{"id":545,"date":"2013-10-06T19:32:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-06T12:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=545"},"modified":"2013-10-07T06:02:16","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T23:02:16","slug":"yangtze-river-here-we-come-10113","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=545","title":{"rendered":"Yangtze River! Here we come! 10\/1\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, October 1, is the Chinese \u201cNational Day\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s the beginning of a week-long holiday, celebrating the creation of the People\u2019s Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949.\u00a0 That\u2019s the history lesson for the day.\u00a0 For us, it means we\u2019re headed out for our cruise down the Yangtze River.<\/p>\n

We have a flight from Beijing Capital Airport, so we finish packing and leave early.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how busy everything will be on a day like today, or how crowded it will be.\u00a0 We grab a taxi and head to the airport.\u00a0 Traffic seems normal, with no big delays.\u00a0 We arrive at Terminal 3, for domestic flights in China.\u00a0 It\u2019s different than the International Terminal we used a couple of weeks ago as headed to Seoul.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s huge, and very new.\u00a0 I think the International Terminal is undergoing renovation.\u00a0 Crowds are very manageable, only 3 or 4 people ahead of us in any line we were in.\u00a0 Security was easy, friendly, and thorough.\u00a0 We get to the gate area, and eat a sandwich.\u00a0 I even have a chance to Facetime Courtney and my parents from the airport, using airport wifi.\u00a0 It\u2019s crazy what technology allows us to do these days.<\/p>\n

The flight is smooth.\u00a0 We\u2019re off the ground late, but I allowed plenty of time to board the boat, if we were late.\u00a0 We arrive in Chongqing and are met by our arranged transportation.\u00a0 As we drive to the river, I enjoy checking out the difference in Chongqing and Beijing.\u00a0 Chongqing is actually bigger than Beijing.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see as much \u201cold\u201d stuff as we drive through.\u00a0 There are many construction projects that look half-finished.\u00a0 In a few years, this city looks like it going to be thriving.\u00a0 Right now, it\u2019s in transition, like much of the China we\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n

We arrive where our boat is moored.\u00a0 The approach isn\u2019t modernized.\u00a0 The concrete steps are very old, and steep.\u00a0 We have a porter carry our bags down to the boat.\u00a0 We\u2019re not even sure it\u2019s the correct boat.\u00a0 Our cruise itinerary says \u201cGold Cruiser 2\u201d, but the boat is clearly marked the \u201cGold Cruiser 7\u201d.\u00a0 Everyone I ask says \u201cno problem, no problem\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

Boarding area for the cruise<\/p><\/div>\n

We get checked in and upgrade our room to the top deck (an advantage of being early).\u00a0 We also get the chance to upgrade to the top deck VIP dining room, which we also take advantage of.\u00a0 As Judy says, \u201cthis is what I\u2019ve been working 37 years for, and I\u2019m still working for it\u201d.\u00a0 While we\u2019re waiting to check-in, all the cruise staff line up for \u201cassembly\u201d.\u00a0 They get a pep-talk and a uniform inspection.<\/p>\n

\"Crew<\/a>

Assembly and pep-talk for the crew before check-in begins<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Chongqing<\/a><\/p>\n

The room is nice, and comfortable.\u00a0 We unload our bags, and walk the boat a little.\u00a0 We eat dinner and walk up to the top deck to sit out and enjoy the view of Chongqing.\u00a0 The river area is gorgeous at night, with bridges and buildings lit up.<\/p>\n

\"Cruise<\/a><\/p>\n

I would love to see the boat depart Chongqing, but I don\u2019t make it.\u00a0 It\u2019s off to la-la land for me.\u00a0 Judy tells me later she woke up for it.\u00a0 My excuse is I\u2019m building up my energy for the excursion tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, October 1, is the Chinese \u201cNational Day\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s the beginning of a week-long holiday, celebrating the creation of the People\u2019s Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949.\u00a0 That\u2019s the history lesson for the day.\u00a0 For us, it means we\u2019re … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}