Richard hops out of bed to go to tai chi first thing this a.m. All of us rally for the breakfast buffet.
First on the schedule are brief presentations by the two artists onboard.
David demonstrates how he paints the inside of bottles, a tradition that began in the Qing Dynasty with bottles that were used for snuff. He learned this fine art from his father and has been doing this for 16 years. The brushes are very tiny and have firm tips that point upward. We all have a chance to give it a try.
Then we learn from Peter about Chinese traditional art on rice paper or silk. Takes about 300 days to make rice paper of which one ingredient is tree bark. An ink stick and various pigments are used with brushes that are made from bearded goats, wolf, yellow weasel, or rat hairs. His personal favorites are brushes from the goat or wolf hairs. Different brushes are used for different kinds of paintings. The three kinds of paintings that Peter describes are free hand, detailed, and combined. The traditions started back in the Qin Dynasty era. He related that he started to practice his art in high school followed by studying art in university. His father is an engineer while his grandfather was a calligrapher. Some of us step up to the plate to give this style of painting a go. Later, Peter explains to Anna and me that every Chinese art student learns how to paint the following that each represent a season: plum blossoms, bamboo, crysanthemums (the Chinese national flower), orchid.
Next on the schedule is Aaron Jiang's talk about the Three Gorges Dam Project entitled "Taming the Wild Waters" in which the "pros and cons" are to be addressed. A smaller,older dam exists in Yichang, but the new dam was constructed about 22 miles away in the 3 gorges' area. Dr. Sun Yatsen was the first person to propose the dam construction in this area. (Aside: He attended medical school in the US.)
In 1944, John Lucian Savage made an inspection tour and the possibilities were discussed, including the generation of electricity. Then the Chinese civil war ensued. In 1958, Chairman Mao swam across the Yangtze River at Wuhan, inspiring energy to pursue building the dam. However, USSR/China relations soured and China had to make payments to USSR in order to fulfill debts. The Cultural Revolution followed from 1966 to 1976. The first premier of the new China, Zhou Enlai, who commands much respect among Chinese people, proposed that a smaller dam be built which was completed in 1988 - the Gezhouba Dam, located in Yichang. It initially helped by controlling a flood but was not effective in another. The National People's Congress voted in 1992 to build a new dam in the Xiling Gorge area (where there is a mountain called Chairman Mao Mountain because of a resemblance of him that people see). The new Three Gorges Dam Project was operational in 2003 and fully completed in 2009. Alongside the dam, there is a double laned 5 step ship lock service that takes about 3 to 4 hours to go through. Aaron goes on to describe the assets of the dam project:
1. Widens the river channel for ship traffic.
2. Power generation - the largest hydroelectric facility in the world, to provide 11% of energy needed, to decrease the need for coal.
3. When complete, reservoir will extend all the way to Chongqing. An additional reservoir will provide water for the north.
4. The handout on the dam lists flood control as a purpose also: "During the winter months, the reservoir water level reaches 175 meters above sea level, approximately 110 meters (363 feet) above the original river level prior to 2003. During the summer months, the reservoir level is lowered to 146 meters above sea level in order to regulate and capture flood water. Throughout Chinese history, floods along the Yangtze regularly threatened and brought devastation to the 15 million people who live in the rich agricultural region below the dam."
Aaron went on to describe the potential problems/concerns of the dam:
1. Silt sediment - may build dams on Golden Sand River in Chongqing area to capture silt; also plan to plant more trees as well as dredge.
2. Resettlement - 1.3 million people to be resettled and the number is rising due to landslides; old towns taken down as new ones have been built; farmlands and homes being inundated with water so new homes being built higher though soil not as good necessitating farmers to carry better soil from the lower to higher climbs; not enough farmland for all of the farmers; some farmers relocated further away but problems created by language differences. Aaron notes here that young people have been generally happier, due to newer, larger living quarters, with the relocation efforts than the older people.
3. Loss of some valuable cultural heritage. Debris in the water to this day from these cities, including the remains from ancestral tombs that people either didn't have time or money to move.
4. Landslides have increased the need for relocation of people and brought about the need for prevention projects such as a rock stabilization project. Aaron showed a photo of a landslide in the Wu Gorge in 2008.
I am heartened to hear that the cons are being acknowledged in a public way in China such as in a lecture on this ship, albeit that it seems that the Chinese are now having to respond to more problems than they anticipated that are arising as a result of the dam.
In response to a question from someone in the audience, Aaron says that the Chinese received engineering assistance from France and equipment from Germany for construction of the dam.
At the conclusion of Aaron's talk, we all head out to the bow to see the Qutang Gorge, the first of the three gorges. Takes only about 20 minutes and is spectacular. Hopefully, our photos of this whole journey will do more justice than any words can.
After lunch during which our ship docks next to another ship, we disembark the ship - walking through another ship to a series of ramps and onto a ferry boat that takes us along the Daning (- "da" = big; "ning" = peaceful) River and through what are known as the Lesser Gorges. The summary on our handout describes our passage: "Wushan is the starting point for the popular boat trips through the Lesser Gorges on the Daning River and the Mini Gorges on the Madu River. The Daning River winds it's way 33km (20 miles) through the beautiful Lesser Gorges... The water is a deep, clear shade of green and forms a striking contrast to the muddy, turgid waters of the Yangtze. The first Lesser Gorge is known as Dragon Gate Gorge. In this gorge, the river ranges from only 10 to 30 meters wide while the cliffs on either bank soar to an average of 800 to 1000 meters... Each gorge is separated by lush terraced fields where a variety of crops grow during all four seasons of the year. In the Misty Gorge, a 2000 year old 'hanging' coffin can be seen suspended on a precipice high up on the cliff-face. The coffin is a relic left over from the Ba people who inhabited the gorges region 3500 to 1800 years ago. At one time hundreds of these coffins could be seen throughout the Three Gorges and the Daning River, suspended from seemingly inaccessible areas on the cliff-sides. The Emerald Green Gorge, the farthest from Wushan, is covered with lush bamboo groves and foliage. Midway through the Emerald Green Gorge, passengers can sometimes disembark from their Daning River ferry boats and board motorized sampans to sail through the Mini Gorges of the Madu River". (-"Ma" = horse) Tina is our guide on the ferry boat, and she is from Wushan. In 2001, her parents and she were relocated from a 40 square meter abode to a new apartment of 150 square meters that is ample for her parents, husband, and son. She describes that until 7 years ago, the water was only 1 to 2 meters deep and the river was very narrow so access to the Lesser Gorges was very limited. Laborers known as "trackers" would pull boats along the narrow passages of the gorges. It is now 80 meters deep (- usually in summer 70 meters deep), but in the winter, the water will go up to 90 meters in depth. There are fishing boats on the Daning River fishing for catfish. We also see square structures made with wood that hold nets, some of which appear to have lights suspended in the center, to attract the fish into the nets at night. At the Madu River, we get off the ferry and cross over to the other side of the pier to board the motorized sampans referred to above and journey up the river and back, seeing a hanging coffin en route. I volunteered to put on a primitive costume of a fisherman made of reeds lashed together and stood on the bow for a photo. In terms of wildlife, there seemed to be very few birds, may have spotted one monkey, and heard one bleating mountain goat, but that was it. Once on the ferry, we head back down the Daning River, disembark, and reembark the Victoria Queen in time for tea. Our ship gets underway again and we sail through the Wu Gorge passing Goddess Peak on the north bank of the Yangtze. Gorgeous views of which we hope to have captured some in photos.
