China 2007

Two short nights had passed, and we were docked halfway through the third and largest gorge of the Yangtze River. This morning we would explore the Three Gorges Dam from top to bottom, but nothing would match the experience of going through the locks. We had been docked just east of the big dam for most of the morning, after escaping the massive structure with five other passenger and cargo ships. It was an unusual feeling, looking out the window to see the shore - not moving. At precisely 8 we took our pendants for reboarding, boarded buses, and set off over one of the locks to get permission to enter the dam area. The guide picked up our permits and we were let out by a small observation area east of the dam. Tall, narrow doors and pillars similar to the ones leading to the ship locks demarked the pending ship elevator, which, unlike the locks, was not going to be free. We couldn't really get any perspective on the dam except at water level, but from this point of view, the length was still impressive.

We were again shuttle up to the highest hill in the area. From here, we got a great view of the locks - but still not as impressive as when in them. The water from the spillway shot upward as if coming from the earth below, and many power lines spread out from the generators to the mainland. Ten times as powerful as Hoover Dam, this place displayed only a fraction of the peripherals.

Construction of the dam had required excavation of a small island in the middle of the waterway, once used as an ancient burial ground. We were bussed to a muggy, second-floor museum, and led through by an energetic guide who explained absolutely every artifact - mainly pottery, bones and tools. When we were done with the museum, small but well-informed, we were "invited" into a government shop, required by the government of the tour company for each city.

Our city guide explained how small Yichang was: 1.3 million. Just a few hundred square kilometers, instead of the hundreds of miles Beijing extended in multiple dimensions, was one reason for Yichang's classification as "small". He - our young guide with excellent English - livelily (yes, that's a word) informed us of the qualifications Yichang offered us. It was among the top ten "most charming" cities in China, and believed to be in the three "most liveable". There we go with the baseball statistics again.

We stopped at the airport, happy to learn of our earlier flight - one of the fourteen flights Yichang serves every day. Most of us sat down at a restaurant, but I wasn't hungry. I observed Chairman Mao and his entourage enter the terminal, and we prayed he wasn't on the flight. At least he looked sober.

Our A320-214 (yes, they bothered to specify) looked a little clunky, but our seats were comfortable (my last name got me 4A) and its operation was smooth. China Eastern presented us with the standard hot meal on our ninety minute flight to Shanghai. As usual, as expected at every meal in mainland China, dessert was - you guessed it - watermelon.

Shanghai wasn't as humid as expected when we arrived at the old, domestic airport; although it had just rained, the atmosphere was comfortable - a relief from the unbearable Yangtze. Upon our departure just hours earlier from Yichang, the air conditioner had created a steady flow of mist into the cabin. It was a pretty scary phenomenon, but granted us the illusion of coolness.

We walked across, down, and across the street once more from the Shanghai Hotel - a street with McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Häagen Dazs, and pirated DVDs for 5 yuan. It was heaven for all of us, and we were given an hour to enjoy it. I joined a party at Pizza Hut, sit-down style. We were feeling the Western groove, so we headed off to Burger King afterwards for fries and drinks.

The walk back was long and wet, as it had started sprinkling again, and a few people took taxis. Our city guide (an older lady with a pretty severe accent) had really encouraged these taxis for their "fairness" - they were metered, but also government owned. The hotel wasn't too far, only a ten minute walk, and we got back fairly early for our standards. The place was four stars, and for Shanghai that means really good, at least four or five English TV channels. Central China TV International, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, and a few others. I watched an aboslutely terrible horror movie on HBO - The Fog. No plot, bad acting and too many "famous" young people to draw unnecessary attention. We all have a habit for watching the same program in any given night, so the next morning we were discussing the ridiculousness of that movie. Most people had given up before it had finished, but Mollie filled us in. "The lady turns into a ghost and kills everybody," or something like that. Whatever it was, it wasn't worth it.

Still, Shanghai was warming up to me.