Day 20 - Monday, Nov. 4 - Yangtze River

A comparatively slow day today, for a change.  No travel, one lecture by Alec on China’s rivers, one visit (to the Three Gorges Dam).  Our ship will sail only at 5:30 this afternoon.  With the tide.  (I’m kidding).

       Of course there are on-board activities.  A tai-chi lesson by the doctor, which I try.  I can get the feet part and the hand part, but have trouble putting them together.  Maybe tomorrow.  Then breakfast with the gang.  Then time to catch up on my journal and read a bit before a lecture on traditional Chinese medicine (by the same multi-faceted doctor who taught tai-chi).  She explains the principles, then does a demonstration on two volunteer Australians:  a yin (female) and a yang (male).  First acupuncture:  her for a blocked arm, him for knee problems.  Then she does cupping on the lady, thereby giving her three or four mega-hickeys.  I had to leave at that point, so I missed the Aussie gentleman fainting at the end of the demo... a decidedly yin thing to do.  (Saw him later at lunch; he was fine.)
       Upstairs on the top deck, Alec gives his second presentation:  a very interesting and informative talk on the three great rivers of China - the Yellow (Huang He), the Yangtze (ours) and the Pearl (including the Li portion).  Then a quick lunch - Chinese cuisine - before the trip to the dam.

Three Gorges Dam

Our local guide is Willy, who has taught himself excellent English from reading magazines and listening to radio and TV.  (All the guides choose English-language names to help us poor tourists.)  He’s very knowledgeable about the dam and even cracks the occasional joke.
       The Three Gorges is a gravity dam unlike Hoover Dam, and bigger than it.  Its 32 turbines make it the world’s largest dam in terms of electric production.  The first project for a dam in this location dates from Sun Yat-Sen and the beginning of the Chinese Republic in 1919.  Mao also dreamed of it.  But actual construction began only in 1994 and finished a bit ahead of schedule in 2008.  This site was chosen for its granite, much more solid than limestone.  Unfortunately its existence submerged 13 cities, 140 towns and more than 1,600 villages.  On the positive side, it has increased the Yangtze’s shipping capacity and reduced flooding downstream.

Back at the ship, we set sail around sundown.  Before bed, there’s the captain’s welcome reception, where he greets us all with a short speech and a ganbei (cheers) toast with a glass of champagne.
       Then back to the helm for him and we’re off upriver as we dine on fine cuisine, a blend of East meets West.