Yangtze Cruise 2

On Saturday it was raining. On the hill is a relocation village for people who were displaced by the rising Yangtse. For some reason all the apartments in the relocation villages are white.
Here is the entrance to the first gorge, Qutang gorge, which we reached about 7:30 a.m.

We left the Victoria Katarina and went on smaller boats on a tour of the Lesser Gorges on the Danning river.
Later we switched to sampans for a tour of the Lesser-Lesser Gorges. There were about 30 of the sampans touring the river at the same time.




The water had changed from dirty yellow to a bright, beautiful green. It was much clearer than the water near Nanjing.
Back on the cruise ship we approached the Three Gorges Dam.
I have known the principle of locks for a good long time, but this was the first time I had experienced locks.
The gate is just opening to let our ship and several other boats into the lock.
Above the gate is opened up.

On ship beside the wall of the lock.

The process of going through the five locks took well over 4 hours. The gate of the last lock is just opening in the above picture and it was after 11:00 p.m.

The next morning we toured the area around the dam and then we boarded a bus to take us to the Wuhan airport. As soon as we left the sun came out and the clouds burned away.

We went through a mountain in the longest tunnel I have ever been in and after leaving the mountains passed through a large plain. There were miles and miles of fields of canola in bloom. I suppose that they need lots of canola because they use a lot of cooking oil. All the cooking oil in the markets is in very large containers. We have a hard time finding a smaller bottle for our needs.

In between the canola fields were dugouts where fish, crabs and shrimps are raised.

We also say many graveyards with brightly decorated tombs. (Grave sweeping day)

Partway to Wuhan our bus driver thought there was something wrong with the bus so we had to transfer to another bus.

The Wuhan airport was a very big, modern airport. It didn't seem to be too busy. We arrived back in Nanjing about 8:30 p.m.

Yangtze Cruise

This week-end there was a national holiday called The Qingming festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. It is a centuries' old festival held to remember the deceased. As the day was on the week-end the government declared an extra day off. Last year they declared the preceding Friday as the day off and thinking Friday would be a holiday we booked our Yangtze cruise a couple of months ago and paid for it. Well, the government waited until a couple of weeks ago and then declared the holiday would be Monday this year. This caused Bob some problems as he has two classes on Friday. He was able to arrange for a friend to sub in his English class and still has to arrange a make-up class for his law class.

On Friday afternoon we caught a flight to Chongqing, the biggest city in China. Our flight arrived in Chongqing at 7:00 p.m. giving us just enough time to get to the cruise ship by 9:00 p.m. which was departure time. Most of our group had arrived earlier in the day, but one other couple was to arrive a few minutes after us and we were to travel to the dock together. Their flight from Beijing was delayed by an hour so we were the last ones to get on the ship. However, it didn't leave for an hour or so because they waited for someone's lugguge to get there. The name of the cruise ship was the Victoria Katarina.

The next morning was cloudy and misty. We traveled down the Yangtse floating over the ancient villages that had been flooded when the Three Gorges Dam was built and could see the new villages up on the hills beside the river.

We saw many barges and other types of boat as we traveled along the river.

After lunch we stopped at Fengdu, the City of Ghosts. In Chinese a Ghost is a spirt that has left the body at the time of death. All Ghosts (from all over the world) must go to Fengdu to be judged. We saw many displays portraying interpretations of the Afterlife.






There was an interesting building we could see from Fengdu. We didn't find out whether it was a hotel or what it's use was. It didn't appear to have windows in it so it may not have been completed.

Mike and Maradel Brown

If anyone runs into Ann and Dave Richards, tell them hi from the Browns. The Browns were in Russia at the same time as the Richards and now are teaching in China. They aren't in the same city as we are but they have been on all the tours we have been on and we have enjoyed their company.

These were the entertainers for the evening.

Sight Seeing in Nanjing

Friday evening we went out to supper at the "Little Sheep" and had hotpot for supper. There is a burner in the center of the table and some broth is boiled in a big pot. Then as the meal progresses you add various meats and vegetables to the pot. It was the first Chinese meal that I saw Jackson eat anything at all.

