China 2007

There was to be no sleeping in. Around 7, gentle piano music began to play, out of thin air, all over the ship. I groggily tried to figure out what was causing it, and why I could not stop it. I slunk back under the sheets, having given up and thoroughly frustrated. Fifteen minutes later, our river guide, Linda, came over the speakers with morning announcements, which were slowly repeated several times. This particular morning, I decided to get up and eat breakfast, but in the following days I would not be quite so energetic.

I stood outside on the fifth deck for some time, watching us pass through a wide, flat channel among small rocky islands and whirlpools. The windows were all covered in giant water droplets, but the air was still cool enough this early in the morning. In the night, we had passed into an area of intense humidity - the difference was vividly noticable.

We had several hours before our first shore excursion, and we were still chugging along. The only activity that morning was a demonstration of the use and fabrication of various trinkets that were sold in the shops there. Frankly, I can't remember the highlights. I sat in an alcove with Mrs. James and Mr. Kozden talking about random things.

We docked along the "old city" a flat area by the river with hundreds of leveled foundations. Several years prior, the city had moved across the river to higher ground. The water would raise another twenty meters when the third phase of the Three Gorges Dam was completed.

We took a bus, then walked along a long aisle of shops, into a large plaza. Most of the group took the cable car, but a few of us chose to run, and then walk, up six hundred steps, through abandoned temples and gazebos, to the top of the mountain. Surprisingly, we beat the cable car group by several minutes.

This place was called Fengdu, the Ghost City. The spirits of everybody in the world were supposed to come here, according to Taoism, and we would visit both heaven and hell. Our guide took us through three tests: the first, to cross a bridge of longevity in three, six or nine steps. One the return trip, we would would choose the side bridges of health or wealth. I chose health. Another test that didn't count for us young folk, to prove faithfulness to one's wife, was to roll a 400-pound rock to balance on top of a little rock hill. Many tried, but only the trained performer succeeded. The second test was to run up a series of stairs while holding one's breath. The third, to balance one's foot on a half-submerged rock for three seconds. The guide would count it all in less than a second, so that everybody added twenty years to their lives: "One-two-three." We walked by a series of statues, on either side of the path. They were victims of hell: the drunkard, the playbody, etc. Various superstitions surrounded each. We entered the gates of hell.

Mrs. James had already gotten another tour when she snuck off, or got lost, and she pointed out some great views of the mountain from behind a giant pagoda. After we passed all three tests, we walked through Taoist and Buddhist temples. In the highest temple on the mountain, each corridor showed us the tortures of hell. As we returned through the hall of statues, we were supposed to laugh loudly to scare off the ghosts. Sadly, Mrs. James couldn't laugh on cue.

That night the crew presented a show of dancing, singing and pantamiming in colorful costumes.

After the crew's show, we danced into the late hours of the morning.