After buffet breakfast, Richard, Anna, and I are off to the Wuhou Shrine by taxi for a visit. Richard came here yesterday, but feels that he just scratched the service so we decide to come with him to this gorgeously landscaped place where we wander around taking in the beauty and learning more about the history of this country in it's earlier years. Some of the exhibits contain relics from the Han Dynasty - about 220 - 280 AD. We notice that many of the figurines all through the exhibit halls are smiling widely. We take photos of a bunch of them, including one who is holding a "spade" and "dustpan" that Anna thinks looks like Ross. The period of time following the Han Dynasty is one of flourishing progress made in many areas in spite of competing factions of people.
We manage to hail a taxi to go back to the hotel, but the driver stops at a gas station and urges us out of the car near the entrance, motioning us to stay put. It turns out that it is a natural gas station and passengers are required to get out of each vehicle and wait for the driver while the driver gases up the taxi. It creates a bit of a delay but we manage to get back to the hotel with 15 minutes to spare before we must be packed and ready to go to the train station. Whew! Shelley stays with us all the way to the train to make sure we are safely on before we say our goodbyes. The railway station is a mass of people and Shelley underscores the importance of not letting any of our luggage out of our hands or sight. We manage to maneuver our way through the crowds with our luggage safely and climb aboard a new express train bound for Chongqing where we will embark on the Yangtze River Cruise. Thank goodness we opted to buy new luggage for this trip as it has wheels on the width of the suitcases (versus the narrow part)! Richard, Anna, and I are each traveling with a suitcase and a backpack.
Anne and Gail sit across from two women who are traveling from Xining, Qinghai and Lanzhou, Gansu, respectively, the former who is Tibetan and the latter who speaks some English so acts as the interpreter for an enjoyable conversation, also aided by my IPad!, that spans the train ride of several hours to Chongqing. These two women are on vacation, traveling to Shanghai for the Expo, apparently with a group judging from the familiar company in nearby seats. The one from Lanzhou is married and her husband lives in Chongqing though she lives in Lanzhou. They have one son (who is 26 yo and who lives in London) in keeping with the one family/one child rule, she says. She says that they are Communist Party members and asks what we are to which I explain that the US is a democracy. That's the extent of that part of the conversation. Each woman takes out a long white silk Tibetan scarf with long strands of unwoven silk at each end to give to Gail and me. I ask Anna to come to our seat to find out from her if it's OK to give each of these women a packet of her notecards which it is so we give each of them one. (On our next trip, I'll pack additional gifties for this sort of occurrence. Maybe even notecards packed singly would be sufficient.) The women share banana chips and dates with us while Gail has some almonds to share with them.
As we exit the city of Chengdu, I notice several men on the top floor of a building that is open to the elements. It looks like they must be working to help bring the building down as they have pickaxes, but no helmets or safety harnesses of any type. I also see some colorful Chinese kites aloft quite high in the air. The passing scenery is mostly agricultural. Initially, there are lotus fields and rice paddies where it is flat, but then it becomes very hilly which doesn't appear to deter farming efforts as the land on many hills looks to be terraced and planted with crops of different kinds, including corn. We also pass by many homes some of which appear to be very old and in disrepair while others look to be more modern cement structures but simple and stark. We go over the Jialing River about 4 times so it must meander around or else the train has. It looks very muddy, the water looks high on the banks, and the current looks very swift. We all agree that this is most likely due to flooding that has occurred in this general region in the recent weeks causing some deaths and destruction, especially for those who live near the banks of the river.
The train station in Chongqing does not appear to be as crowded as the one in Chengdu. Our guide, Jackie, meets us there and we make our way to the buses, one which will take our luggage to the ship and the other which will take us to a restaurant for a delicious supper - round table, lazy susan, dishes of food that keep arriving. En route to the restaurant, he gives us a brief bit of info about Chongqing including that it is its own municipality (like 3 other cities in China), has a strong industrial base including the manufacture of 6 million motorcycles per year which are exported to 132 countries and Ford, Suzuki, 2 Chinese models of cars, is also known for hot pots, many hills (which is why we don't see bikes). Chongqing means "Double Celebration", named by Zhao Dun during the Song Dynasty because he became a prince, then emperor here. Chongqing was the capital of the ancient Ba Kingdom until 316 BC to be followed by the Qin Dynasty as it expanded. (Note: Need to study more about the Ba people sometime, because I've turned uo conflicting info, including dates of that period of time and something about a "Bo" kingdom... The same thing?) More recently, as stated in the flyer we receive aboard the Victoria Queen later this evening, "Chongqing served as China's war-time capital and headquarters of the Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government during the war of resistance against Japan (World War II). Indeed, during the war, the island over which the Yangtze River Bridge is now built served as an airstrip for "The Flying Tigers"! After the war, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, participated in the famous "Chongqing Talks" here, which sought unsuccessfully to negotiate a political reconciliation between the Nationalists and the Communists". Anna adds that Jackie says it's known for the pretty girls of which his wife is one, believed to be secondary to the humid air which is good for the skin and hiking the hills which is good for the figures.
Jackie then accompanies us on the bus first to a store where he suggests we buy some extra water and the like due to the expense of items on the ship and then to the vicinity of the pier where we get off the bus and walk on a series of narrow platforms to the pier where the ship, Victoria Queen, is docked. The current is moving very fast, presumably due to the flooding, There is a band made up of trombones, trumpets, cymbals, drum playing Yankee Doodle Dandy as we arrive. The band members are dressed in uniforms. At the conclusion of Yankee Doodle Dandy, they crumple into laughter, I notice, as I continue to take photos. The ship looks like one from early in the last century by the trappings. I learn later that the ship was "rebuilt" in 2003, so maybe we are on a boat from the last century! This is my very first cruise ever. Richard has always wanted to travel on the Yangtze, and Anna seems excited by the whole novelty of this kind of travel. Jackie takes our passports to check us in and then we say goodbye to him, and we check into our rooms. Our group has 3 cabins - 301, 302, and 303 - on the 3rd deck with 2 single beds and a full bathroom in each room. We start to explore a bit, learning that there is a bit of a delay in leaving, and that the flooding has in fact changed some of the ships' cruising plans in the recent days. We've wondered about that, but through the guides, Lotus Travel has not been forthcoming with information. There is a briefing on the bar deck for all the passengers which we attend. There is a cruise director, Ernie Kim, from New Mexico, and Aaron, the river guide who speaks Chinese, who do the introductions. They're each wearing white trousers and blue blazers. The staff marches in crisply and are individually introduced, marching out one by one. We learn that table arrangements will be posted each a.m. There is laundry service but "no delicates" and no dry cleaning. There is a daily event schedule. Our ship is awaiting permission to set sail but will anchor shortly thereafter before getting underway tomorrow a.m. Tomorrow we will visit Fengdu, but we don't know about the steps due to the flooding conditions (- I don't know what that means...)
After the briefing, Richard, Anna, and I join Gail on the observation deck to look at the lights of Chongqing as we get underway. Amazing how quickly we move along, especially with the fast moving current. First we are going backwards but then the ship turns around and moves forward until we pass under 2 bridges after we pass the juncture where the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers merge. We stop and anchor. That's where we are at this point. It's time to turn in.
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