Saturday we visited the Nanjing Museum and saw many beautiful items made of Jade, porcelain, lacquer or whatnot.

The Presidential Palace

On the Grounds of the Nanjing Museum

Pottery making in the Museum

Books written on Gold plates

Advertisement for Hong Bang Tailor

Trees in blossom on Campus

Monday was a sad day. We took Jeremy and family out to the airport and said good-bye. Then we returned to our apartment and had only lesson plans and marking to think about.

Monday evening we had classes. I had classes Wednesday afternoon and evening and Thursday morning. Bob had a class this morning.

We leave right away for our Yangtze River Cruise.

Jeremy, Julie, Kennedy, Jackson and Mickey

The weather has varied for the last week. We have a day of rain and then a day of sunshine. It was sunny on Sunday. We went to the other campus for English Corner. We had a singalong with Kennedy and Julie and then we divided into groups and chatted the rest of the evening. It was better having more people for the students to talk to.

Monday was cold and rainy. I stayed at the apartment and worked on marking and lessons while Bob went with Jeremy and family to Purple Mountain. They visited Sun Yat-Sen's tomb and the Ming Tomb. There were renovations going on at the Ming Tomb so they were unable to go inside. They came home very cold.



Bob and I had to teach a class each on Monday evening so Jeremy went with Bob and talked about resumes, interviews and jobs.

Tuesday morning all except Bob went to Shanghai. It was a beautiful day. Our first stop was the "Pearl of the Orient" (the TV tower). Bob and I had visited it last January when it was very cold which didn't prepare us for the hordes of people that were lined up to get up the tower. We didn't realize the length of the line-ups or we would never have paid and gone in. We were in line for an hour and a half and when we finally got to the top there were so many people you couldn't see out. We spent only a few minutes and then lined up to come back down.

Because we had spent so much time at the tower, we missed going to the museum as planned. We did a little shopping and spent some time at Yu Yuan Gardens. There were beautiful flowers in bloom and it was much nicer visiting than it had been in January when it was freezing cold.

Wednesday I had two classes. Bob, Jeremy and all went to the Presidential Palace and then Jeremy and his family went to the zoo. I was surprised to find out there were Pandas at the Zoo here in Nanjing.

Thursday Bob and I both had classes. Jeremy and Julie went shopping in the morning and in the afternoon after I returned I stayed with the kids and they went to the Massacre Museum

We went to Pizza Hut for supper and then Jeremy picked up the two suits and the shirt he had ordered from the tailor. Jackson also had a suit and shirt made.

Today it is cold and raining again. Jeremy went with Bob to his classes and Julie & I and the children went to visit the Silk Brocade Museum. We saw a piece of fabric 17 metres long that the museum had received an offer of $3,000,000 for. They rejected the offer because the silk is a National Treasure. We saw how they wove the brocade. In an 8 hour day a person can do 6 centimeters of brocade. We could have bought hand made brocade for $3,000 per meter. The machine brocade was about $60 per meter.

Jeremy had a lesson on Chinese toilet training when we were on the subway one day. (The Chinese infants and toddlers wear clothes with split crotches. When nature calls the parent justs holds the child away from him and the child lets loose.) There was a grandma holding and infant on her lap on the subway. Jeremy was standing right across from them. Suddenly the grandma lifted up the child and luckily Jeremy moved fast. The subway was not too crowded so no-one had to stand in the puddle.

Nanjing News for the Week

Last Saturday evening Sue-anne, Courtney, Nathan, Orson and I arrived back in Nanjing. We had a quiet day on Sunday. On Monday we visited Confusious market.


We ate at Burger King and then went to the Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream shop for dessert.

Monday evening both Bob and I had classes. Nathan taught my writing class (as well as the other two writing classes I had last week) and Sue-anne, Courtney and Orson went to Bob's Oral English class.
Tuesday we visited Sun Yat-Sen's tomb. Bob and I had been there last September and I was surprised to find that it wasn't as long a climb this time. I made it to the top which I didn't in September.

