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This entry is written long after the fact – my cold became significantly worse and I had just enough energy to get through each day.  So instead of writing a blow-by-blow account, the next few days will be more photos than words.

The highlight of Chengdu was the visit to the panda sanctuary.  It is amazing to see so many of these marvelous creatures in one place – they’re large, cuddly looking – but I wouldn’t really want to get too close.  In addition to the usual black and white pandas, we got to see red pandas – they look more like raccoons than anything else.  There was also a film about the breeding program – the most astounding part of that was seeing a baby born.  For such ultimately large and beautiful creatures they start out life looking about the size and cuteness of a rat.  They come literally flying out of the mother – who in the film we saw looked astounded and had no idea what to do.  In the wild most panda infants die – part of the reason they are endangered.  At the sanctuary the vets whisk the baby away and to safety. Continue reading "June 2, 2007 — Chengdu, China" »

Today was one of those traveling days that you just simply endure.  By this point, nearly everyone in the group was ready to leave Tibet.  Though wonderfully exotic and intellectually captivating, Lhasa was difficult physically.  The air is dry — desert dry.  Eyes itched.  I woke up every morning with a bloody nose.  My skin soaked up moisturizer like a sponge and still felt parched and papery.  I had been taking a low dose of Diomox, a drug that helps to alleviate symptoms of altitude sickness, but still had the occasional stab of pain slice through my scalp and eyes.  Others in the group had continual pounding headaches.  The Diomox also has a strange side effect of causing extremities — toes and fingers — to tingle at odd times with no warning.  Some of the group have been feeling nausea for days.  Few of us have been sleeping well, including Lisa who looked deathly pale, drawn and anxious. Continue reading "June 1, 2007 — Chengdu, China" »

Before our morning tour, Maggie and I went for a walk in the bazaar to the temple.  The crowds are even denser than they were yesterday.  Today is the holy day.

Then we went on to an orphanage supported by the Grand Circle Foundation.  There are 82 kids living in a place about the size of my home.  It was good to hear that they received permission and have the funds to move the orphanage to a new, larger building.  It seems that in China and Tibet, it is difficult to adopt a child, and in Tibet, foreign adoptions are strictly forbidden.  Despite the poor living conditions -– two or three to a bed, nowhere for the kids to run and play, a kitchen that would horrify a US health inspector — the kids seemed healthy, well-fed, and happy.  They sang You Are My Sunshine for us; then we sang for them.  Each child grabbed one of our arms and gave us a tour of the facility, pulling us this way and that, and pointing out their favorite things.  Continue reading "May 31, 2007 — Lhasa, Tibet" »

This morning, we’re on our official tour of Jokhang Temple, which is in the middle of the bazaar, about a block from our hotel. It seems the city is in the midst of a holy festival, in fact the holiest festival on the Tibetan calendar. Tomorrow is the celebration of the Shakyamuni’s, the founder of Buddhism, birthday. For ten days leading up to this event, more and more people pour into Lhasa. By doing the ritual walk around the temple, giving donations and burning herbs, during this holy period they are ten times blessed. So, the crowds are huge. People come into the city from all over the country. The clothing reflects local preferences and customs, and the variety is enormous. We watched people throwing herbs, barley flour and beer into the flames of large, open ovens in front of the temple. So many people were throwing herbs in, that in one oven, flames shot several feet up from the flue on the top. In another oven, the fire was nearly smothered by the herbs until a monk raked it out. Smoke billowed out from the ovens, creating a huge haze over the whole area. Continue reading "May 30, 2007 — Lhasa, Tibet" »

Up at 5:15; breakfast over and on the bus by 6:15. Again, I’m impressed by our group. Everyone was on time and even pretty cheerful. Another brand-new building — Chengdu Airport is one year old. While waiting for Lisa to collect our boarding passes, we stood by a fruit seller, first one I’ve ever seen in an airport. It was a beautiful display of loquats, mandarin oranges, cherries, plums and apples. Next door was a butcher’s shop selling meat. I didn’t want to look at any of that too closely.

