2011-11 Yangtze River, China
Hello All,
It was dinner time before we departed Yueyang, due to our earlier “fender bender.” Since we were 4 hours behind schedule it meant we wouldn’t reach the Three Gorges Dam until late in the evening the following day. It was 345 miles from Yueyang to the dam. We took a “que sera sera” attitude and didn’t let it ruin our trip. There was nothing we could do about it anyway.
After dinner we took in the Chinese Minorities traditional fashion show in the Emerald Club. It was interesting seeing the different clothing, dances and music from the many different ethnic groups in China. The show was put on by members of the ship’s crew and was carried out in a very professional manner.
It was dinner time before we departed Yueyang, due to our earlier “fender bender.” Since we were 4 hours behind schedule it meant we wouldn’t reach the Three Gorges Dam until late in the evening the following day. It was 345 miles from Yueyang to the dam. We took a “que sera sera” attitude and didn’t let it ruin our trip. There was nothing we could do about it anyway.
After dinner we took in the Chinese Minorities traditional fashion show in the Emerald Club. It was interesting seeing the different clothing, dances and music from the many different ethnic groups in China. The show was put on by members of the ship’s crew and was carried out in a very professional manner.
Following the show we sat out
on our balcony with a cup of tea and watched the world go by. The “kick back”
time felt pretty good, as we had been having a pretty hectic schedule the past
few days.
We slept in the following morning and after a shower went for a late breakfast. The dining room was almost full--guess some of the other folks had the same idea. We sat at one of Eddie and Annie’s tables and they always greeted us using our first names. From the very first meal on ship they had everyone’s name memorized that sat at their tables--and they had four tables with each seating eight folks. It was a nice touch.
After breakfast we strolled around the ship checking out the various shops. In one shop there were bolts of silk and if you found a color and pattern to your liking you could get custom made shirts, dresses, suits, and scarves. Other shops sold jewelry and jade articles. We walked outside on deck checking the scenery out and snapping an occasional photo if something caught our eye.
Viking River Cruise ships are much smaller than the mega ocean going cruise ships. We had 244 total passengers on the ship. Our Viking guide, “Joshua,” accompanied us throughout our entire time in China on and off the ship. The group assigned to Joshua consisted of 26 people. There were a number of other Viking guides with groups of their own also onboard the ship. Anytime we went on a tour at a specific site we would also pick up a local Viking guide that had expertise on the specific area we were visiting--and they all spoke English. If it required transportation by coach to get to a site, each group had their own coach, driver, and local guide. If we wanted to leave a coat or bag on the coach we could do so safely, as the driver always remained with the coach having it cool upon our return--another nice touch. They always had cold bottled water on the coaches for our consumption.
After strolling around the ship we went back to our stateroom and sat out on the balcony. There was always something new popping up to take a photo of. Throughout the day the primary vistas were farmland, bridges, villages, and factories. It doesn’t sound real interesting but we found it fascinating. The wildlife consisted of a few cattle and water buffalo, and “skycrane” after “skycrane!” The Chinese are building everywhere. Every now and then an oddity would come into view and we would grab the cameras.
We had been told that the farmers treat their water buffalo as if they were a member of the family. The people of China are very in tune with animals and nature. An average buffalo will live about 27 years and are used for plowing and hauling on the farms. Having never seen a water buffalo, except in movies, they perked our interest. Every now and then we would see where a farmer had staked one near the river to feed. They would have a long line on the animal (100’ or more) hooked to the buffalo with a nose ring. It was a treat seeing a young buffalo at lunchtime.
We slept in the following morning and after a shower went for a late breakfast. The dining room was almost full--guess some of the other folks had the same idea. We sat at one of Eddie and Annie’s tables and they always greeted us using our first names. From the very first meal on ship they had everyone’s name memorized that sat at their tables--and they had four tables with each seating eight folks. It was a nice touch.
After breakfast we strolled around the ship checking out the various shops. In one shop there were bolts of silk and if you found a color and pattern to your liking you could get custom made shirts, dresses, suits, and scarves. Other shops sold jewelry and jade articles. We walked outside on deck checking the scenery out and snapping an occasional photo if something caught our eye.
Viking River Cruise ships are much smaller than the mega ocean going cruise ships. We had 244 total passengers on the ship. Our Viking guide, “Joshua,” accompanied us throughout our entire time in China on and off the ship. The group assigned to Joshua consisted of 26 people. There were a number of other Viking guides with groups of their own also onboard the ship. Anytime we went on a tour at a specific site we would also pick up a local Viking guide that had expertise on the specific area we were visiting--and they all spoke English. If it required transportation by coach to get to a site, each group had their own coach, driver, and local guide. If we wanted to leave a coat or bag on the coach we could do so safely, as the driver always remained with the coach having it cool upon our return--another nice touch. They always had cold bottled water on the coaches for our consumption.