Wednesday Jeremy, Julie and family arrived in the evening.


Thursday I had classes in the morning. Bob had one law class Thursday morning and Nathan taught it for him. Nathan and Orson left Nanjing to go to Hongzhou while I was at class.

Friday we planned to go to Shanghai, but couldn't get tickets back that day. Instead we again visited Confusious Temple Market and walked to the Nanjing Wall. We got to the wrong place and couldn't go up on the wall. In the evening the children stayed at our apartment and ate cheese sandwiches and the rest of us went out for Chinese Food.

Well today had been a bad day. Bob and I went out to the airport to see Sue-anne and Courtney off. We got back and there was a very bad thunder storm. It was a dark as night in the middle of the afternoon. Nathan had a flight from Shanghai to catch his flight back home and the Shanghai flight was delayed two hours and he missed his connection so he is still in Beijing and will return a day late. We hope that Sue-anne made her connection. We haven't heard from her.
We hope things improve so that we can do things with Julie, Jeremy, Kennedy, Jackson and Mickey.

Sue-anne, Courtney, Nathan & Orson in China

Last Thursday Bob taught my 10:00 am class and I took a flight to Beijing. Nathan and Orson met me and then we waited patiently for Sue-anne and Courtney who arrived about one hour later. We went to our hotel, had supper and then retired for the night as Nathan and Orson had been up over 24 hours and Sue-anne and Courtney nearly as many.

The next morning we traveled to the Great Wall. It was a very cold day with lots of wind. Sometimes the wind gusts were so strong that I felt that I was in danger of being blown off the wall. The visitors from Canada were not dressed warmly enough and we were all ready for hot chocolate when we came down.

The afternoon we went to the Beijing Zoo and saw the Pandas and later went to the clothing market. In the evening we saw the Beijing Acrobatic show.

Saturday we visited Tian anmen square and the summer palace and we drove by the Olympic site on the way to the airport. We arrived in Nanjing about 9:00 p.m.

Fourteen more weeks (but who's counting?)

The rain has stopped and we had a sunny morning. The basketball courts are busy again.

Bob got assigned one more class so now he has five classes (well four and a half).

There was a lot of activity here on campus today. Too bad I can't read the banners to find out what was going on. There was a very old car (maybe a 1940 Dodge) and a jeep parked across from the library. Bob thinks they are making a film of some sort.

Last week-end we went to Shanghai for a district church conference and stayed at the five star Renaissance Marriott Hotel. It was a luxury hotel and I loved it - especially the soft king-size bed. Bob had points so we didn't have to pay for our room. However we ran up a big bill in the restaurants and I got my hair done in the hotel. We left Nanjing on Friday and returned Sunday afternoon.

I paid Canadian prices for the hairdo - even more because the cost of the perm didn't include a shampoo and blow dry. I can't figure out how the hair stylists charge here in China. If we go to the campus shop it costs us a dollar for a cut without a shampoo or $1.20 if we have a shampoo. If we go outside the campus they ask you if you want the $4.00, $8.00 or $12.00 cut. Apparently the cost has to do with the experience of the stylist. In Shanghai they showed me a long list of perm prices and I chose the lowest and I think I got a stylist who was just learning because she got it half done and an older lady came out and yakked at her and then took all the perm curlers out and redid it.

In the hotel there was a Japanese Restaurant and an Italian restaurant among others. The food was great.

We took the subway in Shanghai for the first time. It seemed more complicated than the Nanjing subway but it was cheaper than taking a taxi and we made it to the train station with no problem.

It is not so great to teach writing because every time I write something I hope my students don't read it. It is hard to write the way I tell my students to write. Possibly I am in over my head. Some of my students are writing the GRE and I have never had experience with that. They have to write an issue essay and an argumentative essay on the test. Perhaps by the end of the term I will know what an argumentative essay is!

Bob had an exiting experience in the food store last week. The fire alarm went off and all the fire doors came crashing down. For half an hour he was locked in a small place. The fire exits did not open. However, it was a false alarm; there was no fire.