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| Entrance to Lesser Gorges |
Saturday, March 24
Gorgeous Gorges in Wushan
Early to rise, quick shower and up for tai chi with Dr. Liu. It does seem to get
easier the second time. The flow is the same but coordinating the hands and the
feet is complicated.
After breakfast, we transferred to a second boat and begin to see some lesser
gorges. It is hard to imagine how deep these would have been if they had 200
feet less water in them. They are towering and covered with dense vegetation.
The absence of people, animals and birds is striking though habitation has to
be tough. The three smaller gorges we saw today were Dragon Gate, Misty and
Emerald. They are collectively called the Three Lesser Gorges. To reach them we had to sail up the Daning River.
In this area, the river
used to be 3-5 meters wide and fairly shallow. Since the dam was constructed,
the river is 250 feet deep and, therefore, open to larger boat traffic. Alice,
our local guide, told us that there are some isolated villages at the top and
over the mountains. To reach the water taxi in the river’s edge, the people
have to walk three or four hours ,traverse a slippery and impossibly steep
slope and catch the ratty little diesel water
boat. We saw one group of three people waiting for such a boat and several
faster speedboat taxis plus a few boats like ours ferrying tourists. The simple
taxis cost 10 yuan to ride downstream.
We floated along through one gorge which opened onto a wide spot that did have
some relocation high rises and some farmers’ houses. The terraced land was
mostly covered in blazing yellow canola plants. As we travelled on, the river
became narrower and finally we transferred yet again to a motorized sampan
holding about thirty people for the trip up yet a narrower gorge.
Much to
our surprise, suddenly we heard flute music and spied a man playing his
instrument high up on a ledge and a bit further we were serenaded by a trio
singing a traditional folk song from their precarious perch on the river bank.
Evidently, these people are paid by the government to perform for tourists.
Charming but a bit strange.
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Guide to Lesser Gorges
On our way back downstream, we spotted a couple of groups of monkeys playing along
the river's edge and a large bird we thought might be an eagle. The country is
conspicuously void of birds and the story is that Mao felt birds were bourgeois
and encouraged all the birds to be eradicated. Whether that is true or not, one
doesn't see birds except for the magpies we saw in Beijing. The other story we
heard later is that Mao ordered many of the trees cut which destroyed the
habitat for the birds. Maybe I’ll Google this upon returning home. |
After the double transfer, we arrived back at the ship and were greeted with
warm towels and hot tea...both appreciated after the cold boat trip.
Lunch followed, a few hands of bridge and then time for the silk embroidery
demonstration, a lecture on fresh water pearls and their care and a Chinese
lesson -all before dinner. The motto of this trip might be something about idle
hands and feet.
The pearl lesson included the fact that there are four natural colors of fresh
water pearls...white, pink, purple and black. The color does not really affect
the value as the value is based on the shape with round being the top quality. Although
the irregular ones and the smaller “rice” pearls are also attractive, I think.
Pearls should be a tiny bit irregular. If they are too perfect, they are
probably not authentic!
Evidently, it is not
possible to tell if pearls are real just by appearance or weight. Instead,
they can be tested by one of three methods: rub one against your teeth to see
if they have a gritty feel...they should; rub one against a mirror and look for
the pearl powder...it won't harm them as they are the same all the way through
or rub one against another and they will feel rough. Genuine pearls can be
washed in gentle, soapy water and left to dry naturally on a towel. Then one
should slip them back into a velvet pouch for safe keeping. They should not be
kept with other jewelry that may scratch them.
The cruise upstream today toward Chungking ( Chongqing) , the largest city in
China, was magnificent as there were incredible amounts of peach and plum trees
in bloom. The towering hills were absolutely covered in the trees!
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| Unbelievably beautiful trees |
Sprinkled
in, as well, one could see orange trees laden with fruit. Following these
magnificent vistas, we passed through the last of the three gorges which, to me,
was the most beautiful.
After dinner, the crew performed their version of cabaret complete with Robin,
the bartender, as a magician and Steven, ship manager, as the man with many
faces. There were several dance numbers with the young girls doing a good job.
Mostly it was ethnic music and dance and so interesting.
We went back to the cabin by 10:30 to wash out a few things and prepare for the
next day. There just weren’t many late nights with the pace of the tour!
Note: The drink of the day was Shanghai Sunrise...vodka, triple sec and lime
juice...suspiciously like Vodka Gimlet and really tasty at 28RMB. The drinks on
the boat were certainly much more reasonable than the hotels.
