China Day 6 -- Ghost City of Fengdu

Our last day on the Yangtze was my favorite and most everyone else's least favorite. We had a morning excursion to the Ghost City of Fengdu and after that, well nothing. Lots of free time to do, well nothing until dinner and the talent show. Having no real or imagined talent myself, I didn't need to spend a lot of time practicing my singing or dancing, or whatever it is that talented people do before a show.

I have lots of free time to hang out on our little deck and watch the Yangtze go by. Actually I saw this guy go by. Interesting. The river is full of full-sized barges, cruise ships, and zillions of sampans. This guys grabs his inner tube, two sticks for paddles, and of course the flag of mainland China.

By the way, I should point out that if you go to China, do not wear Crocs. Our friends John and Julie, who previously took this tour, gave us excellent info on every stop and city. They gave us wine, dinner, slides, and a perfectly accurate explanation of what to expect. One small problem: they said nothing about wearing Crocs, my beloved goofy shoes.

Here's why: This is the reaction of the Chinese people when they see white people wearing Crocs. All 1.3 billion people had the same reaction. Every time.

On to Fengdu!

We board the bus and head for the Ghost City of Fengdu. The city was depicted as the 'City of Ghosts' in two ancient, classic Chinese works. The origin of the town's extraordinary reputation can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) when two officials, Yin and Wang, became Taoist recluses here and eventually Immortals. Their two names combined sound like "King of Hell."

The ghostly town has many Hellish paintings and torture scenarios. I loved it. Devils and goblins were everywhere.

There are two ways to get up the mountain into the city. Walking 1000 steps in the 1000 degree heat, or sit in cool comfort.

Keep in mind that one must follow the rules carefully before boarding the chairlift. And, of course the signs in China are always clear. I worried about #1.

Lots of cool things are in Fengdu. One of my favorites was the "Big Head."

Also, we are doing our roof at home to look like this.

The Chinese love roofs, doorways, thresholds, gates, and walkways. Short on dragons this month? Just use cranes.

Check out the temples. This is what really makes the Ghost City so interesting.

Gateway to the world. Walk through...

...and look down....

One last look at the cool stuff in Fengdu!

She says, "Hello, hello, money, money, one dollah!"

I say, "Hey kid, beat it."

She says, "Look pal, buy my crummy little map or I will kick you in the knee. You see this face? You think I'm kidding?"

I say, "Hey Lisa! Check out the cool map I bought!"

Speaking of Lisa...I later learn from our tour guide that the ubiquitous fans are "for ladies only." A male who uses them is considered a "playboy," an effeminate and lazy person.

I'm ok with that and bought several. These portable air conditioners really saved our lives in the high heat and humidity. The Chinese claim to have invented fans. More than 3,000 years ago, fans were made with bird's feathers and were an outstanding characteristic in imperial pomp. They added gracefulness and charm to court dancers, who achieved the appearance of heavenly phoenixes. Hey whatever...just keep 'em going...I'm hot.

Typical shot seen all over China: cute kid, proudly displayed by Grandma while the parents are off working.

After dinner, everyone played a game called "Put-five-ounces-of-Superglue-on-your-hands-and-affix-yourself-to-another-person."

I can't figure out why Lisa is so happy here. We have to pack up and fly out in the morning. I am sad to leave the river.

So long, Yangtze.

China Day 4 -- Yangtze, Three Gorges Dam, Xiling Gorge

Today is a big day and one of my favorites on the tour. We cruise the Yangtze almost all day and pass by dozens of towns. We get all kinds of weather and the river changes shape many times. By the way, here's our ship, the President #1.



This post is a long one since I had to sort through over 600 photos to get the ones shown here. Lisa says that we took more pics in one day than most folks took on the entire trip.



Among the several attractions today is the Xiling Gorge, the first and longest of three. I rush upstairs to photo our passing through and see this: RAIN.



I refuse to accept that I have to stay inside, look out the window, and listen to Annie, the river guide, blab on about the gorge.



I like Annie a lot, (and she is a good dancer) but I have got to get outside to see the gorge.