Our day winds up by enjoying the Captain's Farewell Banquet followed by a "cabaret" show that includes a variety of talents performed by the ship's staff and several volunteering passengers. The magician taps Anna and a young boy in the audience to come to the stage to assist him with a silly trick where he makes it appear that he yanks the boy's underwear from him. The show concludes the day and we are off to bed, packing up for our departure tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tuesday July 27 On Victoria Queen with disembarkation to visit Fengdu
Several more notes from our briefing last evening include the following:
Firstly, we are advised not to drink the water but the ice and vegetables are safe. (We remain skeptical about this so are not planning to use the ice or eat the fresh vegetables. Wonder how they can ascertain safety of ice and veggies...)
Secondly, in an emergency, a horn will blare and bells will be rung. If in cabin, bring life jackets that are stowed on shelf in closet and go to the bar on the fourth deck. If not in cabin, go directly to the bar. (We wonder about the choice of location...)
Our cabin attendants are young women named "Bella" for our cabin and "Spring" for the cabins of Gail and Anna plus the Vertizes.
Richard got up early to go to tai chi, taught by the doctor on board, Dr. Liu.
Breakfast buffet is served on the first deck aft. Our travel group is assigned to sit together. Our ship is underway as of early this morning after permission was granted. The flooding has apparently altered ship traffic in recent weeks due to the fast, strong currents which can pose problems for ships that are underway.
Richard attends the talk about Chinese medicine that Dr. Liu gives at 9 a.m. Anna and I take the opportunity to sit on the little balcony outside of our cabin and gaze at the incredible vistas on either bank as we move by quickly, overlooking a great number of clumps of debris in the water and the muddy brown color of the river which Anna thinks looks like my coffee. The river banks meet the hills which rise up to small farms dotted with homes, some of which appear quite new and some of which appear quite old with very tired looking roof tiles. It's evident that the water level is very high when corn fields end in the water. We pass bridges, lush green landscape with banana plants and other greenery, shipyards with ramps that are presumably used to roll the ships down for launching, banks of high rise apartment buildings in passing towns. The ship traffic we see this a.m. looks similar to our ship but some of the boats are carrying cargo such as new cars.
Then we head to Deck 4 to hear a talk about the Yangtze and the three gorges entitled "Ancient Waters, the Timeless Yangtze" to be given by Aaron Jiang. This is stated on the plan of the day as an "informative introduction" about the Yangtze River. Aaron is a good speaker. He begins by describing the geography of the region: The Yangtze is the 3rd longest river in the world after the Nile and Amazon Rivers and the longest river in China. The Yellow River is located north of the Yangtze and runs generally west/east also such that the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are only connected by the Grand Canal in the east of China. (Anna's finding place and orphanage are both alongside the Grand Canal in Yangzhou). The pinyin name for the Yangtze River is Changjiang for "long river". The Yangtze now flows from the west to the east, but, historically, at first it flowed from east to west followed, in the next stage, by part of the river flowing from east to west and another part flowing from west to east when the earth of China was a summit. 30 to 40 million years ago, when the Himalayan mountain range and Qinghai-Tibet plateau were formed, caused by Asia and the Indian subcontinent crashing into one another, the river to the west broke through the limestone mountains in the east, creating what is known as the "Three Gorges" alongside the Yangtze fixing the flow from west to east. The 3 gorges are named Qutang (8km long), Wu (45km long), and Xiling (76km long). The Yellow River used to be known as the cradle of China, but, with the discovery of ancient civilizations that lived around the Yangtze River far earlier, Chinese archeologists now concur that both rivers are the cradles of Chinese civilization.
One of these civilizations is known as the Ba people who lived between 2000 and 3000 years ago, and were responsible for burying people in coffins and somehow placing the coffins in caves in the cliffs alongside the gorges. These are known as "hanging coffins". It remains a mystery as to how the coffins were placed in the caves, but several theories exist including that the water table was higher in ancient days or that the coffins were lowered in from above. These coffins were made with namu wood. Some but not all of the hanging coffins were removed before the dam was completed. Others have been washed away as the river level has risen as a result of the dam completion.
It is pointed out to us that China is shaped like a rooster with Hainan and Taipei being the claws. 30% of the Chinese population depend on the Yangtze River directly. It also supplies China with 40% of agricultural production, 80% of China's inland river traffic, 40% of industrial production, 25% of total cropland, and 70% of grain. (I have paraphrased the above info from Aaron's very nice handout).
During our voyage, we will cover about 400 miles from Chongqing to Yichang. Recent, unprecedented flooding since the dam was built downstream has altered the ship traffic. The locks have been closed in recent days. One of the sister ships to this one is too big to go up river because of the flooding and turbulence. We learn that there are 130 folks on this cruise ship.
Aaron adds that there are sturgeon in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, there used to be dolphins in the middle reach of the river but they're likely extinct now though there are porpoises, and there are alligators in the lower reaches of the river.
Regarding Chinese cuisine, "hot pots" had their origin here. (I don't believe we enjoyed this fare on the trip).
After Aaron concludes his talk today (- he will talk about the dam construction and controversy tomorrow so stay tuned...), he encourages us to go forward outside on the bow as we pass by the town Fuling, part of which was submerged after the dam completion down river. People there were relocated to buildings that were built for them with apartments inside that were larger than what they left. Fuling was the town featured in the book River Town by Peter Hessler, an American who lived in Fuling for several years in the 1990s. Several of the other tourists on this cruise highly recommend this book. Aaron points out that the Chinese government built an underground museum in Fuling to preserve relics of carvings that would have been submerged in water as the river rose after the dam was built. We are not scheduled to stop to see it but see two large, concrete tubes that go into the water alongside a long set of steps that appear to rise from the water going up to the town. (As I write this, I realize that I'm not sure that the underground museum is completed yet. ? It may just be that access to ship traffic is precluded due to the underground structure). Along the river, we will see other long sets of steps come up from the river to towns. These steps are clearly old, from a past dynasty of one or another but am not sure which one. Buoys along the Yangtze are fishing boats attached to moorings with red buoys set inside the boats. The huge clumps of trash and debris in the Yangtze are astounding in terms of amount and content. Anna tells us later that she saw a bloated dead pig. Richard saw the lid of a coffin, pointed out by our guide Aaron, followed by the container of a coffin a short while later.
