime of memories be flooded and have a harder time adapting to the many changes.

The day we went to the dam and passed through the 5 lock system was very interesting. The dam is enormous,  but not at all attractive.  The power the station generates is now critical for Shanghai and many other cities on the east coast.  Another day, we went on a smaller boat through the lesser (a.k.a. smaller) gorges which are too narrow for the big ship we were on.  This was some of the most spectacular scenery with many waterfalls, caves and tombs in the mountain.  We also had the pleasure of hearing a local boat man singing, as well as our day guide and both of them had lovely voices and sang beautifully.

The cruise ended in the incredibly large, yet virtually unknown city of Chongqing (pronounced chong-ching).   Though we only had one full day there, we saw so much and had a couple of adventures.  Our guide, Tina, first took us to their zoo where we saw many pandas.  These pandas actually have very nice habitats in the zoo and we were able to get incredible close!   Unfortunately, many of the other animals we saw were not quite as lucky; the elephant and giraffe habitats especially were a bit sad.  We also visited the General Stillwell residence and museum, which is the only museum in China that is dedicated to a foreigner. We realized how incredibly ignorant we were of the alliance between the US and China during WWII in fighting the Japanese.  US General Stillwell is still very highly regarded here in China for the help he supplied during the war (and resentment towards Japan still runs deep).  The museum, also government run, provided us an opportunity to see a local painter paint a beautiful watercolor in less than 10 minutes.  Here, we finally found traditional paintings of the 4 seasons that we had been searching for as souvenirs.  We are quite proud of how effective our negotiating has become and can’t wait to enjoy the 4 paintings in our home – again, assuming China mail gets them to us!  We are definitely done buying souvenirs for ourselves!

After our incredibly spicy yet delicious lunch, Tina walked us through a more local food market that in almost any country other than China would have been where we’d want to eat, except we suspect the menus included mostly things we would prefer not to eat.  Still, seeing and smelling it firsthand was worth it.  Tina recommended that we plan on going to a “hot pot” restaurant for dinner near our hotel as hot pots are very traditional for the area.  Basically, a large steel pan is build right into the table and filled with oil, and then you order skewers of different meats and vegetables to cook in the oil.  On the surface, the experience is not so different from fondue, right?  Except in China, the skewers that are most popular are ox stomach, duck throat and chicken feet. While we thought we could be brave at the time she said to go and we really planned on it, when we walked up to the restaurant later that evening, it all felt a little “too” local for us and without our guide with us to make sure we didn’t order something we didn’t want to eat, we essentially chickened out (no pun intended).

One of the problems with travelling so long is that certain comforts are unattainable. In Chongqing, I finally gave into my need for a haircut.  Tina had pointed out where she goes to get her haircut and it was practically across the street from our hotel, so Raj and I took a walk to check it out.  In much the same way as shop workers usher you into their stores if you show any interest, a young man encouraged me to enter when I looked in.  With a deep breath, I went in and with some sign language indicated I wanted a trim.  The guy took me into the back to wash my hair and it all seemed relatively similar to how it would be in the US.  Then he transferred me to a chair and the man who was actually cutting my hair came over. I tried to indicate that I just wanted a little bit cut off and he went to work.  The first bit seemed fine, but as time went on, it seemed like he was cutting more and more. With the language barrier, I had no way to make sure it was okay, and Raj had decided to go for a walk rather than sit and watch.  So, in the end, I have a new hair style with lots of short layers – not the best look for me :(  Oh well, I’ve learned my lesson – next time, I’ll just buy barrettes and tie it all back :)  In the end, it cost me 45 RmB (less that $7), and I’m pretty sure they upped the price for me!  In any case, don’t be surprised if you don’t see me in too many pictures for the next few weeks!

