We’re up a little earlier than the past few days. We have an early excursion departure. We’re going to view the Three Gorges Dam Project. When we depart the boat, we load buses, and are transported to an area built to look down on the whole area. The best news for us is that there are escalators taking crowds to the top. Since the project was completed in 2001 and was 20 years in the planning, the government was able to build a modern facility to show off their success.
This tetrahedron shaped rock was the type used to stop the water flow. The Chinese did a lot of research to figure out the best design and fit for the base of the dam.
Description of the tetrahedron shaped rock
It’s foggy/misty, and we can’t see much in the direction of the reservoir and dam, but the locks area is clear enough to view. We’re told the Chinese army leveled five mountains to make way for the project. When the Chinese decide to do something, they have the available manpower to do it. We arrived fairly early on the site, but the crowds were not far behind. It begins to resemble Disneyland on Xmas day (although they don’t handle crowds quite as well as Disney).
After our return to the boat, we have time to pack before the cruise enters the Xilong Gorge, the last of the Three Gorges. We sit on our balcony and take in the view. The river is much different below the dam. None of these homes had to relocated so the shoreline is more natural. There are beach areas that didn’t exist above the dam, and older homes that have been taken care of.
When we dock and disembark, it’s wild! Our driver comes frantically running on the boat looking for us, obviously in a hurry. He has a porter ready for our bags, and we hike up the steps to the parking area. There are cars and buses everywhere, honking and yelling fills the air. We make our way past numerous taxi drivers, aggressively offering their services. It’s a relief to finally get to our vehicle. The driver inches through the traffic, honking and shouting with the rest of them. The road turns from dirt to paved and gradually widens as we move toward the city. Forty-five minutes later we’re at the small Yichang airport, checking in.
Our flight gets off 10 minutes early (yes, early). The flight lands in Beijing at 7:30 pm, almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The airport seems almost empty. The taxi ride is without incident, and we are home by 8:30.
We had a great trip! The views on the cruise were dramatic, and our trip relaxing. We were closely watched everywhere we went on our boat, since there were so few foreigners. Sometimes we felt like we were in a fishbowl. We were always the first group off the boat for excursions, since we had to have a special guide that could translate. We weren’t that impressed with the food. I’ve had better Chinese food. Our German shipmates agreed the food quality was lacking, and they’ve lived in China for over 10 years. The Chinese sure seemed to enjoy it. We’ll probably try to travel outside China next year on this holiday. The crowds off the boats were big and tough to negotiate.