China Spring 2016 Part 12

On Day 10, we landed in Chongqing, the biggest city in China with a population of 34 million people. We disembarked and then it took us at least two hours to travel by bus to the airport. Luckily we had a local guide aboard the bus to tell us about this "biggest city you never heard of". We flew to Shanghai and took another long bus ride to the old town of Suzhou. The city is divided by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from north to south. 42% area of the city is covered by water, including a vast number of ponds and streams, and it is praised as the 'Venice of the Orient'. Built in 514 BC, this is an ancient city with over 2,500 years of history. The unique characteristics of the past are still retained today. The double-chessboard layout of the city, with 'the streets and rivers going side by side while the water and land routes running in parallel', is preserved intact.

The darker blue line shows the portion of the Yangtze that we cruised.
The straight aqua line shows our flight path to Shanghai.

Chongqing

We drove through a tunnel through the hillside beside the Yangtze and entered the other side
of the huge metropolis of  Chongqing. It is very hot and humid there and always cloudy
because the rivers and hills trap the moist air and hold it from dispersing. 

Old Suzhou to the west and newer Shanghai to the east

We walked along canals like this to get to our restaurant for
dinner that night. It was very picturesque. 

Another typical hotel room. 

Our nighttime view from the hotel. We went down and walked the
streets below just to stretch our legs after a long day of travel. 

China Spring 2016 Part 11

Day 9 Yangtze River Cruise - Shibaozhai On our last day on the Yangtze River, we visited the Precious Stone Fortress, The Rock. 164 feet high, it is in a shape of an imperial seal. A vermilion 12-story pavilion has been built against the rock. A legend tells that when Nu Va patched up the sky, she left this large colored stone, regarded as precious stone and, later during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) an insurgent army settled and used it as their fortress. Hence the place got its name the Precious Stone Fortress.

Built in the Ming Dynasty, Shibaozhai consists of a gate, a pavilion and a temple. The gate is carved with some vivid reliefs. Within the gate is the 184 feet high 12-story wooden pavilion. It is the tallest specimen of ancient architecture with the most stories in China and reputed as one of the eight fantastic examples of architecture in the world. Originally it was nine stories high and was climbed with only footholds; later the stairs and in 1956 three more stories (called Kuixing Pavilion) were added.

Of course the path to the Shibaozhai was lined with stalls of every type of souvenir that you would not want to buy with owners working really hard to gain your attention and your money. The photos include our walk to the temple, the Pavilion, and Gods in the temple.

On the way to the pavilion

The Gate

The Pavilion on a hill beside the river, before the dam.

A dike/wall was built around the hill to keep the rising water away
from the hill and a bridge built to access what is now an island.

Walking on the bridge is surprisingly difficult because it
sways and shifts as all the people cross together.

The Pagoda rises behind us.

A beautiful doorway to enter the staircases.

Looking out one of the windows from the stairway

Inside the newer stairs to climb the hill to the Pagoda and Temple.

Marv was the only one of the four of us who went all the way to the
top "floor" of the Pagoda, which was a tiny room. The ornate yellow
doorway leads to the Temple.

Marv's view from the top of the Pagoda, looking at our cruise ship

Marv is up there in the window at the top

Some of the colorful Gods that greeted us in the Temple

A view from partway up the Pagoda of the bridge

Final dinner on the cruise ship with our guide, Geoff in the middle

China Spring 2016 Part 10

On Day 8, we spent the day on a small boat cruising one of the lesser gorges, The Wu Gorge. It has always been a vacation area along the Yangtze River, and it still is, only now it’s 300 meters higher, so the cliffs aren’t as towering. The village of Wushan is at the opening to the gorge and had been there for hundreds if not thousands of years. When the Dam was built the villagers and farmers outside of town were given the choice of being moved to another city, taking a small tract of land higher along the mountain sides to farm, or moving to new dwellings in the entirely new, rebuilt city of Wushan. Our Wu Gorge guide’s family chose to remain in the city. She said it is bittersweet to have such nice, new quarters at the expense of the loss of their old village. She told us that in general the older people have great regrets and the younger people are happy with all new buildings and roads. 

A smaller river barge

The red arrow shows about how far up the Wu Gorge we traveled.

One could easily see from the water line that the river(s) are often 30 feet higher.

A bridge over the Wu Gorge to Wushan.

Even though the river is 300 feet higher than it was originally
the hills still rise up impressively high. A new farm is perched along
the hillside where none would have been before the dam was built.

A local taxi boat comes from up river. Farmers and Villagers from up river depend on the little boats
 to take children to school and goods to market because there are no roads up the hillsides.

A hanging coffin in a cave along the cliff. It was very high and it is amazing to remember
that the river was 300 feet lower when the coffin was placed there.

Farm buildings clinging to the hillside.

The cliffs "weep" causing formations like stalactites and stalagmites.

Goats clinging to the steep hillsides. It looked precipitous but we never
saw one stumble as they scrambled up and down with ease.

In this general area there was a small brown bear. I could see it when the
Guide pointed it out, but Marv couldn't so he shot the camera the best he could.

Looking back at the Gorge from the Yangtze.

Peggy relaxing on deck as we cruised up river.

A farm along the Yangtze River.

China Spring 2016 Part 9

In the afternoon, of Day 7 we visited the 3 Gorges Dam, the biggest dam in the world. Because of its size, it’s hard to get many good pictures, but I've included 2 photos of the model. There is a lot of controversy over the construction of the dam. Cons include the displacement of 1.2 million people, the loss of countless historical and cultural sites, severe environmental damage while the pros include an end to devastating floods, renewable energy equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants, and many other benefits. When the gorges were flooded, water levels were raised by as much as 300 ft. There are plenty of websites describing both the pros and cons which you can explore if you are interested. We passed through the 10 locks of the dam during the night, raising us 370 feet, to continue our voyage.

A picture of an aerial photo showing the ten locks.

Chinese mocking birds

Many of the bridges over the Yangtze were beautifully lighted!

Entering the first lock

The gates open.....

....and we enter the first lock.