Shanghai and Suzhou

We arrived in Shanghai pretty late and our guide, Tina (English name), picked us up from the airport and took us to the hotel. The city was was lit up and modern like Hong Kong, but was a lot bigger (over 20 million) and more spread out. We were amazed by how many high-end stores there were – seriously, there seemed to be a Louis Vitton or Gucci on every block!   In the morning our guide and driver took us to a garden in the middle of the city. “Gardens” in China are more like peaceful retreats that have more to do with the buildings, landscaping, and yin-yang harmony. We had a great time walking through the garden and learning about Chinese culture. Later that night we went to see an Acrobatic show. Tovah and I were somewhat reluctant to get our hopes up after our NZ shows. Luckily the show was amazing, and we were treated to 13 different acts, each unique and unbelievable. For about $40 we saw a show that would easily rival any Cirque de Soleil production!  No doubt, this was the highlight of Shanghai – unfortunately, we were too busy trying to pick our jaws up off the floor to get any good pictures or videos for you.  One other high point was when we broke down and had our very first meal from an American chain since leaving Atlanta;  our last night in Shanghai we treated ourselves to a break from Chinese food and instead enjoyed California Pizza Kitchen!  The only downer about Shanghai was our guide – she clearly wasn’t feeling well but continually cleared her throat and nose and generally lacked energy and enthusiasm in every way.

Next we took a train to Suzhou (pronounced sue-joe), which is known for its many gardens.  Our guide was really great (reminded Raj of his mum); she told us many stories, taught us Chinese words, and talked openly about her own experiences with the cultural revolution. We explored many residences, a leaning Pagoda, and two large gardens, as well as took another river boat cruise through canals.   These gardens were much larger than the one in the middle of Shanghai, and one of them took 16 years to build.  Since Suzhou is known for its arts and crafts, we also went to an embroidery museum and a silk painting gallery, both of which absolutely blew us away!  When we walked into the embroidery museum, the first thing they showed us was a picture of Princess Diana, and our initial (internal) reaction was “oh jeez, do we have to hear about how she visited 20 years ago?”  However, when the guide asked us to look closer, we found that the “picture” was actually an embroidered image that was incredibly realistic! We really enjoyed perusing the gallery and seeing amazing landscape, animal, and human pictures that were so incredible that we desperately wanted to buy a large one. However, it turns out we had found the one thing that is actually quite expensive in China. Who would have though we could be so impressed by embroidery?

The next day we drove to a smaller town called Zhouzhuang that’s known for its rivers and is called the Venice of Asia. We saw a few residential buildings that dated back to the 12th century. Unfortunately the weather that day was not great and after lunch we did a bit of souvenir shopping and then drove back to Shanghai where we picked up some laundry and said goodbye to our Suzhou guide and driver.

As many of you may know, Tovah was a bit reluctant to come to China because of some the government’s policies and human/animal rights violations.  While we have certainly noticed their tendency to shelter the citizens through blocking internet sites to editing TV shows, we do want to note a couple of positive things we’ve learned about China’s government.  To begin with, the infrastructure of this country is much better than we expected and certainly eases transportation both locally and long distances.  Also, since we expected to find many homeless and poor people as in India, we have learned that the government does an amazing job keeping people off the streets and providing assistance.  There have also been many positive changes toward education and helping farmers subsidize housing and build irrigation systems.  From what we gather, there have been many changes in the past decade that the people here are quite pleased with.