It’s a very busy airport but efficient. Once through security and passport control — special visas are needed for Tibet, even though it’s technically part of China — we walked down a long corridor lined with shops selling luxury goods and filled with advertising. Once again, I wonder how that fits into the overall plan of communism. Then again, it is socialism with Chinese characteristics – mustn’t forget that. We passed the first-class lounge, which also seems more than a little odd. Then the slogan “To be rich is glorious,” slammed back to mind. Continue reading "May 29, 2007 — Lhasa, Tibet" »

Breakfast was early. Then like a stream of marching ants, luggage and passengers exited the boat, using the stick stick men to carry the luggage. First we walked through another identical boat, then over a series of ramps connected by pontoons, then up a long flight of stairs onto waiting buses. Chonqing is a huge city. Thirty-three million is the official number but from what I can tell, that is the greater Chonqing area which includes cities we passed many hours downstream. Still, it is huge. By all accounts, it is also a dismal city, at least in terms of the weather. It is perpetually smoggy, the result of the heat pollution, humidity from the river and other climatic factors, not to mention the coal dust.
Though it was still early, the day was already hot and very humid. Lisa told us a local saying: “When the sun shines, dogs bark.” They bark because the dogs don’t know what the sun is. Buildings are covered by gray dust from all the coal. Despite its size and the number of brand-new buildings, the huge population and endless trucks, cars and motorbikes, the feeling is a ghost town. Dim and gray, anything bright stands out — flashes of red in a muted scene. Continue reading "May 28, 2007 — Travel from Chonqing to Chengdu, China" »

While most passengers on ship went to the Ghost Temple at Fengdu, we went to visit a family that has been relocated because their home would be flooded.  Being skeptics, we all assumed that the family was selected because they have an optimistic outlook about the relocation program.  Being who we are, we asked a lot of questions.  We learned that half the people who moved to this relocation area, (which for this village was only a few miles from their original homes — some villages had been relocated a thousand miles away or more) left town after their new homes were completed, to find work.  The street looked semi-deserted with shuttered windows and doors.  As farmers, they no longer had land so they went to the cities in search of work at the factories.  Thirty million people in China are migrant workers, moving to construction sites or factories or anywhere else they can find work.  In this little town about half of the population are older people and their young grandchildren.  Continue reading "May 27, 2007 — Yangtzee River Cruise — Family visit and market — China" »

This morning’s excursion was through the lesser three gorges. These are on a tributary of the Yangtze –- the Daning River. Until the dam project started, they were unnavigable most of the year. As the water level has risen, at this point by about 10 meters (40 feet), smaller boats have been able to go through the gorges regularly. We transferred from the ship to a smaller vessel and headed under the “Bye-Bye” Bridge. It’s called the Bye-Bye Bridge because it will be destroyed within the next year — when the dam is completed, all but the top few feet will be submerged. That image really made it clear to me how much water will be held by the dam. One mountain over, construction is underway on the replacement bridge. According to the guide, because the area is so mountainous, there haven’t been many highways through the region, and the river has been the only way to travel through the area. The new bridge is part of another major construction project: a highway across the mountains. The guide also pointed out where a tracker’s path was carved into the wall of the gorge. At one time, there was a path that went the entire length of both the greater and lesser gorges, a narrow strip carved into the rock walls. They will all be submerged once the dam is completed. Continue reading "May 26, 2007 — Yangtzee River Cruise — Lesser Three Gorges — China" »

I was awakened from deep sleep this morning by the thrum of the engines and the gradual movement of the boat.  Stumbling onto the balcony, I caught sight of a modern bridge as we headed upstream.  Coffee is available at 6 a.m. so I made my way to the front lounge to get some.  Then clutching my mug of Illy coffee (they make a big point of letting passengers know they are getting imported Italian java), I made my way to the deck at the front of the boat.  As the steep banks slowly slid by, I said a short, silent prayer of thanks.  This was truly a trip to be savored and remembered. 

The breeze at the front of the boat was fierce.  I went back to the cabin to get my jacket.  I tripped a couple of times en route — the carpeting is wildly uneven and walking on it there seemed to be a few potholes.  Then again, the floor in our cabin slants downward.  When I first pointed this out to Maggie, she said, “Of course.  It’s a ship and we are at sea.”  To which I replied, “We’re not moving, we’re docked on a river, not the open ocean.”  Then there are the stairs, which as in most other places we’ve been seem to be of uneven heights – the top or bottom step is always lower or higher than the others – they can’t seem to get it right.  The air-conditioning, despite having an impressive set of controls, seems to have but two settings: on or off.  I point this out because it seems indicative of the building in China.  The new construction looks great but I wonder how well it will hold up over the long run.  I don’t have high hopes. Continue reading "May 25, 2007 — Yangtzee River Cruise — Three Gorges Dam — China" »