Three Gorges Power Project

Monday, 12 May 2014

The ship departed Yichang at 6.30 am, sailing into the thick smog – we had hoped to leave this behind in Beijing, but were told that the air today was very, very good!  The river is very busy, with not only cruise ships, but cargo ships and barges constantly passing and numerous small boats and ferries.  We docked again at 8.30 am, to give those who wished to visit a local minority’s village (with associated cultural displays) the chance to disembark.  The majority of our party opted for a morning at leisure, which was most welcome after the long days in the bus.

 

Following lunch, we joined a queue with four other cruise ships to dock and we ended up on the outside.  To disembark, we had to walk across the inner boat and then battle the vendors between the boats and buses.  Amazingly, they don’t worry visitors until the return to the boat and then pounce.  We were introduced to Max, our local guide for the Three Gorges Power Station Project.  Max was a very intense and animated person, who liked to demonstrate his ability to spell English words and also show off his knowledge of Australian animals and birds.  After following him around the visitors’ centre, we all felt that we had been fully indoctrinated into the Chinese socialist philosophy!  Then it was to the dam proper, along with numerous other tourists, of course, and a walk through some lovely gardens and sculptures highlighting the building of the dam.  Throughout our time ashore, we were followed by two photographers from the boat, one of whom seemed to be very fond of Cat and was constantly taking our photo.  For the first time since our arrival in China, we actually had to exit through the souvenir shop, which was all packeted food, before having to walk past the vendors selling cooked fish with the most “interesting” odours.

This evening contained two highlights.  The first was our passage through the five locks associated with the dam and we entered the first lock about 6.00 pm; it would take three hours to travel through the five locks.  It was very squeezy, with barges in front of us and another barge alongside.  During the evening there were quite a few bumps and scrapes as the concrete walls came a little too close.  It was rather strange sitting at dinner and watching concrete go by.

The second highlight was the meet and greet by the captain, together with complimentary drinks and nibbles.  We all dressed up for the occasions and the captain wore his best whites (only official photos, sorry), gave a rousing speech welcoming us to China and the extolling the splendid scenery (this was very ably translated by his shapely assistant).  Such a pity that the splendid scenery is usually shrouded in fog and smog.