China - The Land of the Rising Sun

We just got back from a remarkable portion of our journey. Here is how it went,

The Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang as it's known in Chinese (1), is beautiful and long! It is the longest river in all of Asia (2). We arrive in Chongqing, the city of hills, fog, and spicy food. This is where we embark on our 7 day river cruise. We board the five star cruise ship - the ms. Yangtze Angel. It is owned by a company called Regal China. The “Angel” embarks and we sit back and enjoy the scenery. We were upgraded to a suite and later enjoyed a dip in our own private jazucci tub right in our living room!! Talk about luxurious. We went on an offshore excursion to Fengdu Ghost City. It was a bit eerie visiting the site people believe is the place of resting for the spirits of the dead. It was interesting though. The scenery already proves to be spectacular in this region.

We wake up well rested to our first shore excursion to the Lesser Three Gorges. The scenery we saw is hard to describe; it was unreal! Everywhere you looked there are sheer cliffs and steep mountains and the water was crystal clear. Everything was lush and green. We saw monkeys, mandarin ducks, and water birds. The monkeys are so entertaining to watch, you wouldn’t believe how fast those little buggers are! We continue through the gorge and see some interesting historical sites along the way such as a suspended coffin, a boat grave, and an ancient plank walkway! This has been a crazy day, time for bed.

The next day we get to do another off shore excursion, this time to the Three Gorges Dam Site. This dam is planned to be the largest hydroelectric power project in the world. We took a bus across the Three Gorges Bridge to an observation deck that gives a bird’s eye view of the construction and completed areas of the dam. An English speaking guide was on hand to explain history, plan, and future of the dam. This is the biggest project that has been undertaken in China since the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Well it is time to eat some dinner. Hope everyone is having a great summer! We will continue on our story of the river cruise in a few days.

On the Yangtze River
http://www.rivercruisecenter.com/Media/Images/The%20Lesser%20Gorges%20-%20cut.jpg