Do the Yangtze

Due to the flight being cancelled, we took the high speed train to Chongqing, a journey of 5 hours with no refreshment facilities. It was a long journey. At Chongqing (population a mere 33 million), we picked up the boat for the 4 day cruise down the Yangtze, the 3rd longest river in the world. But we were just doing a little bit of it. Before boarding, we had just enough time for a quick dinner in a deserted office block 1st floor restuarant (but it was delicious and good price), a manic taxi journey into the city centre to get some cash, a brief walking tour of what is a vibrant colourful place and another taxi ride by a driver who clearly was a frustrated F1 hopeful!

The cruise ship (Century Paragon) is a mid size vessel with average facilities, but we had a nice cabin and, during our stay, the food was decent and staff were very friendly and helpful. The majority of cruisers were Chinese and clearly were there to have a good time. They fully participated in the evening shows with great gusto, in particular the women, who clearly loved letting their hair down. Talking about the shows, all were done by the staff and what a great job they did - singing, dancing, acting, even a magician.

We did 3 excursions - a visit to the Shibaozhai ancient fortress, which is a 12 storey pavilion of over 500 years built against a rock face; a meander down Shennv Stream on a wooden sampan through the gorge with a wonderful local guide from the Ba tribe and finally we saw the Three Gorges Project dam, where there is the world's largest hydroelectric power plant.

We have found on this trip so far that the most interesting things are what the guides tell us; about their life, family, country they live in, the religion, politics, history and, most facinatingly, their customs and culture. For instance, our guide down the Shennv Stream explained that her father planted a daughter tree when she was born and it was then cut down when she got married, so that furniture could be made for her new home. Also, that a girl will cry for 3 days before she marries, to show her sadness at leaving her family.