During the lunch buffet in the dining room which is surrounded by windows so we don't find that we have to miss any passing scenery, our ship docks alongside another ship of the same vintage as ours. It's done so smoothly that one would hardly realize it. We are at Fengdu where we exit the ship through another and pass by open, large bowls of vegetables that are in a stage of preparation. Members of the crew are alongside to assist us if need be though assistance is negligible as we get off the ships, I notice. We go ashore via a long series of ramps that have been connected to one another for passage. As I look ahead of me, the single file line stretches way ahead and is notable for the use of umbrellas as parasols for protection against the sun and heat. Many of the ramps are of ample width, but others are pretty narrow. The railings that do exist don't appear to be in good repair but are rusted and a bit wobbly. The final, approximately 10 foot ramp is about 2 feet wide and there is no railing. Hmmm... At this point, we climb a very long, wide set of stairs: It's not a hard climb, because the step depth is maybe about 4 inches deep or so all the way up to the top where we climb into open, large golf cart looking vehicles to go a short distance where we are dropped off to walk through an area with lots of hawkers selling souvenirs (- I buy hats for Anna and me since I had neglected to think to bring them with us to shore) to the bottom of a tram lift that's like a ski lift. Two by two, we take a pleasant ride to the top where we gather as a group to take a tour of Fengdu.
It's beastly hot and very difficult to understand our guide so I have a difficult time following her explanation of the large, unattractive, painted demon figures behind glass in the temples atop this hill known as Ming Mountain. The collection of Buddhist and Taoist temples up here is known as "Ghost City". The paint colors on the temples and the rooflines hold my interest. Taoist teachers here then were two officials of the imperial court whose names together sound in Chinese like "King of Hell". It was felt that they became immortal, hence became known as "Ghost City". This was practiced 1700 years ago, during the Eastern Han Dynasty. It employed the use of witchcraft, so many aspects of this tour include little snippets of ways to stay lucky. During the Ming Dynasty, about 1300 years ago, Buddhism was introduced here.
This whole area once overlooked the town of Fengdu, but, in 2003, before the town was submerged by the Three Gorges Dam reservoir, the residents were relocated to a "new, larger version of Fengdu located across the Yangtze River on the south bank. Where the old town of Fengdu had a population of around 50,000 people, the new relocation city is home to approximately 100,000". So the handout tells me. We heard over and over again that people didn't mind too much, because their new abodes were so much larger than the ones they were used to.
On our way back to the Victoria Queen from Ming Mountain, Richard stops at one of the vendors to buy a pair of wild blue and white Hawaiian shorts to round out his wardrobe for this hot weather. Anna and I plot to take some photos of him in his new get-up, knowing that James and Ross will be much amused.
Once back on the ship, we rest up and get ready for the Captain's Welcoming Reception on Deck 4 followed by dinner in the dining room on the first deck aft. Later, back on Deck 4, the bar area, there is a "Chinese Dynasties Show" which includes an overview of customs and traditional costumes from "regions and periods of Chinese history". The following list is in order of costumes (to facilitate matching our photos with the correct region/period in China): Han, Qing, Tang, Ming servant and noble woman, 19th century - umbrellas, Qing - high collars, north China - green and red, modern China, Yi - one of minorities, Qinghai - source of Yangtze/cowboy hats, Qingjiao (?) - red with black bodice, Bai (?) couple - tea/headdresses, Miao (?) - green and blue/wide brimmed hats, Inner Mongolia - pink and green/tall hats, Yao - southern China, then, of course, this would be the perfect place to add a photo of Richard in his Hawaiian shorts. Off to our cabins we go for the night.
Firstly, we are advised not to drink the water but the ice and vegetables are safe. (We remain skeptical about this so are not planning to use the ice or eat the fresh vegetables. Wonder how they can ascertain safety of ice and veggies...)
Secondly, in an emergency, a horn will blare and bells will be rung. If in cabin, bring life jackets that are stowed on shelf in closet and go to the bar on the fourth deck. If not in cabin, go directly to the bar. (We wonder about the choice of location...)
Our cabin attendants are young women named "Bella" for our cabin and "Spring" for the cabins of Gail and Anna plus the Vertizes.
Richard got up early to go to tai chi, taught by the doctor on board, Dr. Liu.
Breakfast buffet is served on the first deck aft. Our travel group is assigned to sit together. Our ship is underway as of early this morning after permission was granted. The flooding has apparently altered ship traffic in recent weeks due to the fast, strong currents which can pose problems for ships that are underway.
Richard attends the talk about Chinese medicine that Dr. Liu gives at 9 a.m. Anna and I take the opportunity to sit on the little balcony outside of our cabin and gaze at the incredible vistas on either bank as we move by quickly, overlooking a great number of clumps of debris in the water and the muddy brown color of the river which Anna thinks looks like my coffee. The river banks meet the hills which rise up to small farms dotted with homes, some of which appear quite new and some of which appear quite old with very tired looking roof tiles. It's evident that the water level is very high when corn fields end in the water. We pass bridges, lush green landscape with banana plants and other greenery, shipyards with ramps that are presumably used to roll the ships down for launching, banks of high rise apartment buildings in passing towns. The ship traffic we see this a.m. looks similar to our ship but some of the boats are carrying cargo such as new cars.
Then we head to Deck 4 to hear a talk about the Yangtze and the three gorges entitled "Ancient Waters, the Timeless Yangtze" to be given by Aaron Jiang. This is stated on the plan of the day as an "informative introduction" about the Yangtze River. Aaron is a good speaker. He begins by describing the geography of the region: The Yangtze is the 3rd longest river in the world after the Nile and Amazon Rivers and the longest river in China. The Yellow River is located north of the Yangtze and runs generally west/east also such that the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are only connected by the Grand Canal in the east of China. (Anna's finding place and orphanage are both alongside the Grand Canal in Yangzhou). The pinyin name for the Yangtze River is Changjiang for "long river". The Yangtze now flows from the west to the east, but, historically, at first it flowed from east to west followed, in the next stage, by part of the river flowing from east to west and another part flowing from west to east when the earth of China was a summit. 30 to 40 million years ago, when the Himalayan mountain range and Qinghai-Tibet plateau were formed, caused by Asia and the Indian subcontinent crashing into one another, the river to the west broke through the limestone mountains in the east, creating what is known as the "Three Gorges" alongside the Yangtze fixing the flow from west to east. The 3 gorges are named Qutang (8km long), Wu (45km long), and Xiling (76km long). The Yellow River used to be known as the cradle of China, but, with the discovery of ancient civilizations that lived around the Yangtze River far earlier, Chinese archeologists now concur that both rivers are the cradles of Chinese civilization.
One of these civilizations is known as the Ba people who lived between 2000 and 3000 years ago, and were responsible for burying people in coffins and somehow placing the coffins in caves in the cliffs alongside the gorges. These are known as "hanging coffins". It remains a mystery as to how the coffins were placed in the caves, but several theories exist including that the water table was higher in ancient days or that the coffins were lowered in from above. These coffins were made with namu wood. Some but not all of the hanging coffins were removed before the dam was completed. Others have been washed away as the river level has risen as a result of the dam completion.
It is pointed out to us that China is shaped like a rooster with Hainan and Taipei being the claws. 30% of the Chinese population depend on the Yangtze River directly. It also supplies China with 40% of agricultural production, 80% of China's inland river traffic, 40% of industrial production, 25% of total cropland, and 70% of grain. (I have paraphrased the above info from Aaron's very nice handout).
During our voyage, we will cover about 400 miles from Chongqing to Yichang. Recent, unprecedented flooding since the dam was built downstream has altered the ship traffic. The locks have been closed in recent days. One of the sister ships to this one is too big to go up river because of the flooding and turbulence. We learn that there are 130 folks on this cruise ship.
