China Day 5 -- Shennong Stream, Wu and Qutang Gorge, White Emperor City

I have been told that some people have trouble with formatting of this blog. I believe that it depends on the configuration of the monitor settings, but I am told that expanding the window to the maximum corrects any formatting problems. (That's the little square box in the upper right corner, Mom and Dad.)

Off we go: Another beautiful day on the Yangtze River. Lisa has been making tea and washing our clothes in the sink, and hanging them to dry outside where the 100 degree heat dries 'em pretty quick. Hmm, Chinese lady drinking tea and doing laundry..... shoulda got a picture of that.

Here's a sight that we saw often. Coal. Trucks take the coal from a mining area and drive to these "dump areas." They dump the coal down the mountain into bins where the coal then falls into a chute for eventual loading onto a barge. It is then taken upriver for delivery to some coal-burning facility. They don't seem to worry about any environmental issues.



Of the many things I love about the river, it's the bridges (often across the tributaries) that fascinate me. I have never seen so many different types of bridges in one place.





OK, laundry, tea, bridges, and coal issues aside, it's Bloody Mary time! Here are our able-bodied seawomen. Actually, they are the bartenders and trainees. Vickie, on the far left, prides herself in her ability to remember the names of everyone she meets on board. They look like 12 year-olds and I look like their grandad. I never did get a Bloody Mary, but the girls liked posing for a picture.


Today's big adventure is that we are boarding smaller boats and sailing up the Shennong Stream where we will board sampans rowed by locals. The Shennong is a tributary of the Yangtze and is very scenic.



Parts of the stream are narrow and the water is smooth. Modified bamboo poles make for good oars, but often break from use. Most of these boats carry spares.



There are many cool things to see along the stream like the swallow cave, the hillside graveyards, and pagodas. The most interesting were the "hanging coffins." They are called the Ba people and buried their dead by suspending the coffins on the cliff faces of the gorges.

Check out this one propped up with bamboo poles. Archaeologists believe that the coffins were placed on the cliff faces in this manner so that they were closer to the heavens. Coffins were either placed in caves in the cliffs or suspended on pegs or poles. Made of Cedar, many of the coffins have been removed and taken to local museums. Pop the lid and it looks like this.



Our group lands along the bank where little shops are set up and the vendors are ready for us!



Lisa and I walk around through the little stalls along the river as the vendors are calling out to us. By the way, China does not have any ice or rye bread. Also they have no paper towels in any bathroom. And, I am dying for a bagel! I see my chance and just need a distraction. "Hey kid, look! There's Mao's puppy!" I make a grab for the bagel but Lisa is pushing me toward the sampans for boarding.


Our group loads up, puts on orange life vests and off we go upstream.



We follow along other tour groups, all of which are riding in the wooden sampans. Pretty cool; we feel like local Chinese who have been riding the Yangtze this way for thousands of years. OK, we look and feel like a bunch of white tourists loaded with money, but go with me here....



At one part of the stream, the rowers have to jump out and pull the boat along with ropes to avoid the current.



We have a wonderful guide aboard named Mary who tells us the history of the stream and ends by singing us an old folk song from the ethnic minority of which she belongs. So typical of many of the Chinese we spoke with: she is married, 24 years old, has a daughter, rarely sees her husband or daughter as they both work to save for a house. Her mother lives with them and takes care of the baby. (By the way, I bought this same hat and for some reason, I look like a dork in it.)


OK, next big adventure, we take the optional tour of the White Emperor's City. For about $30 bucks each, we take another boat to the White Emperor City: actually a mini peninsular town scattered with temples and gates, it is located at the entrance of the Qutang Gorge on the north bank of the river. The town was named by an official of the Western Han Dynasty--Gongsun Shu who in 25 A.D., saw white vapor in the shape of a dragon rising from a nearby well, and by taking this as an auspicious omen, he declared himself the 'White Emperor' and renamed this town. Cool, huh? We hike up this long hill and get to the top at this lookout. Be sure to click on this pic to enlarge (and then your "back" button). It does not look real.
If you cannot make the hundreds of steps up, the local guys will carry you up in a "sedan-chair." We saw these almost everywhere we went.

And, along the climb up, the vendors were selling lots of food items.

We get to the gates of the White Emperor's City and a local guide talks about the history of the joint. I feel a rumble in the lower jungle and need to find a bathroom pronto. And I mean pronto, Tonto! I wander around the temple and finally find, well the pit. Let's just say this experience was less-than-pleasant, and I spend most of the afternoon tour sitting down. I miss the group picture, but this was the last thing on my mind at this point.

Back to the big boat for our sail through another gorge. This is a fun time since many people run up to the top deck to get a better view of the boat going through the narrow gorge walls. This guy decides to fly a kite.

Party on, dude.

Lisa and I get some shots and enjoy the cruise.

At this point, I am really liking the Yangtze. We are having a blast and are not looking forward to big cities, plane rides, and hotels.

Off to dinner, where the wait staff has dressed in traditional Asian costumes.

Tomorrow is our last day on the river and I consider organizing a mutiny to take over the ship. My plan is this: pass the word among our 34 tour members and convince them to overpower the wimpy crew. C"mon, they're a bunch of skinny teenagers and I think that I can take Annie in a fight. Unfortunately, nearly everyone on our tour is tired of the river and anxious to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Great Wall, Giant Pandas, etc. The mutiny comes to a crashing halt as I was only able to recruit one person: Lisa, and she refused to attack any crew member or commandeer the boat.

Goodnight!