WHOA – We’re in China: Guilin and Yangzhou

We arrived in Guilin and our guide (English name Angela) and driver for the region met us at the airport.  We were struck by the incredible humidity which felt like July in Atlanta. The hour or so drive from the airport to downtown Guilin reminded us a bit of India but on a less terrifying level.  Nonetheless, there were vans, buses, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians and more engaged in some kind of organized chaos on the roads.  Though we were supposed to go to the hotel and relax for the night, Angela recommended we go to a river cruise around downtown Guilin.  We arrived a bit early and enjoyed a beer by the water overlooking the Sun and Moon Pagodas.  While there, a girl came up to our guide and asked if she could take a picture with us!  We had heard about this happening sometimes in China when someone has never seen a Westerner before.  She was very cute and of course we complied.  The river cruise took us through the new Guilin town, which they rebuilt in 2002 using the ancient motes and was very beautiful and colorful.  They modeled their bridges after such international places as the Oxford bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and the Arc de Triumph.  After the cruise we gathered outside the nearby Waterfall Hotel to witness their nightly 30 minute waterfall which is in the Guinness book of World Records as the highest and widest manmade waterfall!  After checking into our hotel, we had a late Chinese dinner in the hotel (ordered a much more appropriate amount of food) and were offered tea, which we accepted.  When the man went to pour water into our cups of leaves mixed with red dates, we were surprised that the water pot was more like an oil canister with a 2 foot spout!  He stood way back from the table with the end of the spout at least a foot or so away when he poured and we still can’t believe he managed to get the water into the cups!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and met our guide and driver for a short drive to the Li River for a 4 hour cruise to Yangzhou. The cruise was amazing- we went down stream through endless spectacular scenery that’s difficult to describe. In short, we were treated to hundreds of limestone mountains that rose up from the ground like nothing I’ve ever seen. With every turn in the river it only got better. As we cruised down the river we passed a number of villages as well as the bravest (or reckless) fisherman on tiny bamboo boats that would approach the large river cruiser we were on in order to hook on and try and sell some jade (or likely fake jade) to the tourists.

We really enjoyed the town of Yangzhou, which is a tourist destination but more so for Chinese tourists than Westerners destination . While there, we strolled through the market, saw an absolutely fantastic outdoor cultural show (same director as the 2008 opening games in Beijing), had our first foot reflexology, went on a bamboo river boat, and took a long bicycle ride through villages  The Chinese tourists were hilarious on the river boats because they all bring preparations to have water fights with other boats, whether they know them or not.  For some reason, we seemed to be off limits and were spared numerous times from being sprayed. The bike ride was great because it gave us better insight into some cultural ways and how the more remote people live.  We had the opportunity to meet a old man who allowed us to see his house without warning… he had a mirror above the door, as almost all the homes did, which is there to ward off evil.  His home was incredibly simple and bare, and yet he had a TV!  We also encountered village women who carried their babies in baskets for the purpose of finding tourists (like us) to take pictures for money.  BTW, the majority group (92% of the population), or Han, are only allowed one child while the many minority groups are allowed two children. The exception to this rule is if a Han farmer has a child and it is a girl; in that case, they can wait two years and try again to have a boy.

Back in Guilin we saw the Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Hill, a Tea Ceremony, Silk Factory, and Pandas at the zoo.  The cave was interesting not only for the natural wonder but because there were clear differences between the limestone caves in NZ and the limestone caves in China that illustrate some of the cultural  values of different societies.  For example, in NZ, the emphasis on the caves was on conservation of the environmentally fragile aspects of the cave and was presented in a such a way as to allow the cave to speak for itself.  Alternatively, the cave in China, which was equally as impressive, was lighted with many colors and all around were signs pointing out naturally occurring shapes that invited the viewer to use their imagination to see animals, people, and other scenes.  We found this tendency in many places (the hills along the Li River all had names based what “might” be seen in them, etc. camels, apple, horses…) and realized that the Chinese culture emphasizes amazing imagination and interpretation of scenery.

So far, the people are great, the scenery is beautiful and the food is, well, interesting. After such a good start, we are looking forward to seeing what else China has to offer. The only negatives so far is the pollution, humidity and mosquitoes.  In 2 days, Tovah received 28 mosquito bites 9 including one on her eyelid!) despite using bug spray. Apparently Asian bugs prefer Western blood, as our driver joked about, but unfortunately, Tovah seems to have a mild allergy to them and they swell up like hives on her.  It is giving her the opportunity to sample Chinese medicines.

At the time we originally went to publish this blog we realized that access to the blogger site we use is blocked by the gov’t here.  So, sorry this is late but better late than never. Now that we have figured out a hack and a way to proxy, we will post more soon.