The rain lightens a bit, but the fog rolls in. I hang out taking shots and trying to keep the camera dry.



I loved being on the Yangtze River. We got to just sit and look out onto the river and see all kinds of things pass by. We actually saw a couple that looked just like us! Awesome!



Also, we saw a really cool way to spruce up your boat. Say you get tired of how the front of your boat looks. Just affix one of these to the front and you are set! I think that you could just go to Walmart and buy it as a kit.



Ready for breakfast? Here's our usual layout of sweets, fruit, and other fixin's. I was certain that I had gained five pounds, but my home scale says that I remained status quo.



Ready for some fish? Here's one way to get them. Grab a couple of bamboo poles and string a net through them. Shove it in the water and let the river current bring the fish to you.



The weather clears up and we sail for the Three Gorges Dam. When completed, the $25 billion Three Gorges Dam will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. More than a million people have been relocated since the Yangtze will rise to 175 meters, flooding hundreds of towns and cities. Very controversial but it is on track to be completed in 2009. As sailed along, we saw many deserted towns where everyone had been relocated. Setting the politics of the Dam project aside, the river is beautiful.



I never tired of watching the world drift by from our outside deck. Here's a common site: There is a lot of debris floating by on Asia's largest river and money to be made collecting and selling it. The format was always the same. Husband in the back steering the sampan, wife in the front scooping treasures with the net. Sounds like a fun date.



It must be profitable to collect floating debris, because we saw dozens of couples doing it. Everyone was searching for ways to make a buck, I mean a Yuan. OK, quick money lesson: 1 Chinese yuan = 0.132177 U.S. dollars. Ten Yuan = $1.32 and seemed to be the cost for most small things that tourists bought. (Beers were five Yuan.)



OK, time to park this boat somewhere and get on a bus for the Three Gorges Dam.

As we board the bus, we had to walk through a sea of hawkers who were trying to sell us wooden dragons, clothes, shoes, postcards, books, and other trinkets. I'm pretty sure that the old guy in the back is wearing an outfit never before seen in China and is strictly put together for the tourists.



We meet another local guide, named Cindy, who is an expert on the dam and all issues that relate to it. Here's the dam. I assume they will be generating lots of hydroelectric power because they sure have the wiring ready.



Here are three local Chinese girls. Vivian (overall tour guide), Lisa (married to a white guy), and Cindy (A dam expert).

While at the dam, we run into this cutie. Her parents tried to hand her to us to hold, but we were late getting back to the bus and could not. She will see a very different China when she grows up, one that I suspect will look a lot like the US.


Before we get through the locks, we stop again near the dam area. This is a cool area with big rocks, statutes, carvings, and a model of the completed project. Check out this overlook.

I love this giant book. It's about 30 feet tall and describes the ridge we are on in both Chinese and English.

And, of course the goofy signs. At the dam, to prevent people from climbing over the railing, they say, "No turning over." And on the boat going through the locks, jumping overboard is not allowed.

We get back on the boat and continue our sail up the Yangtze, heading for the five locks. Yeah, I like being on the river and don't want to leave. Right about now, I don't care about the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Li River, the giant pandas at the Beijing Zoo, or anything else. I just want to stay on the river.

Finally, we go through the five shiplocks very similar to the locks at the Panama Canal. Two ships, if not three, can go abreast through the lock at one time.

These giant gates open allowing the ships to pass through after the water rises enough to pass through the 2nd lock.

We just sat and watched the water rise and fall and we passed through the five locks.

Meanwhile, we had arranged a playdate for our kids to meet others and play. With the watchful eyes of the parents in the background, we let the kids get together as shown here. For the most part, they got along pretty well.

OK, back to the river and we continued to sail on seeing wonderful sights.

Fellow tour mate Gary loved photoing the waterfalls and I loved getting the many bridges.

Gary shouts. "Hey! check it out to the left!"

Finally, we go inside and get ready for the crew talent show. We go downstairs for a great dinner and talk about the sights we all saw today on the river.

They are all very good and can sing and dance. At one point they all did the Macarena. Perfect.

Did I mention that I like the river?