From Xian we flew to Wuhan and took a six hour bus trip through the country, heading for Yichang where our river ship the President 1 was waiting for us. We would be on the river for four nights going upstream through the Three Gorges area. The ship had about one hundred passengers and was rated as the top ship of the fleet. Along the way we passed President 8 and 3, and indeed our ship looked more comfortable.

The ship remained at port that night and the following morning started its journey upstream to the little town of Sandouping where we then took a bus to visit the Three Gorges Dam project.
It had started to drizzle a bit and the fog was quite thick as we watched from the top deck.

The dam, and later the locks, were barely visible. However, thanks to a great model, we were able to get an idea of the total magnitude of this multi-billion dollar effort.

Notice the arrows I have included to show where the actual photographs were taken. The model shows five locks to raise ships about 78 feet in each, a terrific displacement. The dam is essentially finished (October 2008) but work continues on the power stations. When completed, and the water level has reached its peak, there will be 24 hydroelectric power generators. Eventually the water level behind the dam will be 610 feet high, but for us it was still rising. Only four locks were needed for the transfer of ships going up stream (to the right) and downstream (to the left in the model above).

So let's go back to our ship and see what happened.

As we approached the first set of locks we saw ships coming out and going down stream to the left. We were aiming for the right. But wait, we were not the only ones to go in. The squeeze was unbelievably tight. And then there were more. There would be a total of six ships in one lock, and that took a bit of maneuvering.

I think it was about here that our problems started. The locks eventually closed, but at least an hour later we were still sitting in this black-walled canyon with no action about closing the back gate. Meanwhile the ships were running their diesel engines, of course, and spewing out more smoke.

At first we made light of this and stayed on top deck. Then the smoke and fumes became a real problem and we tried to find the best air conditioned place on the ship. Five hours later we cleared lock four and were on our way again. I had a real soar throat and others were also complaining. What a way to operate! Oh, by the way, Annie, the 'mistress-of-ceremony' was a bundle of fun. We would remember her and the rest of the crew during the night performances

Keep in mind that these are crew members and not really professional performers. It seemed like they had as much fun being on stage as we did watching.

There was also a session of 'audience participation'. No, that is not what you think Roger is doing! He was part of a three men contest to shove a deck of cards across the dance-floor with a dangling cord and potato at its end. Alas, Roger's potato slipped out and he ended up in third place but a free cocktail. The Chinese also have invented a new game they call 'Musical Chairs'. I didn't last very long.

During the day we always had an excursion. The ship would dock along the way and in this case we were transferred to a river boat that would take us up a side branch. We learned about the Ba people who lived along the Shennong Stream. They went to enormous lengths to carry the coffins with their ancestors up steep cliffs and find holes in the sandstone face to hide the remains. Most of the people were displaced because of the dam project. Now, some conduct boat tours up the stream that used to be their own domain.

Here is one coffin left in place. Some of the original 'stairs' and scaffolding to attack this burial feat are now under water. Further upstream we were treated with a canoe ride. Each of these would hold about eight people and the men at both ends would use oars to paddle us along. At one point the local guide started to sing a native song. She was answered by the skipper. After that I thought it was appropriate that we all sang 'Row, row your boat'.

The Yangtze River project has tremendous implications that go far beyond the dam. The reservoir, that was still filling, will be 372 miles long. It has destroyed thousands of villages and archeological sites and displaced more than a million people. The century old life style of the farmers and city dwellers alike was disrupted and many had to find new homes and jobs. Precious topsoil was excavated from the valley and moved to locations higher up the mountain sides. Roads had to be rebuilt, new bridges constructed and the shoreline modified with concrete structures as shown below. Eventually the reservoir will be at the top level of this 'water front' property. It has a way to go but filling rapidly. Because of the flow through old towns and cities, a lot of litter was floating all along the stream.

After we passed through the Qutang Gorge, the narrowest of the Three Gorges, we made another stop at the town of Fengdu, China's 'City of Ghosts'. This is where we visited some temples and shrines dedicated to the gods of the underworld.

Most of the temple structures were along the side or on top of the mountain. A chairlift would bring you about half way up. Others walked the trail. There was a ritual about married couples crossing this little bridge. I have forgotten the significance, but it was good for some fun.

Being a Buddhist temple, there were a couple of niches with statues and place where long, pink sticks of incense were burning. Higher up was the Temple of Hell with several grotesque stone carvings. The whole complex was certainly unusual and bewildering.

There was a demonstration of skill and strength. The object was to lift the steel disk on top of the rounded cone. I couldn't even budge the thing, Roger was able to roll it around the cone, but it was a young Chinese man who rolled it around and with some quick motion tumbled it on top of the cone where it sat perfectly balanced.

The river cruise was coming to an end and it was time to say goodbye to a few of our new friends, part of the staff of the President 1. It had been an interesting three days and these folks certainly had made it more enjoyable. Thanks to all.

We had arrived at Chongqing, China's largest city. Our luggage was being forwarded to the airport while we took a couple excursions around town. One was a visit to the zoo to see some of the panda bears.
Then it was off to the airport for a flight to Hong Kong. I had a bit of a cold by now. In and out of the air conditioned rooms of the ship and the smog along the Yangtze River had not helped.

I felt like taking one of the reserved seats at the airport but was told by Sharon that I really shouldn't since I was not pregnant.