Aaron adds that there are sturgeon in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, there used to be dolphins in the middle reach of the river but they're likely extinct now though there are porpoises, and there are alligators in the lower reaches of the river.
Regarding Chinese cuisine, "hot pots" had their origin here. (I don't believe we enjoyed this fare on the trip).
After Aaron concludes his talk today (- he will talk about the dam construction and controversy tomorrow so stay tuned...), he encourages us to go forward outside on the bow as we pass by the town Fuling, part of which was submerged after the dam completion down river. People there were relocated to buildings that were built for them with apartments inside that were larger than what they left. Fuling was the town featured in the book River Town by Peter Hessler, an American who lived in Fuling for several years in the 1990s. Several of the other tourists on this cruise highly recommend this book. Aaron points out that the Chinese government built an underground museum in Fuling to preserve relics of carvings that would have been submerged in water as the river rose after the dam was built. We are not scheduled to stop to see it but see two large, concrete tubes that go into the water alongside a long set of steps that appear to rise from the water going up to the town. (As I write this, I realize that I'm not sure that the underground museum is completed yet. ? It may just be that access to ship traffic is precluded due to the underground structure). Along the river, we will see other long sets of steps come up from the river to towns. These steps are clearly old, from a past dynasty of one or another but am not sure which one. Buoys along the Yangtze are fishing boats attached to moorings with red buoys set inside the boats. The huge clumps of trash and debris in the Yangtze are astounding in terms of amount and content. Anna tells us later that she saw a bloated dead pig. Richard saw the lid of a coffin, pointed out by our guide Aaron, followed by the container of a coffin a short while later.
During the lunch buffet in the dining room which is surrounded by windows so we don't find that we have to miss any passing scenery, our ship docks alongside another ship of the same vintage as ours. It's done so smoothly that one would hardly realize it. We are at Fengdu where we exit the ship through another and pass by open, large bowls of vegetables that are in a stage of preparation. Members of the crew are alongside to assist us if need be though assistance is negligible as we get off the ships, I notice. We go ashore via a long series of ramps that have been connected to one another for passage. As I look ahead of me, the single file line stretches way ahead and is notable for the use of umbrellas as parasols for protection against the sun and heat. Many of the ramps are of ample width, but others are pretty narrow. The railings that do exist don't appear to be in good repair but are rusted and a bit wobbly. The final, approximately 10 foot ramp is about 2 feet wide and there is no railing. Hmmm... At this point, we climb a very long, wide set of stairs: It's not a hard climb, because the step depth is maybe about 4 inches deep or so all the way up to the top where we climb into open, large golf cart looking vehicles to go a short distance where we are dropped off to walk through an area with lots of hawkers selling souvenirs (- I buy hats for Anna and me since I had neglected to think to bring them with us to shore) to the bottom of a tram lift that's like a ski lift. Two by two, we take a pleasant ride to the top where we gather as a group to take a tour of Fengdu.
It's beastly hot and very difficult to understand our guide so I have a difficult time following her explanation of the large, unattractive, painted demon figures behind glass in the temples atop this hill known as Ming Mountain. The collection of Buddhist and Taoist temples up here is known as "Ghost City". The paint colors on the temples and the rooflines hold my interest. Taoist teachers here then were two officials of the imperial court whose names together sound in Chinese like "King of Hell". It was felt that they became immortal, hence became known as "Ghost City". This was practiced 1700 years ago, during the Eastern Han Dynasty. It employed the use of witchcraft, so many aspects of this tour include little snippets of ways to stay lucky. During the Ming Dynasty, about 1300 years ago, Buddhism was introduced here.
This whole area once overlooked the town of Fengdu, but, in 2003, before the town was submerged by the Three Gorges Dam reservoir, the residents were relocated to a "new, larger version of Fengdu located across the Yangtze River on the south bank. Where the old town of Fengdu had a population of around 50,000 people, the new relocation city is home to approximately 100,000". So the handout tells me. We heard over and over again that people didn't mind too much, because their new abodes were so much larger than the ones they were used to.
On our way back to the Victoria Queen from Ming Mountain, Richard stops at one of the vendors to buy a pair of wild blue and white Hawaiian shorts to round out his wardrobe for this hot weather. Anna and I plot to take some photos of him in his new get-up, knowing that James and Ross will be much amused.
Once back on the ship, we rest up and get ready for the Captain's Welcoming Reception on Deck 4 followed by dinner in the dining room on the first deck aft. Later, back on Deck 4, the bar area, there is a "Chinese Dynasties Show" which includes an overview of customs and traditional costumes from "regions and periods of Chinese history". The following list is in order of costumes (to facilitate matching our photos with the correct region/period in China): Han, Qing, Tang, Ming servant and noble woman, 19th century - umbrellas, Qing - high collars, north China - green and red, modern China, Yi - one of minorities, Qinghai - source of Yangtze/cowboy hats, Qingjiao (?) - red with black bodice, Bai (?) couple - tea/headdresses, Miao (?) - green and blue/wide brimmed hats, Inner Mongolia - pink and green/tall hats, Yao - southern China, then, of course, this would be the perfect place to add a photo of Richard in his Hawaiian shorts. Off to our cabins we go for the night.
Monday July 26 Chengdu to Chongqing where we embark on Victoria Queen
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.
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.
Sunday July 25 Chengdu
First, some "random" - as Anna would say - thoughts:
Learning about the history of China has been very helpful in terms of understanding what we're seeing and where it fits in the historical chronology of this country. It took some amount of time to put the synopsis of the synopsis on paper (prior to our trip; another obstacle to cleaning off that kitchen counter...), but, so far, the information it contains has held up! Additionally, it has been useful to have some maps with us and the Lonely Planet guide with us. (So far, we've been able to hold onto it without having it confiscated. The guide mentions some reports of that happening, advising covering it in some way. My copy is sufficiently surrounded by stuff to conceal it, I think.)
Following on the above, it has been very useful to be comfortable with pinyin. I'm also able to understand a few Chinese words here and there and am trying to make more of an effort to use a bit of the Mandarin I've learned. Anna is great about correcting my attempts, but she has seemed reluctant to try out her language abilities, too, so far. She did tell me yesterday, however, that she finds that she can understand some words. Now that we're into the trip and a bit more comfortable in the general surroundings, I'm going to venture to be a bit braver about trying to speak Mandarin and hope that Anna will be as well. Yesterday, a shopkeeper seemed happily surprised that I was able to say numbers in Mandarin Chinese.
Am amazed at how "westernized" what we're seeing in China is even down to the western style toilets that are available in so many places. Have only been to one place where the toilets available were the squat type and there might have been a western style toilet available there (- the airport in Guilin, I believe) had I looked more carefully for one. Am surprised since the prevailing opinion amongst Asians is that it's healthier all the way around to use the squat type for a bunch of reasons. Always seemed to me to be an easy concession on the part of westerners, too.
