Mary Tripped Out: May 2007

May 27 - In Pictures

Terra Cotta Warriors museum

There’s about 6000 warriors…but I think only about 2000 are put together

Guess what? Horse butt!

You can get your own lifesize replica

I settled for a boxed set

Asian kids are cute

No thank you

Making noodles by hand

Teahouse

Jade factory

By the way, I’m on the 18th floor

Dumpling restaurant

Dumplings

Trays for the dumplings

Ready for my foot massage

I finally went out

Rainy and dreary. Put a damper on the whole day. Got off the boat anyway, took a bus to the dam site. Saw a model of the whole facility which was impressive, it just shows how expansive the whole project is. Saw the lock system from the road, but it doesn’t look as big as when you are actually in it. Mainly just looked at things through the wet bus windows, as getting soaked in the rain wasn’t anyone’s cup of tea.

Back to the boat where we all changed from wet clothes, and took naps. Then it was lunch time and Elizabeth must have telepathic powers, because just that morning she had wished for hamburgers and French fries and there they were on the buffet table! So that was uplifting. Then I took another nap (the rocking motion of the boat probably helped).

We finally got off the boat around 1 pm, and since our flight wasn’t until 6 pm they decided to give us a filler activity. While normally we would be happy to have something better to do than sit in an airport for hours, the weather had everyone’s fuse shortened, and no one wanted to do anything. Especially what they had us end up doing. We stopped by at this research facility type thing, that works with Chinese sturgeons. Apparently their caviar is a top product of this city (Yicheng) the other top products being hydroelectric power (hello DAM) and tangerines. So the Chinese sturgeon lives in the ocean, but then it makes the trek up the river to spawn. The dams blocked their journey, and China was finding dead and injured fish near the dam sites. So they decided to help the sturgeons out. They catch them, and move them to a nearby lake, and also artificially inseminate them, and then return them to the river (after stealing some caviar). They’ve apparently “returned” about 3 million sturgeons, since the 1980s. So at this facility we basically just looked at a bunch of fish tanks. Riveting stuff people.

Back on the bus, make it to airport, sat around for an hour or so. Quick flight to Shanghai, and short bus ride to yet another pimp Howard Johnson. The rooms aren’t as huge, but the décor is ritzier, and the view is excellent. I’d say Shanghai is Europe meets New York and Vegas. There are these very oddly placed buildings that are built in an older western style, then major high rises, and tons of lights and billboards. Dinner in the hotel was excellent. It was carnivore heaven. You could pick different raw meats that they would cook (chicken, beef, lamb, fish), but a number of cooked meats were already available (salmon that was delicious, some beef dish, chicken curry, etc). Also a cutting board station with prime rib, garlic bread, baked potatoes and toppings, various breads, fruits, and salads, and then a dessert area (crème brulee, tiramisu, pecan pie, chocolate fountain, and about 10 ice cream flavors). It was fabulous. Too bad I forgot my camera for that part.

People decided to go out since we have a late morning tomorrow (just lectures all day) but I’ve got three weeks here, so I’m taking it slow. Internet is expensive, so you're getting all these posts in one blow. Read more!

May 30

I randomly awoke at 6:30 am, but that was in time for our passage through the first gorge. Took a few pictures from my balcony, didn’t feel like going up to the top deck. Got dressed and headed to breakfast, because our shore excursion was at 8:30 am. Took a smaller boat through the lesser gorges, and then an even smaller boat through one section. Also pretty sure we saw a dead body floating. We thought maybe it was a dummy at first, like a joke, but then we figured that China probably doesn’t make dummies and put them in rivers as jokes, that’s more of an American thing. So yeah, I have a picture of a dead body. The rest of that boat ride was really nice though, it’s an excellent view.

Lunch was uneventful. The rest of the evening just consisted of passing through the next two gorges, and the lock system of the dam. This was actually pretty interesting for a few moments. There are five locks, but we skipped the first one since the water level isn’t that high yet. The construction is a sight to behold. It’s a REALLY big dam. And we made lots of dam jokes. It’s some fine dam construction. And some big dam doors. And there’s a lot of dam water. I touched the dam wall.

Dinner was the captain’s farewell, and we received keychains with the cruiseline name on them. Dinner was actually pretty good, with some favorites being the cream of mushroom soup, teriyaki chicken, and roast duck. I was also a fan of the complimentary champagne, and I was splitting another bottle of red with Jenny.

