China Part 3 - sorry it took forever!!!!

2/24/08 - hi there folks....well, i just got back from my february break in greece and figured i really should finish up china from the summer...still need to finish up tibet as well...but at least this is the last about china....and here we started with a cruise on a yangtze river...it was my first riverboat cruise...and i was wowed by many aspects of the boat and food and size of things...i think cynthia was laughing at me the whole time....country mouse makes it to the city and is livin life....hahahahaha....what a cool trip this was though....enjoy!!!

the shot above is the river boat we were on...we actually made it to the boat in the evening so the first time we saw it, it looked like this....we actually were above the yangtze dam at this point because there was flooding in china and they were worried the boat wouldn't make it through the locks the next day....it was crazy how much water was coming through the dam...as you will see in future pictures....

a daylight shot of the boat...ours was the bigger one...it was all class...even to having a cruise director who was from the states and performed my way for us...he was nice guy, but very cheezy!!! swanky and dani...two great things that go together....hahahahahaha....

this was the first view we had of the dam...at night as we were headed to the boat...it was mind blowing....it is HUGE and there was so much water running it was incredible...our guide andy had never seen the dam at night and even he was blown away....it was pretty wild!

the next two shots are the dam in the daytime...the one above is showing the front of the dam and the amazing of water that is running through it...where you see all the white water...that's coming out of the dam...wow!!!!

this is a back view of the dam...just incredible in size....and of course they say now it will only supply 1/3rd of the necessary power for china ONLY....it was been an enormous project and they have had to relocate many people...

the shot above is a great explanation of why they have had to move so many people...in building this dam, the river will rise 175 meters (multiply that by 3 to get feet!!!)....this is showing you that height was still not reached when we went through the gorges....the white sign marks the 175 meter mark...and as you can see, this house will be on the river side...literally....they have wiped out farmland, entire villages and a lot of history....i am sure when they finally finish, if you were on the yangtze before the dam, you would never recognize the river as it will be....

these are some of the many modes of transport we saw on the river...the two smaller boats are actually where people live...many floating boats are house and home for the folks on the boat...there are ferries for people and bikes, there are big hualers of 18 wheeled trucks, there are river boat cruisers....it was cool to see all the different modes of transport on one river...

here's one of the many waterfalls we saw along the way...it was a bit rainy, which made more waterfalls for us to see...on the third day though we had some beautiful clear weather....there are three main gorges we went through and a set of lesser gorges we took a smaller boat excursion through....this is from the first gorge....

now you are in the second gorge, which is said to be the most lovely....when we were there there was tons of mist and the sides of the gorge were sooooooo green...it was a stunning site...

the next few shots are from the lesser gorges trip we took, the water here was more green and it was a bit cooler in this section....we also had this really cool mist show up about halfway through the trip which you can see above....in the mist are two boats, can you find them????

also in the lesser gorges we saw the famous hanging coffins...the chinese in this area used to scale the walls of the gorges and place their loved ones in coffins in these ledges...its hard to see here, but in the bit cave like hole there is a wooden coffin there...as you can tell there is no way to get there easily....so the loved ones were protected from everything....there are quite a few of these coffins along the way, but they are high up and hard to spot in most of my pictures....

i took this shot because everything you see here is below the 175 meter mark, which means that all of this currently is under water....the chinese government has relocated 100,000s of people along this river, but as you can see, they still had more people to move...some decided not to give up their land or homes if they were above the 175 meter mark....but most have moved to cities to be more prosperous....at least that's what they think...

this shot was taken because it will be some of the amazing history lost when the dam is at full capacity....this is a set of steps that used to be used for the pulling of boats through this gorge by people....the travel mode here previously was to have your boat pulled by people through the gorge and they would use these stone steps to do that...most of them are under water and these were some of the few that were still visible....

above is another of the hnaging coffins...but this one has really been demolished...its actually vertical in the fissure in the rock and is sort of poking out....this was one of the lowest ones we saw...and yes, it will be under water when the 175 meter mark is reached...which is a bit depressing....in my opinion anyway....

we visited a relocation village were some of the folks along the river have been moved...it was incredible and such a different way of life...they of course stared at us and we at them...i took so many pictures here, but the one above is one of my favorites...this is a the old fashioned way of carrying kids...not really seen except in remote villages these days...so cool...

i took this picture because i was freaked out by this....this is a corner dentist...can you see the rows of teeth in the case...they are on the top shelf...and how about that chair...looks comfy don't you think...and the dentist has air conditioning for you....i am sure its very sterile :)

some of the folks with us on the trip...they had never done jagermeister shots...of course cynthia and i took it upon ourselves to introduce lisa, andy and regina to these fun things :) yummy....
when you go on these boats there is a captains dinner...and you have to look nice...that's me...looking nice...had to take this shot for my mom to show her i cleaned up once in awhile on this trip...the champagne was tasty too :)

when we came off the boat we headed back to chengdu...which is famous for the pandas...tibet was in the middle of this, but i am saving that for its own entry....so onwards to chengdu...and the pandas....sooooo cute...these are two year olds having a snack...these guys were really hot...so they were chillin and eating their bamboo...

speaking of snacks...how cool is it that the pandas have their own kitchen of nutrition....so awesome...but unfortunately pandas are quite picky...which is one of the problems of them in the wild...they only like certain kinds of bamboo...some of which bloom and grow only every 17 years...not good to be picky...but its what they have chosen....

this panda hung out for about 5 minutes and then headed back into his enclosure where it was cooler...it was freakin hot day and with a fur coat like that, i would assume that all you would want is to be cool....we were quite close to this panda...so cute!

when we left mainland china we went to hong kong....what a city....I LOVED IT here!!!! it was acrazy crowded city, but when you left the city there were green spaces everywhere...its one of the greenest cities on earth....BUT people are packed into certain areas like sardines...so they can have those green spaces...but i still loved it...could definitely see myself living there someday, i'll keep you posted on that...

all over china you see mao...and on antique road in hong kong there is no exception...he's everywhere....

isn't it a terrific looking city...they of course have joined the race for the tallest building in the world and should be finishing theirs in 2009...but of course it will hold the record for a day and another country will take the title....but i think the skyline is fabulous...and look at that blue sky...i was told that most days hong kong has tons of pollution...we got really lucky i guess...

here's another look at the skyline but this time at night...they have a laser light show every night...they just go all over the place...so much water, so many people and so much fun!

and this buddha is on hong kong as well...the largest seated bronze buddha...it was incredible...and look at that blue sky...it was really cool to take the metro and bus and find a place like this...mid blowing for me outside of a city that big :)
to prove it...this is the view from the buddha...look no city....just incredible to think this is all on the same island...simply stunning :)

you made it...the last shot of china....me and hong kong...someday i will live there...what a fabulous trip through china i had...i love reliving this trip...it brings back great memories for me and for hanging with my friend cynthia and for all of the new friends i met along the way...too cool....hope you enjoyed it...next installment will be tibet...which holds a very special place in my heart....see you again soon....i hope :)