Next, the small size of our group seems just right, holding lots of advantages in terms of moving from one location to another pretty easily to making decisions when necessary. Additionally, that Anna and Becky are able to be together on this journey with their shared background of being adoptees from China probably makes this not only more fun for them but they will likely have in common feelings about this experience that come from their unique perspective. Finally, having Gail with us on this journey has been a Godsend: She is not only a very easy, adventurous traveling companion but has also been another set of eyes for all that we're seeing and experiencing.
A plug for the Clothes Box at AAMC: The day before we left, I decided that I probably needed some more blouses that would be light and easy to hand wash and hang to dry as well as be more comfortable in the heat. I went there during Mom's volunteer time and found several shirts that fit the bill perfectly!
Additionally, Richard, Anna, and I have brought the right amount of luggage: A suitcase - 25 inch each for Anna and me, 27 inch one for Richard - and a backpack each. We checked the suitcases each time and have been able to carry our backpacks on every flight. (Note: Our backpacks worked very well as carry-ons for the entire trip. Also, my black nylon purse with zippered compartments continues to be the best traveling purse ever.)
Finally, the traffic patterns are consistently astounding! How we have not witnessed more accidents is beyond me. The only thing that I've noticed that might be key is that "road rage" is not apparent on the part of anyone in the traffic on the roads from pedestrians to bicyclists to scooters to cars to buses. There is certainly the occasional horn blowing but it appears to be when it's necessary versus just to make a point. A "casual flow" best describe the traffic, I think. So far, everywhere we've been, rickshaws have been very few and far between while taxis are plentiful.
Now, to our day:
Breakfast buffet on the second floor in the coffee shop area.
"Panda Day" it is. Shelley briefs us on information about pandas en route to the Chengdu Panda Breeding Center, one of four such centers in this province of Sichuan though one of them has been closed due to the earthquake in 2008. Several pandas died as a result of the quake before being transferred out. The hope is that the pandas that were living in the wild at the time were able to survive. Pandas have been in the decline for the following reasons:
1. Pandas need a lot of bamboo to survive (40 kgs/day), but bamboo dies eventually which leaves the pandas with no food source.
2. Pandas are very territorial and prefer to live alone, minimizing the birth rate.
3. Breeding time is only one month out of each year, 3 days of which are the peak time for conception.
4. First time panda mothers (between 5 and 20 years old) don't always care for their first baby. They have a 50% chance of having twins but will only care for one.
5. Golden cats and leopards are natural predators making the life span in the wild 16 years or so, compared to about 24 in the breeding center.
Notes about gestation: Difficult to predict delivery date because period of gestation spans from 90 to 180 days, depending on time of implantation of embryo in uterus.
Baby pandas eat bamboo by about 1 year old and separate from their mothers by about 18 months old. Panda mothers' milk is green. Panda fathers are totally uninvolved with babies. The newest baby in the Chengdu Breeding Center is ten days old. Baby pandas stay together in captivity. Need to be in incubator for about 3 months if not cared for by mother; twins are switched off between mother and incubator.
Giant pandas are in the panda family though their bones are more like a red panda. There are 1700 giant pandas in the world, 25% of whom are in the breeding centers while 75% of them live in the wild. There were only 1000 giant pandas about ten years ago. The panda species is about 8 million years old. They changed from being carnivores to being vegetarians. Only about 20% of the bamboo they eat is digestible. Much training is involved in order to release pandas into the wild and that effort has not met with much success to date. First panda released into wild in 2006 but died. Second one released in 2008. For now, the program has been suspended due to the earthquake.
Red pandas are in the raccoon family. There are 5000 red pandas in the world.
We enjoyed a wonderful visit at the breeding center. It was very rainy, but we each used an umbrella. The rain made it a bit cooler, I think. The landscaping along the nicely maintained paved paths was very lush. We saw a whole group of 2 year old pandas some of whom were eating bamboo, some were sleeping, some climbing a tree. To the tune of a 1000 yuan "donation", Anna held a baby panda named "Ya Li" who is about a year old in her lap. We also saw a group of red pandas at feeding time.
We all climbed a aboard the bus again in order to go to a restaurant for Sichuan food which was delicious. Round table, lazy susan.
Back on the bus, Shelley fills us in on more details about Chengdu. It is known for pandas, Sichuan cuisine, teahouses of several kinds, "changing faces" - will see in show this evening, and brocade-making. Common flower is hibiscus. Flat terrain in area. Shelley then takes us to the Jinli Gujie district that is a shopping district built in the architectural style of the Han Dynasty. Richard and Gail strike out on their own while Anne and Anna go with the Vertizes to the Jinli district. Anne takes photos of the Han style of architecture. Richard heads for the Wuhou Shrine adjacent to the Jinli area and finds it very worthwhile. We all meet after an hour and head back to the hotel on the bus after which we take it easy for the rest of the afternoon.
This evening, Shelley accompanies us on the bus to go to the "Changing Faces" show which is a compendium of performances by various artists, including a large stick puppet, a musician playing an erhu, hand shadow show, opera singing, and changing faces and spitting fire. Really a captivating show. Back on the bus, we head for the hotel again and bed.
Learning about the history of China has been very helpful in terms of understanding what we're seeing and where it fits in the historical chronology of this country. It took some amount of time to put the synopsis of the synopsis on paper (prior to our trip; another obstacle to cleaning off that kitchen counter...), but, so far, the information it contains has held up! Additionally, it has been useful to have some maps with us and the Lonely Planet guide with us. (So far, we've been able to hold onto it without having it confiscated. The guide mentions some reports of that happening, advising covering it in some way. My copy is sufficiently surrounded by stuff to conceal it, I think.)
Following on the above, it has been very useful to be comfortable with pinyin. I'm also able to understand a few Chinese words here and there and am trying to make more of an effort to use a bit of the Mandarin I've learned. Anna is great about correcting my attempts, but she has seemed reluctant to try out her language abilities, too, so far. She did tell me yesterday, however, that she finds that she can understand some words. Now that we're into the trip and a bit more comfortable in the general surroundings, I'm going to venture to be a bit braver about trying to speak Mandarin and hope that Anna will be as well. Yesterday, a shopkeeper seemed happily surprised that I was able to say numbers in Mandarin Chinese.
Am amazed at how "westernized" what we're seeing in China is even down to the western style toilets that are available in so many places. Have only been to one place where the toilets available were the squat type and there might have been a western style toilet available there (- the airport in Guilin, I believe) had I looked more carefully for one. Am surprised since the prevailing opinion amongst Asians is that it's healthier all the way around to use the squat type for a bunch of reasons. Always seemed to me to be an easy concession on the part of westerners, too.
Next, the small size of our group seems just right, holding lots of advantages in terms of moving from one location to another pretty easily to making decisions when necessary. Additionally, that Anna and Becky are able to be together on this journey with their shared background of being adoptees from China probably makes this not only more fun for them but they will likely have in common feelings about this experience that come from their unique perspective. Finally, having Gail with us on this journey has been a Godsend: She is not only a very easy, adventurous traveling companion but has also been another set of eyes for all that we're seeing and experiencing.
A plug for the Clothes Box at AAMC: The day before we left, I decided that I probably needed some more blouses that would be light and easy to hand wash and hang to dry as well as be more comfortable in the heat. I went there during Mom's volunteer time and found several shirts that fit the bill perfectly!
