China, October 14,2014 Shanghai to boat

As we left Shanghai we had another learning/buying adventure. In the silk factory we learned about the life cycle of a silkworm to the finished silk product. 70% of the silkworm cocoons are made into silk and 30% are hatched and create another generation. Silk production was a Chinese secret for over 3000 years. The legends as to how the secret was smuggled out of the county vary; a princess smuggled it out in her headdress as a gift for her husband the Prince of
Khotan, refugees smuggled them, or monks took them out in their Bamboo walking sticks. Silk is still an important product of China. We first viewed rugs, as always Eileen’s taste is elegant, she set her eyes on a $14,000 rug that was maybe 16 inches long. The rest of her shopping was spoiled. After rugs it was clothing and scarves.

Traveling on the highways, which are perfect, you become aware of the number of cars that exist around the cities. A 1000 cars a day come into China, to accommodate them all you may only drive on Monday,Wednesday and Friday,if you have a even license plate, odds drive on Tuesday ,Thursday and Saturday, Sunday is for everyone. BMW is the preferred method of transportation, Bus, Metro or Walking.

On the bus we headed for Yichang to board the boat. Before boarding the boat we stopped at another park along the river. We saw a bride and groom having their wedding pictures taken, a group of older ladies practicing a dance with drums and scarves and three young men launched a drone. As we drove through town we saw several restaurants with the staff out in front doing their exercises before opening.

After lunch we boarded the boat. The boat houses 350 passenger, a medical center, a spa, two dining rooms, bar, game rooms, karaoke and many little stores. When we sailed on the Mekong the boat was much smaller. Our group eats 2 meals in the VIP dining room and has access to the VIP lounge for internet.

Boat day 2

I woke up early and went to the deck to do tai chi and take pictures. After breakfast I went to a lecture on Chinese medicine, I volunteered for the acupuncture demonstration. Later I signed up for treatment for my sinuses. When in Rome do as the Romans. It has been a very interesting treatment and experience. Regardless of the outcome I was the only one able to sleep through the late night movement through the locks.

In the afternoon we visited the site of the Three Gorges Dam. The construction of this dam was very controversial. The US and Canada were supposed to provide technical support but they withdrew from the project in 1993. Like the Aswan Dam there are a million pros and cons for the building of the dam. Thousands of people were relocated. They were given money to build new houses in new towns. The environmental repercussions are the same from theHuron River to the Yangzi, change in wildlife, elimination of species, silt build up and in some cases down stream the current is so slow the sewage is not moving, causing the build up of huge cesspools, loss of historical sites and excellent farm land. The size of the dam is smaller than the Hoover Dam, however the reservoir is much larger. The Hoover Dam generates 1345 mega watts, the Three Gorges generates 18200 megawatts.

In the evening we had the Captain’s party and traveled through the lock.
Day 3 boat

The haze hangs over all the mountains creating, from your point of view, mysterious photos or crummy photos.

We docked in Badong and traveled by small boat up the Shennong Stream. The landscape is as you see in fine Chinese paintings. This is a area where many traditional medicines are harvested. The mountains are steep, there is little room for footpaths along the base. People travel by sampans.

There is always entertainment on the boat. This weather has been cooler and damper than any weather we have had.

Day 4 last day on The boat

Our excursion today was to a Relocation Family and a kindergarten. The family talked about the advantages of the relocation. We saw a small garden in the back of the school. We were told it is an illegal garden because it has been planted at the wrong elevation according to government standards. The students at the school were having their singing and dancing time when we arrived. They are to cute for words. It almost made me lonesome for the classroom.

Beijing China – October 6, 2014.

I know this is the first full day in China. I think it is Monday. Everything from Saturday morning is a blur of interrupted sleep, airplane food, screaming babies, tossing and turning in a very comfortable hotel bed but never really sleeping.

We started the day with the required getting to know you and here are the rules meeting.
Because this is the National Holiday week, our schedule is being altered so we can avoid crowds.

Our first stop was the zoo. We only went to see the Pandas who were totally uncooperative.
they eat until they are full, they sleep long hours everyday, have sex once a year…you would think they would be totally entertaining for the national holiday crowds but they weren’t, alas I have no Panda pictures. If you really need a picture, look it up on wikipedia where they will explain the debate about which family they belong to, racoon or bear. They will also tell you the life expectancy is about 30 years. They only eat four of the hundreds of kinds of bamboo in China, none of which grow in Beijing, it must be shipped in at an enormous cost to the zoo.
Beijing Pandas eat mostly meat.

Today was culture day. We rode a trishaw to a family home for a true family meal. We learned how to make dumplings. I am an absolute cultural failure with chopsticks. The house was very small by American standards, our table of 10 was placed in in the bedroom. The kitchen was The size of a closet in an older American home. The cooking utensils were a burner and a electric roaster. From roasted peanuts and bean curd , through several stir fry dishes to the dumplings the meal was a gourmet treat. We said xi xi and moved on to the Houtangs. The Houtangs are a maze of alleys created by courtyard houses. The Mongols built the first of these when they invaded Beijing. The house forms four walls that surround a courtyard where the mongals kept their horses. The current government reversed the policy of removing these houses and is now preserving them. We had tea with a older woman, retired telecommunications worker, who was given a lifetime lease for one fourth of the courtyard with shared bath facilities. She raised her family here along with three co workers who shared the unit. As the co workers died their adult children took over their parents part of the residence She said her life is lonely, she spends a lot of time walking and doing tai chi in the park.

The parks are lovely, there are many of them in the city and they seem to be very busy. With small residences the parks are very important in the life of the community.
The landscaping along the roads is meticulous, colourful flowers, manicured hedges and many trees. The military has planted many trees to protect the city from the sands blowing in from the gobi desert.

Before our dinner we walked in one of the parks, lovely trails around a lotus filled lake, benches with men playing chess, a garden pagoda with men playing cards, children fishing, several people practicing tai chi and young men playing what I would describe as foot badminton or hackie sac with a shuttle cock.

The last stop of the day was for Peking Duck. The meal was an unending procession of fabulous dishes.

Beijing- Oct 7, 2014

After a melatonin fix I slept like a baby.

Today we went to the Great Wall, the only man made structure that the astronauts can see from space. It would stretch across the entire continental United States.
The wall began as a series of battlements but with the unification of China by Qin Shi in 220 BC the wall was unified.It was built to accommodate 5 horses riding abreast. The battlements were placed two arrow shots apart. The incline is incredible, perhaps as much as 45 degrees in some spots as it snakes across the steep mountains. During the 13th century the Mongals breeched the wall. The Manchu breeched it later. The majority of the wall is crumbling, several places have been restored. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.

We visited the Badaling section. The walk left me breathless, we did not make it to the battlement.

We had a photo op ( drive by shooting) of the Olympic Village. The air was hazey and the view was not really clear enough for a good shot.

China started making great progress after 1980. Life improved for many people as the technology increased. Within Beijing the number of cars, (1000/day) television sets and housing has grown rapidly. At one point they issued motorcycles permits but there was a high fatality rate so they zare no longer permitted. I am sure that we will see more bicycles later., but the vision of hundreds of bicycles no longer exists.
Young bides measure their future husbands by the five c’s, credit,condominiums,career,car and cash<
Our view of the houtang showed showed that life is comfortable for many but this is not a classless society.

When we are not with group we have been advised to eat in the hotel because of the water quality.