OUR TRIP DIARY

DAY 5 - THURSDAY APRIL 5, 2001

We both slept just fine our first night on board and awoke about 6:00.  Looking out of our cabin window, we had wonderful views of the river through the smog. One of the most interesting views was a series of what appeared to be house boats built on barges out of thick sod which was still growing. 

We dressed, and then went up to the 4th deck to the "Yangtze Club" (combination Bar, Dance Hall, Meeting Room and Lounge) where we got a cup of coffee and then went out on deck.  The volume of boat traffic on the Yangtze was amazing. It seemed that at any given moment I could see 40 to 50 ships and boats under way. 

I noticed that in this area of the river, west of Wuhan and east of The Gorges, that the ships and boats moving east were loaded and that they were empty when they returned to the west. 

It also soon became obvious that anything that was grown or mined or manufactured anywhere near the river made it's way to the river to be transported down stream to Wuhan which was the center for all freight activity for at least a 1000 mile area and was the most inland Ocean Port on the Yangtze.

Later on, after we had passed the new dam project, I noticed that traffic on the river reversed and that east bound traffic was empty and that west bound traffic was loaded heading for the city of of Chongqing.

We then went downstairs to the 1st deck and had our breakfast in the "Dynasty Dinning Room". 

Breakfast and Lunch were served buffet style and usually included some items of both American and Chinese style food. Seating in the "Dynasty Room" was at round tables of 10 so our group of 30 were assigned 3 tables. There were no assigned chairs so we just took the seat we wished on arrival for a meal.  

Dinner was always served "Chinese Style" as the servers would bring bowls of food to the table and place them on large built in Lazy Susans built into the middle of the table and we would slowly spin the wheel and take some of what ever we wanted as it passed. There would usually be 8 - 10 different items on the wheel at a meal.

At 8:00 am we docked at "YUEYANG" where most of the passengers disembarked and visited the YUEYANG TOWER which overlooked the river and a lake.  Norma decided to take this tour and I decided to stay aboard and wander the ship.  Norma took the Video Camera with her so we do have some pictures of the excursion.

The busses returned about 10:00 am and we set sail, up river, where we would pass the city of YICHANG about 6:00 am the next morning. 

Each day Dr Wu, the ships Dr., would conduct Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi) lessons on the 4th deck and quite a few of the passengers would take part.  There were 120-130 passengers aboard and all but one passenger were part of various tour groups. There was one group of 40 and we had 30 and the balance were 3 smaller groups.