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| The Three Gorges |
We depart Yangshao by bus back to Guilin where we have dinner and then a quick walk around town before waiting at a hotel until 1 am to catch a 1:30 am overnight train to Wichang, our next destination. We get to Wichang at 3:20 pm the following day and then take a private bus for a 4 hour bus ride to the ferry port to catch our cruise ship to go down the Yangtze River past the Three Gorges. It’s a long travel day.
We board our cruise ship late at night and I wake up the next morning to find our ship gently cruising down the river past gigantic sheer cliff faces towering hundreds of meters above the ground. We spend the next 3 nights on the ship. On the first day on the ship, we take a day trip out to get a tour of the Three Gorges Dam, a 100 billion dollar project to put a dam across the Yangtze River. On the second day, we transfer to a smaller boat to do a 3 hour cruise down one of the smaller canals. And in the evening, the group heads to the karaoke lounge to do our best at belting out some English tunes.
One thing that is becoming apparent on this trip is how quickly China is developing. Along the Yangtze River, what was once deserted land only 10 years ago is now bustling city. Our local guide gives a personal account of how, only 5 years ago, she was living in a 30 square meter apartment that didn’t even have a bathroom (her and her family had to use a shared public washroom) and now, due to job growth and development, she is living in an apartment 4 times the size of her previous unit with all the modern day comforts.
Another thing that is apparent, though it is very easy to forget, is that we are still in a communist country. Though China is moving towards a capitalistic market, the communist regime is still present as tv is censored and I am unable to access Facebook, my blog or a number of news sites on the internet.