Then there was a crew/passenger talent show. It was mostly crew, with some song and dance performances, but one tour group put on a fun little “American tourist” skit, and our illustrious LSU crowd exhibited some of their flexibility skills (video to come). More drinking, more wandering around deck, and then to bed, because we have an early morning breakfast (6:30) and shore excursion (7:30) to visit the dam site. Read more!

May 29

Awoken by some muzak on the PA system, and then the announcement that breakfast was being served in the Dynasty Dining Room. Got my usual scrambled eggs, bacon, and bread of some kind. There were some power point presentations on the river and the dam project, but I watched a DVD on the whole thing before I left, so I sat on the balcony of my room. The fog makes all the river cities look like ghost towns, and I thought they were abandoned, but then realized if I looked hard enough I could see people.

We stopped at the ghost city of Fengdu. There were various trials you’re supposed to complete, which determine if you are a good person, and if you get to go to heaven or hell. There were three bridges you had to step across in a certain number of steps. And we ran up some steps holding our breath and not looking back. I made it up, but my hat fell off so I turned around and looked back. Oh well. Also balanced on a small rock for three seconds on one foot, while looking up at some building. There were a bunch of really crazy looking statues, of disciples and gods and torture procedures (representing hell).

Later on the boat, our crew had a costume show, displaying various periods of Chinese dress. I have video of the guys in silk robes, strutting their stuff to "Staying Alive", so stay tuned.

Two of our travel companions are leaving in the morning. One has to stand in a friend’s wedding on the 1st, the other has to be at basic training. So they’re taking a hydrafoil, and flying to Shanghai, and then back to Baton Rouge. But in their honor a few of us stayed in the bar for a good while, some of us longer than others. Read more!

May 28

Morning visit to the Muslim mosque, which is not very Muslim looking at all. But there are Arabic elements here and there. There’s a narrow alleyway leading to the mosque, which is flanked by vendors. And since I enjoy shopping, that was my favorite part. I probably would have liked it more if we had had more time, and I had had more money exchanged. So I only ended up getting a couple tshirts. I also didn’t want to have to carry too much, since we’d already sent off our checked luggage, so anything I bought we be added to my carry-on. No worries though, I have three weeks in Shanghai (and a weekend in Hong Kong) to buy the rest of China.

We went to a museum after the market, only I don’t remember its’ name and I really didn’t look at much there. We were all very tired and found benches to nap on. While the culture of China is very interesting, and being here is pretty amazing, some ancient aspects of the culture are really not that interesting. I can only stare at so many clay pots and crumbling statues.

Lunch was good (although some people opted for pizza). Then off to the airport, for a quick hour-long flight to Chongqing (pronounced Chong-ching). We just took a bus in Chongqing to get to the boat for the cruise, and that ride was only about 30 minutes. We had a cute little guide talk to us during that time, and tell us a little about Chongqing. It has three self-explanatory nicknames: 1) Mountainous City – because it is situated amongst mountains, and for that reason is one of the few cities where people do not ride bikes, because it would be a pain to have to ride uphill. 2) Fog City – because of the mountains blocking it, they get a lot of fog, and don’t get much in the way of wind to blow it away. And apparently it really is fog, not smog. 3) Furnace City – in the summer it gets super hot, last summer having some record breaking highs of about 120 degrees. A little something else of interest about Chongqing…it has 33 million people! That is Beijing and Shanghai combined. Although I think they are going overboard with calling the whole area a city, since it apparently takes 4 hours on the interstate to drive across. Only about 9 million actually live in the city center, and the rest live on the outskirts. But the city is a site to see, a bit like San Francisco with the tall buildings and all the hills, only much denser.

Our cruiseline is Victoria Cruises (so I know it’s going to be fabulous!). I think it’s the only American-run cruiseline on the river, and one of the nicest. The staff is Chinese, but they are decent at English, and there are translators, and the Director is from the U.S. For passengers there’s our LSU group, and then a bunch of seniors. Pretty cool though. We got drinks at the bar (Jenny and I split a bottle of red) and walked around a bit. After it got dark we were up on the observation deck, and since we hadn’t started moving yet we could see all the big buildings in Chongqing lit up. There is something very surreal about the whole experience, sitting on the deck, drinking a glass of wine, realizing “I am on a cruiseship in CHINA”. Got a nice buzz and went to bed. Read more!