Additionally, Richard, Anna, and I have brought the right amount of luggage: A suitcase - 25 inch each for Anna and me, 27 inch one for Richard - and a backpack each. We checked the suitcases each time and have been able to carry our backpacks on every flight. (Note: Our backpacks worked very well as carry-ons for the entire trip. Also, my black nylon purse with zippered compartments continues to be the best traveling purse ever.)
Finally, the traffic patterns are consistently astounding! How we have not witnessed more accidents is beyond me. The only thing that I've noticed that might be key is that "road rage" is not apparent on the part of anyone in the traffic on the roads from pedestrians to bicyclists to scooters to cars to buses. There is certainly the occasional horn blowing but it appears to be when it's necessary versus just to make a point. A "casual flow" best describe the traffic, I think. So far, everywhere we've been, rickshaws have been very few and far between while taxis are plentiful.
Now, to our day:
Breakfast buffet on the second floor in the coffee shop area.
"Panda Day" it is. Shelley briefs us on information about pandas en route to the Chengdu Panda Breeding Center, one of four such centers in this province of Sichuan though one of them has been closed due to the earthquake in 2008. Several pandas died as a result of the quake before being transferred out. The hope is that the pandas that were living in the wild at the time were able to survive. Pandas have been in the decline for the following reasons:
1. Pandas need a lot of bamboo to survive (40 kgs/day), but bamboo dies eventually which leaves the pandas with no food source.
2. Pandas are very territorial and prefer to live alone, minimizing the birth rate.
3. Breeding time is only one month out of each year, 3 days of which are the peak time for conception.
4. First time panda mothers (between 5 and 20 years old) don't always care for their first baby. They have a 50% chance of having twins but will only care for one.
5. Golden cats and leopards are natural predators making the life span in the wild 16 years or so, compared to about 24 in the breeding center.
Notes about gestation: Difficult to predict delivery date because period of gestation spans from 90 to 180 days, depending on time of implantation of embryo in uterus.
Baby pandas eat bamboo by about 1 year old and separate from their mothers by about 18 months old. Panda mothers' milk is green. Panda fathers are totally uninvolved with babies. The newest baby in the Chengdu Breeding Center is ten days old. Baby pandas stay together in captivity. Need to be in incubator for about 3 months if not cared for by mother; twins are switched off between mother and incubator.
Giant pandas are in the panda family though their bones are more like a red panda. There are 1700 giant pandas in the world, 25% of whom are in the breeding centers while 75% of them live in the wild. There were only 1000 giant pandas about ten years ago. The panda species is about 8 million years old. They changed from being carnivores to being vegetarians. Only about 20% of the bamboo they eat is digestible. Much training is involved in order to release pandas into the wild and that effort has not met with much success to date. First panda released into wild in 2006 but died. Second one released in 2008. For now, the program has been suspended due to the earthquake.
Red pandas are in the raccoon family. There are 5000 red pandas in the world.
We enjoyed a wonderful visit at the breeding center. It was very rainy, but we each used an umbrella. The rain made it a bit cooler, I think. The landscaping along the nicely maintained paved paths was very lush. We saw a whole group of 2 year old pandas some of whom were eating bamboo, some were sleeping, some climbing a tree. To the tune of a 1000 yuan "donation", Anna held a baby panda named "Ya Li" who is about a year old in her lap. We also saw a group of red pandas at feeding time.
We all climbed a aboard the bus again in order to go to a restaurant for Sichuan food which was delicious. Round table, lazy susan.
Back on the bus, Shelley fills us in on more details about Chengdu. It is known for pandas, Sichuan cuisine, teahouses of several kinds, "changing faces" - will see in show this evening, and brocade-making. Common flower is hibiscus. Flat terrain in area. Shelley then takes us to the Jinli Gujie district that is a shopping district built in the architectural style of the Han Dynasty. Richard and Gail strike out on their own while Anne and Anna go with the Vertizes to the Jinli district. Anne takes photos of the Han style of architecture. Richard heads for the Wuhou Shrine adjacent to the Jinli area and finds it very worthwhile. We all meet after an hour and head back to the hotel on the bus after which we take it easy for the rest of the afternoon.
This evening, Shelley accompanies us on the bus to go to the "Changing Faces" show which is a compendium of performances by various artists, including a large stick puppet, a musician playing an erhu, hand shadow show, opera singing, and changing faces and spitting fire. Really a captivating show. Back on the bus, we head for the hotel again and bed.
Saturday July 24 Nanjing to Chengdu
We pack up, eat breakfast, pile into van for trip to airport with detour of visiting jade place first. Once again, I am feeling pressured to buy things that I know little about. We have no idea of what to expect in terms of prices which is our first mistake. My second mistake is to allow these salespeople to separate Richard and me from one another. I back down from our original intent of what we were considering buying due to the steep prices. There is then some sort of a shuffle of items that Is beyond me to be able to understand and, in the melée, I miscalculate the price and pay much more than I would have liked, I discover to my dismay later. After all, I wonder if what we purchased is of any quality at all, to boot. With some amusement, I wonder if this is where the expression "to be jaded" comes from. Ugh.
To the airport we go to head for Chengdu. When we're retrieving our luggage in baggage claim, we introduce ourselves to an American Chinese family who are from Houston, just coming from Yangzhou where they were visiting their grandparents, and are now in Chengdu to participate in some sort of a writer's workshop where they will be interviewing children about their experiences in the earthquake in May of 2008. Would be nice to connect with them on two counts - Yangzhou and their project. I mentioned the work of Half the Sky Foundation to them.
We meet our guide Shelley at the airport and our bus driver drives us in a van to our hotel, the Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel, which certainly appears very elegant and brand new. In fact, driving into Chengdu seems like driving into a big city in the U.S. - fancy shopping districts with fancy name brand stuff. For example, Prada seems to be in at least one place everywhere. We check in and take it easy for a bit until dinnertime. Anna finally gets into one of the books that she brought with her while I catch up on my journaling and Richard is working on his family history stuff while Gail has a rest. When we head downstairs, we run into the Vertizes who have just arrived at the hotel from Becky's orphanage in Jiangxi. We all head for a Sichuan restaurant called Chen Ma Po Bean Curd Restaurant where the menu is completely in Chinese and the wait staff knows no English. One of the patrons helps us out by translating for us and for the wait staff. Hmmm... I should have brought my IPad to use the Chinese English dictionary... I think it's the best meal we've had the whole trip - crunchy, cut-up, fresh vegetables in the dishes and just the right flavoring spice-wise. We walk back to the hotel and decide to get some ice cream on the second floor. Small dishes of ice cream end up costing us more than all of dinner!
To the airport we go to head for Chengdu. When we're retrieving our luggage in baggage claim, we introduce ourselves to an American Chinese family who are from Houston, just coming from Yangzhou where they were visiting their grandparents, and are now in Chengdu to participate in some sort of a writer's workshop where they will be interviewing children about their experiences in the earthquake in May of 2008. Would be nice to connect with them on two counts - Yangzhou and their project. I mentioned the work of Half the Sky Foundation to them.
