On Wednesday, March 25
th I left
Hong Kong for yet another wonderful trip to a new place - this time, it was a cruise down the Yangtze River, in China!
This trip required some serious planning, since there were a few one-way flights involved. We used a travel agent, and he found us the flights we needed for only $60 CAD each...the only problem was that we had to fly out of
Shenzhen, China - a Special Economic Zone on the Chinese side of the China/
Hong Kong border.
Well...leave it to us to turn a problem into...a spa party! We left
Hong Kong on Wednesday night, even though our flight to Chongqing wasn't until Thursday morning, and spent the night enjoying the amenities of Queen Spa! It was just as great as last time. I slept in the futuristic sleep-pods again, and was really refreshed for our Yangtze River adventure!
We caught our flight to Chongqing on Thursday morning, and it was perfectly fine. We arrived in Chongqing around 2 pm, and had a few hours to spare before we had to board the cruise ship. We looked around the city for a bit (it is BIG) and grabbed dinner at a restaurant by the port. We had "Hot Pot" - basically, the restaurant brings you some ingredients (raw meat like beef and raw veggies like mushrooms) and a big pot of spiced water. They put the pot of water on an element that is part of the table, and wait for the water to boil. When it does, you add the ingredients...and when they float to the top, they are cooked!
It was pretty tasty, but way too much work for my liking...haha.
After eating, we took a look at the river, and we could see our cruise ship! It was smaller than cruise ships that sail through the Caribbean, but it looked cute! We were relieved, because even though the cruise called itself "Four Star"...sometimes, with China, you can never be sure.
An eight-piece band greeted us as we boarded the ship, and when we entered the ship's lobby...we were pleasantly surprised! The ship was beautiful! Very much like how you would expect a Four Star cruise ship to look! We presented our passports so that we could check in, and we were in for another surprise - they told us not to tell anyone, but we had been upgraded from Standard Rooms to SUITES for free!
PS. Here is the ship's dining room...it's so nice!
Well, now we were completely excited! We headed up a few flights of stairs, and to the back of the ship..and there were our rooms! The upgrade made a huge difference. We had the whole back of the ship to ourselves. The rooms were very big, with two single beds in each one, and windows on two sides! We also had balconies on the back and sides of the boat. We were loving it.
That night, we had dinner and were given our itineraries for the next day.
The itinerary is great...it starts with early morning tea at 6:30 am, followed by Tai Chi at 7 am, plus so much more. Of course, I want to do EVERYTHING, so I totally go to bed at, like, 10 pm. And sleep like a baby.
The next morning I woke up at 6 am and headed to early morning tea (well, I have coffee, actually...and a muffin) and then Lisa and I did Tai Chi. Bahahaha...we SUCKED. It was pretty hilarious. Even though they offered Tai Chi every morning on the cruise...I decided not to go back. It's not that I didn't like it...it's just that...well, I didn't really like it.
I'm used to Cardio Kickbox, you know?
Our outing this day was to Fengdu Ghost City...within the city, there is a temple devoted to the afterlife. It is freaky. Check it:
Scary, right?
The rest of the day is spent floating along the Yangtze, and we also participated in a few on-ship activities. For example, we went to a lecture about Chinese Medicine, and Lisa got acupuncture:
That evening, there was some awesome on-ship entertainment...A fashion show of traditional Chinese costumes! Each one was so unique and so beautiful! Here is an example:
The next morning, our excursion was to visit the Three Gorges. We left the cruise ship and boarded a smaller boat, and then left that boat to board tiny boats called "
sanpams". The
sanpams took us down a small area of
theYangtze River, and the scenery was beautiful!
That evening, there was more entertainment...a Variety Show. The cruise ship staff (dining room staff, bar staff, housekeeping staff) put on a bunch of different acts - mostly dancing, but there was also some singing, saxophone playing, a band, etc. A group of cruise ship guests - five sisters who are now all living in different parts of China - performed a Peking Opera. It was...nice?
That evening, we arrived at the Three Gorges Dam Project. This has been a very controversial project in China, and it's impact is and will continue to be felt by the entire world, I think. Basically, a giant (GIANT) dam has been built across the Yangtzee River (in Sandouping), and the water level upstream has been raised to a maximum of 175 metres. Although the dam project has many benefits, including flood control, enhancing navigation and providing clean energy, it is controversial because it has caused millions of Chinese citizens to be displaced. This is because, as the water level upstream increased, many riverside cities have been completely flooded.
No matter what your personal view on the dam is, it is definitely a site to see. At night, we went through the locks (there are five separate ones - the whole process takes four hours), which delivered us from the upstream portion of the Yangtze to the downstream portion. In the morning, the cruise ship docked, and a bus took us to the Dam Site. We were able to see how truly vast the dam is - it is MASSIVE. And pretty ugly. But really powerful.
After checking out the dam site, we continued our voyage downstream towards Yichang. After taking a few more breathtaking photos, we packed our things and left the ship. A taxi took us through Yichang (it's NOT like Shanghai) to a bus station - we needed to get to Wuhan for our flight back to Shenzhen the next day.
Have you heard of the recency effect? It's some psychological effect that BASICALLY says that we will be more likely to remember the things which happened to us most recently, rather than a while ago. Well, I am glad I know what that is...or this post's title would have read "This Was The Worst Trip Ever".
The bus from Yichang to Wuhan was the absolute sketchiest three, nope...four, nope...SIX hours of my life. First, we got ripped off by the person selling tickets. We didn't know it at first...90 RMB seemed like a good price for what was supposed to be a three-hour bus ride. Then, once we were on the bus, we found out someone else paid 45. Great.
The inside of the bus was dirty, stinky and pretty much broken-down. My seat was in a permanently reclined position, and there was pretty much no cushion - I was pretty much sitting on a spring. The bus broke down art least three times on our way to Wuhan...we had to pull over, and the driver had to get out and do something to the engine. At least we got two bathroom breaks - yep, the bus pulled over to a gas station, and we were able to get off and pee in holes. Awesome.
When we finally arrived in Wuhan, the sketchiness continued. We needed a place to crash for the night, and found one. Well, I wish we had looked at the rooms first, or at LEAST noticed that the hotel had an hourly rate. The rooms were horrifying...I won't even go into details, because I don't want you to know that places like this even exist.
We busted it out of there pretty early in the morning, and explored the city a bit. Again, not at all like Shanghai. We ate some street food ("Ghetto Food" as Shannon likes to call it) and then grabbed a cab and headed to the airport.
The flight back to Shenzhen was uneventful (as all good flights are), and so was the subway ride back to campus - other than the fact that we SOMEHOW lost Chelsie. I still don't know how it happened...
All in all, it was a great trip. Very relaxing but also really educational...I loved that about it. Even though I didn't include every detail from the cruise, there was a TON of programming offered, from Introductory Mandarin lessons, to lectures about Chinese calligraphy, to discussions about the Dam Project and it benefits and costs. And the food and entertainment was great!
I definitely recommend a Yangtze River cruise to anyone heading to China - it is perfect for groups, friends, couples and families. The travel agent we used was www.ChinaHighlights.com, and the cruise operator is "Victoria Cruises".
Anyways...that is pretty much it for the Cruise! Check back soon for a post about my trip to Thailand!
