We left Chongqing and boarded our ship, the Chang Hang Jiang Yu (I'm
sure that's a catchy Chinese name), for a two day cruise down the Yangtze.
We have a nice little cabin on the port side. The ship looks like one
of those Mississippi river boats without the big wheel in back. The toilets
are rough (we're squatting pros now), but the shower is hot and the rooms
have strong AC. The river is too fast and brown to swim, so we drink beer
on deck, play chess, and watch the scenery as we move quickly downstream.
Everywhere along the bank are terraced hillsides, and once in awhile a
marker that shows where the new water level will be once the Yangtze Dam
is done by 2009. When it is finished, the Yangtze Dam (Three Gorges Dam)
will be the largest in the world. |