We meet our guide Shelley at the airport and our bus driver drives us in a van to our hotel, the Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel, which certainly appears very elegant and brand new. In fact, driving into Chengdu seems like driving into a big city in the U.S. - fancy shopping districts with fancy name brand stuff. For example, Prada seems to be in at least one place everywhere. We check in and take it easy for a bit until dinnertime. Anna finally gets into one of the books that she brought with her while I catch up on my journaling and Richard is working on his family history stuff while Gail has a rest. When we head downstairs, we run into the Vertizes who have just arrived at the hotel from Becky's orphanage in Jiangxi. We all head for a Sichuan restaurant called Chen Ma Po Bean Curd Restaurant where the menu is completely in Chinese and the wait staff knows no English. One of the patrons helps us out by translating for us and for the wait staff. Hmmm... I should have brought my IPad to use the Chinese English dictionary... I think it's the best meal we've had the whole trip - crunchy, cut-up, fresh vegetables in the dishes and just the right flavoring spice-wise. We walk back to the hotel and decide to get some ice cream on the second floor. Small dishes of ice cream end up costing us more than all of dinner!
Friday July 23 Nanjing to Yangzhou by van
After a buffet breakfast Mandarin Garden Hotel Nanjing style, we meet our guide Susan and climb into the van driven by our kind bus driver. Anna is attired in her red butterfly dress specially chosen for this occasion. We are driven to the Civil Affairs office in Nanjing to pay a fee of 2000 yuan for the privilege of revisiting the orphanage. How much money the orphanage will get out of this is subject to question, but it's now a requirement on the part of the Chinese government. Unsure of the decorum with regard to making this payment which I was hoping might be a gift for the orphanage, I had placed the yuan in a red envelope. When the civil affairs representative takes it, she laughed. I resisted taking back the red envelope itself, but think that I should have... We are quickly off to a supermarket where we hurriedly pick packages of Pamper diapers and plastic toys off the shelves to buy at the request of the orphanage as a gift for the children. Then we are off on the longer drive than I had remembered from 1999 to Yangzhou. It's a lot more built up than in 1999. We pass by lots of very tall, new apartment buildings interspersed with green rice paddies and older one story buildings with old style roof lines that are made of clay tile and have stone figures of animals atop to ward off evil spirits. We also pass by areas of storefronts with roll down fronts that are restaurants, stores, mostly empty, or stuffed with goods of one sort or another, all of which appear a bit worse for wear. The people in these areas look a bit worn out too, by and large. We cross over the Yangtze River on a long bridge with sculptures on each side that commemorate "The Long March" in 1934 when the Chinese Communist Party fled the Kuomintang and marched a distance of 6000 miles from Jiangxi to Shaanxi Province. This bridge was built from 1959 to 1969. As we enter the outskirts of Yangzhou, there are many car dealerships including Mercedes Benz and VW. Susan explains that Yangzhou is an ancient city about 2500 years old and that the opening of the Grand Canal is what made it famous. During the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou was one of ten major cities. Houses in Yangzhou have flat roofs. 4.6 million people live in the general area. It is close to noon before we arrive at the Yangzhou Public Welfare House. When we pull up to the front of the children's building, Susan points out that the large red placard with gold characters on the front and little pink tulips in the lower left corner is a sign welcoming Yang Ru Qian back to visit. The assistant director comes out to greet us and we are ushered inside to a room and invited to sit in very small wooden children-sized chairs to watch a video about the reunion that was held last March for adoptees from Yangzhou SWI. From the looks of the video, it was quite an event and one that brought out the local officials as well. Apparently, the American Ambassador and his wife have adopted a young girl from Yangzhou SWI.
We then exchange gifts beginning with Anna's going through the photo album that she has prepared to tell them about her life. 2 others have joined our group by this point in the visit - a Miss Yan who has been in charge of the nannies for 25 years and a younger woman named Miss Fan who can speak some English and helps with the translating. They are very impressed with Anna's artful way of creating her album. They are then given packets of Anna's notecards and are very pleased to learn that the art work is hers! Right away, the assistant director invites Anna to paint something larger that will be placed in an exhibit hall they are hoping to set up about the lives of those who have been adopted from Yangzhou SWI. They are also interested in seeing a video of Anna's ballet. The assistant director Mr. Huang gives Anna a red packet that contains beautiful paper-cuts, and also gives us a video about the reunion last March, the same that we were just shown. We were not able to attend that reunion, but we sent a page of photos of Anna to go into a book for the occasion. We ascertain that their files don't include anything that we don't already have. There is no information to shed light on how Anna was named other than "the workers" would have named her and that it is a nice name. Anna thinks that the nannies must have named her. The Yangzhou SWI is very interested in maintaining contact with those who have been adopted out. Photos are taken and then we are taken on a tour of this new facility. (The one that Anna lived in was torn down to make way for this new one). There are nice designs painted on the walls in pastel colors including green, yellow, pink, purple, and others from the ground up. We go up to the second floor to see the sleeping spaces and the therapy rooms. It is nap time and there are two rooms with banks of wooden cribs inside each - Anna thinks maybe 50 cribs in each room. The cribs are pushed together so that they are touching one another, back to back in two long rows. But for one baby crying, they all appear fast asleep include one young boy whose legs are dangling outside of the side of the crib. I don't see any adult in the rooms monitoring the children but I'm distracted in the situation so I may not have noticed everything. The concrete dark green floor in the halls appears very clean. Overall, the area seems clean but a bit stark. We see some therapy equipment but where are the toys? On the way back downstairs, I have an opportunity to share with Miss Yan through Miss Fan that It was very clear to us that Anna came to us "full of love" . Her smile and demeanor tell me that she appreciates learning that. Miss Yan stays indoors and we wave goodbye to her as we start to walk around the grounds outdoors. The area is in the process of being landscaped and looks very nice. We have photos with us of our visit with Anna in 1999 and Mr. Huang is able to determine exactly where one of the photos was taken so we go there and take another, now over 11 years later. We see a small canal over a wall with a fishing boat tied up to the other bank. We walk along a winding path through a very tall thicket of bamboo. We climb aboard the van and drive away before I ask if Anna can leave her rocks back at the orphanage. Kindly, Mr. Huang asks the bus driver to turn around so that we can go back. Richard climbs out with Anna who leaves her rocks there and picks up a few to bring with us from there. We then head off in the van for a luncheon with the assistant director on the second floor in a private room of a local restaurant. Round table, lazy Susan, bowls of soup, fried rice, green tea, and sprite in small wine glasses. Susan, our guide and interpreter, and the bus driver join us at the table. We are pleased that the bus driver has joined us for lunch. It had been made clear to us that we are being treated to Lunch courtesy of the assistant director. At the conclusion of lunch, we say our thank you and goodbyes as he will take a taxi back to the orphanage while we head off to see Anna's "finding place" which the bus driver knows the location of - the Yuejin Bridge over the Grand Canal. When we adopted Anna, we hired a taxi to come see the place but it was dark and looked like a pedestrian bridge at that time. Not so this time. Though there are sidewalks, the street itself looks pretty busy. Of course, the whole area seems so built up compared to the last time we were here. At any rate, it's a fairly pretty area as weeping willow trees line the canal. Again we take photos though passing folks on motor scooters and bicycles look like they're wondering what we're doing. After that, we're off, back to Nanjing - this time taking the ferry across the Yangtze instead of the bridge. Will it be a stretch to say that we've been boating on the Yangtze, I wonder? On the way back in the van, Anna tells me that she feels it's been a good day, not as emotional as she thought it was going to be, and that she'd like to come back and play with the babies and children. We make one more stop before going to the hotel, that of stopping at a "brocade museum" to see how silk is made and then woven into fine garments. We see about 8 large looms that are in use. Several of them have something like a second floor above the main part of the loom which is being worked by a second individual. On our way to the showroom, we see some incredibly intricate examples of cloth in the form of royal robes and others. Then, predictably, we are thrust into this shopping situation again where I feel obligated to buy something, but what!? Because it is the eve of Ali and Steve's wedding day, we decide to get them a double phoenix design of handiwork which is the symbol that is given to couples on the occasion of their weddings. How timely! Once back at the hotel, Anna and I opt to stay in for the evening while Richard and Gail head out to walk around the Confucian Temple and night market and then have dinner. It's been a long day and visiting the orphanage, the crux of the trip, has been tiring. Anna opts to stay overnight with us in our room tonight which is fine. Nice to be close at the end of this day.
