At Last-The Damn Dam

Friday, March 23

Paul's favorite sight of the trip

The Damn Dam

It is easy to believe that the Three Gorges Dam Project has produced the largest dam in the world. This dam is massive and the Chinese continue to build _ this time a boat lift for smaller boats and additional locks for the ships over 3000 tons. We had a delicious breakfast aboard after my first tai chi lesson with the ship's physician, Dr. Liu. We all certainly looked like novices but he was patient. Tai Chi has many moves resembling yoga but at a tempo that is both slow and precise.

To visit the dam, we disembarked through another ship...rather strange ...up the tram and, after a quick bus ride, arrived at the dam site. We saw the locks, each with 5 stages, the dam from both front and rear and the building that is continuing to complete the "rapid " lock. Approximately 1.3 million people had to be relocated because of the massive project but the mighty Yangtze is now a controlled river so no more flooding and the project provides huge amounts of badly needed electricity. Also the project opened up the upper reaches of the Yangtze to larger barge fleets and increased annual shipping from 10 million to 50 million tons. The Chinese leadership obviously felt the price of dislocation of so many people and the flooding of ancient sites was worth it…didn’t ask the people.

After the dam tour and lunch aboard our ship, we cast off and spent the afternoon cruising though the first two gorges including the Xiling Gorge. The sheer cliffs were amazing and beautiful.

Gorge One

Entrance to Gorge Two

 Between the gorge sightings, there was a fascinating lecture by Dr. Liu on nontraditional medicine and a demonstration on a fellow passenger who had shoulder issues that were miraculously CURED. The cure involved acupuncture and some sort of heated glass globes placed on the back. One has to have a second thought about Chinese medicine when witnessing the results as demonstrated by Dr. Liu.

I had signed up for a Chinese massage that might have been more properly named Chinese Torture. There was no soft music, no candles and no small talk to the recipient. Also there was no privacy...just a couple of massage beds, the masseuse and me. She was thorough and complete and worked every part of the body except the feet which was an area needing attention! However, I'm hoping to feel positive results by tomorrow but it was a bargain at 200 RMB.

The evening began with a welcome reception hosted by Captain Tang and a lovely appetizer spread accompanied by surprisingly good Chinese champagne. I was reminded by a fellow passenger that the Chinese were making wine before France!

Dinner was buffet as are all meals on the ship but with excellent choices and was followed by a clever floorshow which was dubbed a "fashion show" with costumes and dances of the ethnic groups of China. The young people, all crew members, did a credible job and seemed to have fun performing. A busy but restful day.   

Chinese ethnic costumes