Cruising the Yangtze

Why China was always on my "Bucket List"

When I was a child living in Alaska, a very special couple doubled as my adopted grandparents. This couple were missionaries in China for many years. In the 1930s while they were home from China, they homesteaded in Alaska and then returned to China. They were living in in China in 1949 when politics forced them and other Americans in China to leave. With nowhere else to go, they returned to Alaska and their root vegetable farm near my home of Fairbanks.

These dear people became an integral part of my childhood! Often my brothers and I would visit their rustic log house in the country. While she baked homemade bread, he would get out their Chinese picture albums and share countless stories with us about China and the people there. The combination of the aroma of her homemade bread and the sound of him speaking to us in Chinese are embedded in my adult memories.

Because of my childhood connection with China, it was always on my personal “bucket list.” When it came time to celebrate a milestone anniversary, we fulfilled this wish and booked a two-week tour of China. This tour was a combination cruise on the Yangtze River along with city bookends of Shanghai and Beijing that began and ended the tour. Every single day of our China experience opened another world window.

The City of Shanghai

We flew from the US West Coast to Shanghai and our schedule included two days there. Because of an incredible case of jet lag, our visit to Shanghai is a blur. We remember visiting a museum and visiting a Chinese market, but we neither one of us remembers much more of Shanghai. Perhaps that's a good reason to visit again!

Walking along the Huangpu River in the tourist area called the Bund, it was impossible to see across the river because of the unbelievable pollution. Through the smog, it was evident that just across the river there were giant skyscrapers, but they were all shrouded in smog. We lived in Southern California during the 1970s and thought we understood pollution, but the pollution in Shanghai was worse.

Cruising the Yangtze

Cruising the Yangtze River is quite an education. After our two bleary days in Shanghai and attempts to overcome brutal jet lag, we flew from Shanghai to Wuhan where we boarded our river boat for five days and six nights on the Yangtze. Navigating several hundred miles through the heart of China was informative and enlightening. Because of this, we felt it was well worth the exhausting humidity and heat that we endured the instant we stepped outside.

On the river, we peacefully cruised past small villages, brand new high rise cities, and gorgeous new bridges. Ironically, once we cruised into the heart of China, there were few vehicles of any kind on the bridges and highways. The water of the Yangtze was always muddy and murky and full of barges, boats, skiffs, etc. The river humidity was stifling and seemed to be stuck at 100%. Someone suggested that we request a humidifier when we got to the ship. We took this advice, and by noon each day, the humidifier was completely filled with water!

The river boat provided lecturers who boarded from time to time. These presentations varied from the art of drawing to demonstrations of silk and its significance in Chinese history, to talks about their culture and history. We thoroughly enjoyed these presentations but also felt that they were sometimes laced with propaganda.

Interesting and informative side trips into villages and canyons were also provided as part of the river cruise. Optional Chinese cuisine, cultural lectures, dancers, and singers were made available for our entertainment. Twice we disembarked from our larger river boat and transferred to a smaller river boat so that we could cruise deeper into the backwaters near the river. At one of these sites, we were entertained by singing Chinese children, and ancient Chinese water wheels were displayed.

The Three Gorges Dam

Possibly the most outstanding site included in the cruise was the Three Gorges Dam. It is the world’s largest hydroelectric project and most noted dam. This massive project was finally complete in 2011, and now thousands of boats pass through its locks each day.

It was exciting to visit and explore the dam in person. In order to con-struct the dam, 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1,350 villages were flooded. This flooding displaced 1.2 million people, so the river is lined with brand new high rise cities. Apparently, the Chinese people either do not have funds to live in these high rises or they prefer to live by their old village ways because MOST of the dozens of high rises we saw mile after mile along the river were empty.

The Terra Cotta Warriors

After six nights and five days on the Yangtze River, we arrived at the City of Chongqing, which is located smack dab in China’s heartland. Reluctantly, we said good by to our lovely river boat and flew to the city of Xian. But, our tour of China was certainly not over.

In Xian we visited the unbelievable site of the Terra Cotta Warriors. I had read about these "warriors," but I was not prepared for the magnitude and grandeur of them. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Xian and our visit to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. We consider that one of the highlights of all our travels in different parts of the world. I highly recommend the Terra Cotta Warriors.

Beijing, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City

From Xian we flew to Beijing where we saw the pandas, visited the Great Wall of China, and the Forbidden City. Eventually, I will create an entire new blog about Beijing, the pandas, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City, so please watch for that.