Note: 56 minorities in China all of which have dance styles.
Note: Susan is very familiar with Half the Sky Foundation.
We then exchange gifts beginning with Anna's going through the photo album that she has prepared to tell them about her life. 2 others have joined our group by this point in the visit - a Miss Yan who has been in charge of the nannies for 25 years and a younger woman named Miss Fan who can speak some English and helps with the translating. They are very impressed with Anna's artful way of creating her album. They are then given packets of Anna's notecards and are very pleased to learn that the art work is hers! Right away, the assistant director invites Anna to paint something larger that will be placed in an exhibit hall they are hoping to set up about the lives of those who have been adopted from Yangzhou SWI. They are also interested in seeing a video of Anna's ballet. The assistant director Mr. Huang gives Anna a red packet that contains beautiful paper-cuts, and also gives us a video about the reunion last March, the same that we were just shown. We were not able to attend that reunion, but we sent a page of photos of Anna to go into a book for the occasion. We ascertain that their files don't include anything that we don't already have. There is no information to shed light on how Anna was named other than "the workers" would have named her and that it is a nice name. Anna thinks that the nannies must have named her. The Yangzhou SWI is very interested in maintaining contact with those who have been adopted out. Photos are taken and then we are taken on a tour of this new facility. (The one that Anna lived in was torn down to make way for this new one). There are nice designs painted on the walls in pastel colors including green, yellow, pink, purple, and others from the ground up. We go up to the second floor to see the sleeping spaces and the therapy rooms. It is nap time and there are two rooms with banks of wooden cribs inside each - Anna thinks maybe 50 cribs in each room. The cribs are pushed together so that they are touching one another, back to back in two long rows. But for one baby crying, they all appear fast asleep include one young boy whose legs are dangling outside of the side of the crib. I don't see any adult in the rooms monitoring the children but I'm distracted in the situation so I may not have noticed everything. The concrete dark green floor in the halls appears very clean. Overall, the area seems clean but a bit stark. We see some therapy equipment but where are the toys? On the way back downstairs, I have an opportunity to share with Miss Yan through Miss Fan that It was very clear to us that Anna came to us "full of love" . Her smile and demeanor tell me that she appreciates learning that. Miss Yan stays indoors and we wave goodbye to her as we start to walk around the grounds outdoors. The area is in the process of being landscaped and looks very nice. We have photos with us of our visit with Anna in 1999 and Mr. Huang is able to determine exactly where one of the photos was taken so we go there and take another, now over 11 years later. We see a small canal over a wall with a fishing boat tied up to the other bank. We walk along a winding path through a very tall thicket of bamboo. We climb aboard the van and drive away before I ask if Anna can leave her rocks back at the orphanage. Kindly, Mr. Huang asks the bus driver to turn around so that we can go back. Richard climbs out with Anna who leaves her rocks there and picks up a few to bring with us from there. We then head off in the van for a luncheon with the assistant director on the second floor in a private room of a local restaurant. Round table, lazy Susan, bowls of soup, fried rice, green tea, and sprite in small wine glasses. Susan, our guide and interpreter, and the bus driver join us at the table. We are pleased that the bus driver has joined us for lunch. It had been made clear to us that we are being treated to Lunch courtesy of the assistant director. At the conclusion of lunch, we say our thank you and goodbyes as he will take a taxi back to the orphanage while we head off to see Anna's "finding place" which the bus driver knows the location of - the Yuejin Bridge over the Grand Canal. When we adopted Anna, we hired a taxi to come see the place but it was dark and looked like a pedestrian bridge at that time. Not so this time. Though there are sidewalks, the street itself looks pretty busy. Of course, the whole area seems so built up compared to the last time we were here. At any rate, it's a fairly pretty area as weeping willow trees line the canal. Again we take photos though passing folks on motor scooters and bicycles look like they're wondering what we're doing. After that, we're off, back to Nanjing - this time taking the ferry across the Yangtze instead of the bridge. Will it be a stretch to say that we've been boating on the Yangtze, I wonder? On the way back in the van, Anna tells me that she feels it's been a good day, not as emotional as she thought it was going to be, and that she'd like to come back and play with the babies and children. We make one more stop before going to the hotel, that of stopping at a "brocade museum" to see how silk is made and then woven into fine garments. We see about 8 large looms that are in use. Several of them have something like a second floor above the main part of the loom which is being worked by a second individual. On our way to the showroom, we see some incredibly intricate examples of cloth in the form of royal robes and others. Then, predictably, we are thrust into this shopping situation again where I feel obligated to buy something, but what!? Because it is the eve of Ali and Steve's wedding day, we decide to get them a double phoenix design of handiwork which is the symbol that is given to couples on the occasion of their weddings. How timely! Once back at the hotel, Anna and I opt to stay in for the evening while Richard and Gail head out to walk around the Confucian Temple and night market and then have dinner. It's been a long day and visiting the orphanage, the crux of the trip, has been tiring. Anna opts to stay overnight with us in our room tonight which is fine. Nice to be close at the end of this day.
Note: 56 minorities in China all of which have dance styles.
Note: Susan is very familiar with Half the Sky Foundation.
Thursday July 22 Guangzhou to Nanjing
After a nice breakfast in the coffee shop during which we are seated amongst many families with their newly adopted babes and youngsters, we learn that our flight has been delayed for several hours so we opt to stay at the hotel versus wait at the airport for a lengthy time. Anna and I stay in the room so that I can catch up on my journal while Richard and Gail go off to the market to take a look around. Once at the airport, we find that the Vertizes have not yet left as their flight was delayed also while our flight has been delayed even more. We buy some lychee nuts for 61 yuan and share them with the Vertizes. Then we wait for our flight by reading, journaling, and resting. By the time we get to Nanjing and are met by our guide Susan and our bus driver with a van, it's dark and it takes us about an hour to get to the hotel where we check in and get ready for our big day tomorrow.
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