After strolling around the ship we went back to our stateroom and sat out on the balcony. There was always something new popping up to take a photo of. Throughout the day the primary vistas were farmland, bridges, villages, and factories. It doesn’t sound real interesting but we found it fascinating. The wildlife consisted of a few cattle and water buffalo, and “skycrane” after “skycrane!” The Chinese are building everywhere. Every now and then an oddity would come into view and we would grab the cameras.
We had been told that the farmers treat their water buffalo as if they were a member of the family. The people of China are very in tune with animals and nature. An average buffalo will live about 27 years and are used for plowing and hauling on the farms. Having never seen a water buffalo, except in movies, they perked our interest. Every now and then we would see where a farmer had staked one near the river to feed. They would have a long line on the animal (100’ or more) hooked to the buffalo with a nose ring. It was a treat seeing a young buffalo at lunchtime.
We also saw them leading the
buffalo and cows down to the river for a drink. Many times the animals would go
into the water to cool off. In the following photo a lady is leading a couple
of cows back up the bank. They certainly looked well fed.
Another interesting site was
the occasional junks we would see on the river. Outboard motors on them were
nothing like anything we have seen before. They appeared to be diesel engines
and had unprotected pulleys and belts on the side of them. They looked like an
accident waiting to happen.
Along some portions of the
river there was erosion control installed on the banks of the river. It looked
like concrete, but after taking a closer look it was individual rocks that had
been laid. The rocks are brought in by ship and then off loaded into trucks.
In this photo you can see workers
laying the stones by hand after trucks had dumped them above. They are such
strong hard working people.
Throughout the day we passed ship after ship
carrying goods up and down the river. Lots of coal, rock, gravel, and sand were
being transported. We never did figure out for sure what the yellow cargo was
in the following photo. It appeared to be bulk sulfur.
The Emerald Viking was
cruising at about 11 knots when this boat went by us as if we were standing
still. It looked like a police or military boat. Whatever it was they were
friendly and waved at us.
By early afternoon we started
to see a change in the scenery. The landscape was becoming hilly and then we
came to the city of Yichang. It seems that the majority of its 4.1 million people
live along the banks of the Yangtze River because 45 minutes later we were
still passing the city.
The Chinese culture is far different than that of the western world. They seem to follow a mixture of Confucianism and Daoism to guide their lives. In line with this philosophy is that they have no formal welfare system. The eldest son does not move out of town while his parents are alive so that he can take care of them if needed. At all the sites we visited we observed the younger generation taking care of the elderly with love and respect.
We also observed that they choose to live in large communities of high-rise buildings that they call villages rather than single family homes. There are numerous villages within a city. Each village contains a population of around a hundred thousand folks. Many of the buildings within the villages are connected and the lower level contains all their shopping, health, and social needs. Living in these close knit communities allows them to help each other should the need arise. Helping each other is a way of life with them. It’s a lovely concept.
The Chinese culture is far different than that of the western world. They seem to follow a mixture of Confucianism and Daoism to guide their lives. In line with this philosophy is that they have no formal welfare system. The eldest son does not move out of town while his parents are alive so that he can take care of them if needed. At all the sites we visited we observed the younger generation taking care of the elderly with love and respect.
We also observed that they choose to live in large communities of high-rise buildings that they call villages rather than single family homes. There are numerous villages within a city. Each village contains a population of around a hundred thousand folks. Many of the buildings within the villages are connected and the lower level contains all their shopping, health, and social needs. Living in these close knit communities allows them to help each other should the need arise. Helping each other is a way of life with them. It’s a lovely concept.
Here is a new village under
construction.
In the following photos you
can see a department store, a Walmart, and a movie theater that are in the
lower level of this complex called Wanda Plaza. We never saw a stand-alone
Walmart store with a big parking lot anywhere in our travels in China.
Here are some local guys
trying their luck fishing from the banks of the river.
This is a Presbyterian Church
in Yichang. We thought it was quite beautiful.
There were four riverfront
parks along the shoreline at Yichang. This beautiful pagoda was in one of them.
In our eyes, Yichang is a beautiful modern city
with a few nice touches of traditional Chinese architecture.
Our day on the river was quite
relaxing and most interesting. The weather was wonderful with temperatures in
the 80’s F. Before leaving Yichang we locked through Gezhouba Dam and then
traveled another 27 miles up the Yangtze River before reaching Three Gorges
Dam. We’ll fill you in on all that in our next write-up.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns