Three Gorges Dam

Overview of the Dam - best view we had on this romantic day...

Inspired by Chairman Mao's poem which begins 'Wall of stone...will stand upstream....Hold back Wushan's clouds, the intent of the dam was to tame the mighty Yangtze.

Prior to the dam a winch stations ware required to pull a boat upstream on the shallow part of the Yangtze, along with the required effort of trackers in some areas. The dam solved many of these problems although it
submerged 13 cities, 140 towns, 1352 villages. People were relocated to new towns and villages. The stories vary as to whether or not they are happy about it. One of our guides said that she received 600 yuan for one year.  The formula for compensation was based on how much the individual lost due to the relocation


According to Wikipedia and our guide "The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping.  It is the largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW). The dam was completed and fully functional as of July 2012 except for a ship lift. "

Ships passing through

The dam allows free tours, takes 3 ½ to 4 hours to go through it.  They are currently working on the ship lock system. It has 10 chambers.  (lots of locks, no bagels - joke courtesy of our guide. As Guide Michael would say it was a very romantic day...meaning misty with limited visibility. On the way to the dam we saw the locks. 

 The dam area itself was guarded allowing limited entry. The grounds were beautiful; the escalators a welcome relief from stairs.

Terry and I shooting each other on the escalator ride

 I climbed the monument and took pictures from the top.  The sculpture at the front is meant to represent three men fighting with the water in an attempt to tame the river. That could be me standing at the top watching the cascading falls below.

The view from the top was of one of the concrete blocks  used to stop the water flow so that the dam could be built.  Each block weights 18 to 28 tons.  It's sharp angles allow it to be placed deep in the earth.

View from the top

Terry would like you to believe that he picked up this rock and put it on its appointed stand, but I know it was actually rescued from the river before the dam covered up the river bed with water.

 For those of you who might be interested in the the facts, I bought the book.  Chances are I will be able to get it in the new suitcase that we are going to have to buy to get all the stuff we're buying home...

Guide Steven said the river is rising each year because of all the silt that is added to the river.  His joke:
Why is the Yangtze River so rich? It has two banks with many many deposits.

Mighty Yangtzee and Beautiful Gorges

Entering the Gorges

Information from Steve Yu,
Victoria Selina Riverboat Guide

Steven started with Victoria Selina 10 years ago in housekeeping. Then graduated to bar waiter, tender supervisor and in 2010 attended a small vocational school to be a guide.  They taught him about tourism, English and his country’s geography, history and culture, the three Gorges and the Dam that created the form of the river we were sailing on.

There are two major rivers in China,,,, in the south the Yangtze - 3rd longest in the world, in the north the Yellow river. - 5th longest . Yangtze in Chinese is Chang Jiang which means Long River. 1/3 of China’s people - 400 million - live along the Yangtze. China has 1.3 billion people, 1/15th of the worlds population. The Yangtze is 4,400 kilometers - 2700 miles long, stretching from Chungquin to Shanghai.

The beginning of many photo ops

Quitang Gorge -Shengnong Tributory

toWe would be going as far as Wuhan, passing through the most beautiful part of the river with the 3 Gorges Dam.

The three Gorges are Quitang, 8 kilometers, Wu, 4 kilometers and Xiling 761 kilometers.

In the Old Days

Our Tracker Boat

Probably the worst job along the Yangtze disappeared in the 1960’s along with the creation of the dam. Before the dam the waters of the Yangtze were difficult to navigate. During parts of it boats were actually pulled upstream by a team of trackers hauling the boat. In some cases the trackers shed their clothes as they became an impediment to the back breaking work of lugging boats upstream.

Our trackers had clothes on.  At one point we steered toward the shore. 3 of the trackers exited the boat and with the use of a rope pulled the boat for a few hundred feet along a well worn path.  The ropes had cut a ridge through the mountain side. Although the fear was mostly self induced I did wonder if we were going to tip over and have to swim for it.  I kept an eye out for rocks that might be able to sustain life. One of our trackers was a senior citizen - 65 years old!  The oars were remarkably skinny...not necessary today but in the old days they were necessary because of the shallow water. Thanks to Terry for asking!

Although its pretty difficult, like impossible to see, there is a hanging coffin about half way down this crevice. It was the tradition to respect the dead by placing their coffins like this for the period of mourning.


Before the 50’s parts of the river consisted of roaring waters and huge rocks. Navigational conditions were very bad.  A winch station was used to pull the boat upstream.

The Chinese Dynasties Show and City Lights

This is the theater/stage/dance floor where EVERYTHING happened

These girls worked in the boat as well as performed

Dances were performed in a variety of traditional ethnic costumes

After the show we noticed another show along the river - City Lights

From the upper deck of the Victoria Selina

Acupuncture and Tai Chi Victoria Selina

Another delight of Riverboats is the number of opportunities to attend seminars, educational and otherwise and the ease of getting to the meeting place - the one and only stage/auditorium/gathering place.  Often there be a cup of coffee to compliment the class.

Dr. Hu Yun Ming was the ship doctor trained in both western and  eastern medicine. He talked about the yin/yan philosophy or fact:  that everything has 2 sides - water and fire, daytime and nighttime .  Also that there are 14 major meridians in face, back, arm and leg, and lesser meridians in the muscles, tendons and skins. 

Acupuncture can alleviate poor digestion problems, headaches, stiff neck, shoulder, arthritis, insomnia, poor circulation, leg or shoulder problem.  We saw the tiny sterile needles which are used once.

A volunteer from the audience, who turned out to be a dr, said she had stiff neck problems.  We watched him insert 5 needles and apply suction cups to her back.  Suction cups are meant to suck out bad toxins and can help colds, backaches, relax muscles.

During the 15 minute wait he showed us a number of pressure points that can be used: one to alleviate motion sickness is located 3 fingers below the wrist between two tendons.  One between thumb and first finger can help with toothache, stomach ache and headache

Migraine headaches can be helped with temporal massage, front to back headache by massaging points at back of head both sides.

Insomnia and high blood pressure by rubbing the top of the head with a knuckled hand at a midpoint. Draw a line from behind the ear to the top of the head and that is the spot.

You can do this two or three times a week or 3 or 4 times a day.

When he removed the bulbs some of the spots were redder than others. He said the darker color meant more toxins had been sucked out.

Having been trained in western and eastern medicine he believes that both can be used for different ailments, and that Chinese medicine is much better for problems associated with old age, menopause, chronic constipation and digestive problems.

He has used a combination of acupuncture, herbs and massage to help people stop smoking.

SNUFF BOTTLE PAINTING by Jordan Victoria Selina resident artist

Snuff bottles

Snuff bottle painting starting in the Chin Dynasty.  These small bottles were used for snuff powder.  They were made out of jade, natural stone, agate, natural crystal stone.  If they were unable to get the snuff out, used bamboos to get it out.

The painting in done inside the bottle with a pretty small brush.

Natural crystal stone is cut into smaller pieces, a hole is cut on top and it is hollowed out.  The outer surface is smooth, the surface transparent.  The interior is then frosted by mixing water, steel balls and sand inside to scratch the interior surface.  It results in a cloudy looking surface.

The paint brush is made of goat or wok hair and just out at a 90 degree angle from the brush. Our artist made his brushes himself.

While you have to be able to paint normally, it is a matter of thinking about painting in a different way.  This is a traditional way of Chinese painting.  It takes 25 days to paint one jar, but that varies with the complexity of the design and the size of the bottle.

There is no way to cover up a mistake.  With an oil painting you can often apply more oil and fix the painting. With this art form you just have to start all over. Another skill I don't think is in my wheelhouse. Oh well.

EMBROIDERY by Gordon Victoria Selina

Sorry -The glare came from lights

 Two classes were held by the resident artists Gordon and Jordan one in embroidery and the other in snuff painting.

Gordon showed us the difference between the type of embroidery that you might  be offered by a street vendor (of which there were hundreds) and the type that was produced by his family-owned small factory, He showed us the different effects produced by straight stitches, cross stitches and the pass through stitch  -  the latter produced the same picture on both sides of the canvas. 

He explained that one standard thread is broken into 10 threads, sometimes more depending on how fine you want the thread used to be.  The embroidered tiger pictured below can be completed in 25 days by a reasonably talented experienced seamstress.

At the time we thought it was a mistake.  Gordon showed us a beautiful embroidered picture of himself as a toddler with his slightly older sister both sleeping leaning against a wall.  His parents both worked so it was up to his sister to take care of him.

His pants had the same slit up the back that we had seen at the zoo on a toddler (which we thought must be some kind of mistake).  He explained that in China, parents that cannot afford diapers use this type of apparel for their toddlers so they can squat and pee whenever necessary without soiling their clothes.  We an illustration of that at the Dam later on.

Squatting is a mandatory skill in China.  It starts early and continues throughout your life with the design of   Chinese toilets, so I suppose it would be normal to start the training young,

Fengdu City of Ghosts

The steps before The Steps

Our Riverboat Home

Docking at Fengdu

When I watched us arrive at our first port from our balcony I was sure we were running into the boat next to us. Never having been on a riverboat cruise before, docking was a new experience.  Since a riverboat was already docked , Victoria tied up to her and we departed for our tour by walking through that boat to shore.

Our guide explained that the Chinese come here to Ghost City to get their next life and to remember the way after life.  No one wants to go the wrong way.  This city was originally built during the Ming Dynasty 500 years ago.   She warned us there were 170 steps to the top of the mountain and that would be the most difficult part of the journey.

We stopped in front of Hen and Hap…I’m quite sure that is not the correct spelling but that is what it sounded like to these untrained ears. If we said their name loudly they would protect us inside the city so that ghosts wouldn’t follow us out. 

On the way up we passed a few interesting statutes. For parents who were seeking helping with their troublesome children, there is a statute of a boy being spanked. It is said if you touch the boys behind then your troubles with your own children will lessen.

Then there was a stone goddess who trapped men with her charms. They evidently became a part of the statute.

At the top were 3 Naihe bridges. The first only allowed good people to cross. If you were not good you would fall into the stream below that contained vipers. Fortunately we all made it. The two other bridges were a choice, either longevity or wealth.  If you choose the longevity bridge it is said you would have a long life. If you chose the wealth bridge you would receive riches.  We choose the longevity bridge so we could go on a lot more cruises.  It did nothing for my cold though.

Another bridge was the marriage bridge…if you wanted to stay married to each other in the next life you held hands and crossed together. Otherwise you could cross on the single bridge. We choose to stay together.

A third test was ascending a set of stairs in one breath. If you made it you would be granted a long life.

I Made It!

Buddhists believe in reincarnation, Taoists immortality.  Everything has a god. This is a hard concept for westerners to grasp.  There was a God of Heaven who is number one, but then she showed us the God of Hell and said he was the one who decided whether you went to heaven or hell, which seems like a pretty  important position.

I took way too many pictures to post them all here. Should I ever figure out how to do so, I may be able to load them to facebook. Or maybe here. But its now 12:32 AM and I think I have been doing this one simple page for about 2 hours. I may need a class in remedial blogging.

Xian, China

XIAN

sounds like Ceean

We were to fly to Xian to see the Terra Cotta warriers. This was our first flight on a domestic flight owned and operated by the Chinese government.

Xian was the capital of China twice during the Hon Dynasty.  Silk, porcelain tea, music, dancing and fine horses were introduced during this period.

During Tang Dynasty from 7th to 10th century, Xian grew to a population of one million, 30,000 foreigners, similar to New York or London. Like most important cities  in China it built a wall to protect itself from invasions.

Chongqing and Pandas

Chongquing

Apartments Chonquing

Our second internal flight on a government airline took off on time from Xian  Our local Guide Windy gave us a brief tour around Chongqing, which means Double Happiness.

 It is the biggest city in China with nearly 34 million people living there.  In China’s long history, this city too was a capital. 

 There are only 4 cities in China that are not controlled by a Province, I.e. they report directly to the Chinese Government. Chongqing is one of them.

An average apartment is 90 square meters and costs 90,000 to buy.  That 90,000 does not include doors, floors, toilet.  It was only recently that windows were included.  Her first apartment did not have an elevator and was on the 9th floor.  She had to walk that every day - 100 steps.  Stickmen make their living helping residents carry their packages up and down the stairs using a bamboo stick and she was grateful for their help..

Rent is between 300 to 400 US dollars per month. Water and gas and electricity are extra.  The average salary is 700 US dollars per month.  There is not a lot left to spend. Summer time Chongqing can get as hot as 45 to 50 centigrade with 70 percent humidity. Like Dallas, without air conditioning, the city would not exist. She recommended March, April, May, September or October as the best months to visit China, especially southern China.

On our way to the 20 acre zoo she told us that pandas are only wild in Centrum Province.  I think at some point we heard that they were not in the wild anywhere.   Pandas are considered a national treasure to the Chinese.  Only 1200 pandas exist. One of the reasons there aren’t more is that they simply aren’t interested in sex.  Put a female and male together with some bamboo and they will opt for the bamboo.  They even tried medication and had them watch a movie to show them how it was done.  With all that effort they
produced one baby.  Until they are four years of age you can’t tell if they are male or female.
Renting a panda for a year will cost  1 million dollars US or more.

The Baby - 1 1/2 years old

Enjoying a Bamboo Snack

This zoo has seven pandas.  She warned us not to expect a lot.  In captivity at least, they are a lazy animal.  They basically eat, sleep and poop.  Their daily schedule...eatt bamboo from 9 to 11, nap from 11 to 3 and eat from 3 to 5.  One adult eats from 20 to 40 kilos of bamboo a day, average weight from 150 to 250 kilos. If we are lucky we will get to see them eat.

They have very bad eyesight, smell and are food addicts. Put two of them in an enclosure together and they will fight. According to our guide, they have survived since the days of the dinosaur doing just that.

After the zoo we headed for the riverboat.  Windy warned us to stay away from the stickmen and pointed a few of them out to us.  They are men (and women) who walk around with a stick and offer to help you carry your packages up and down stairs. They charge for it of course.  They might also just lend you an arm to get down the stairs, and that is going to cost too.  They usually don’t tell you that until after the service .

At first glance we wondered what we got ourselves into

Almost to the Victoria

Stairs in the background-no railings

View from the Victoria

City of Ghosts Pictures

WHO carries a backpack up 176 plus steps?

This Guy....Hopefully Near the Top

Hen and Hup

A couple colorful characters to greet us

You want me to do what with that?

Piece of cake...Stand on it for 3 seconds without losing your balance to ensure safe passage for everyone

Crossing the Longevity Bridge -choosing health over wealth

One of the few happy guys we saw up there

The Final Destination

View from the Top

Along the Way

Home at Last. Guess who has the backpack?

Terra Cotta Museum

Terra-cotta Officer

 

 Our Guide Jenny educated us about the soldiers.

The first emperor of China, Qin (pronounced Chin) ShiHuang Tin, around 220 BC, terrified by his own mortality, believed he needed to be protected and accompanied in his afterlife.  Some required their servants to be buried with them, or even their wife. That practice was eventually outlawed in 383 BC.  Emperor Qin  decided instead to have an army of soldiers - infantry, charioteers, horsemen, and generals -created to protect him in the afterlife so he had  7000 terra cotta soldiers created over a span of 4 decades who were then buried in his underground tomb located in a secret place to prevent tomb robbers (a common profession at that time) from robbing the grave.  It was the largest mausoleum in the world.

Pit 1 - The largest # of soldiers found

The Museum and Grounds

During a subsequent uprising there was a fire on the roof of the first pit and the wooden beams in the ceiling burned and collapsed.  The structure collapsed, breaking the soldiers into pieces.

An accidental discovery of some of these terra cotta soldiers occurred  on March 29, 1974 by 5 farmers who were drilling a series of wells.  On July 17th of the same year archeologists arrived onsite. The museum opened in October of 1979. 

Pit 1 contained pieces of Infantry, Calvary and Charioteers, Pit 2 had weapons and pieces of  archers: 172 standing  and 150 kneeling.  One of these archers was intact.5 meters below the surface.  Pit number 3 had few statutes and appeared to be the headquarters of the operation.

The Archer

The soldiers and horses were made with local clay.  The weight varies from 110 to 300 kilos, average height is 1.8 meters. No two solders have exactly the same expression leading some experts to think that real soldiers served as models. So far 80 craftsmen have been identified.  After they were made the statues were put in kilns to be fired. Round holes in horses allowed gases and vapors to escape preventing deformed or exploded horses.

President Clinton visited the museum n 1998. Guide Jenny meet the president and remarked to Eric, Hilary’s  bodyguard, that the president was very handsome. Eric responded “Come on Jenny. He’s already having a lot of trouble.”

Mr. Yung, one of the original farmers was on hand to meet the President. He was taught a few English phrases to use when he was presented to him.  He was to ask the president “How are you?” with an expected response of “Fine” to which he would answer “me too”.  Instead he asked him “Who are you?” with a response from the President that he was the husband of Hilary. Mr. Yung responded as taught with “me too’.  He has been known as Mr. Me Too ever since.  Mr. Me Too was on hand to autograph the book that we bought. If you would like to see it, let me know!   

Soldiers in the Process of Reconstruction

TerraCotta Ponies Reconstructed

Terra-Cotta Terry