Gloria Plaza Hotel Wanzhou Chongqing

... captains of these small canoe like boats. Very interesting ride. They even got out and pulled the boats with bamboo cord to replicate the old days. They only thing different between now and 50 years ago is today the crew is dressed. It rained on the way back, but they had poles and tarps available which were quickly assembled to ...

... nature came a calling. I walked back to the toilet area and paused at the door. I wasn't sure what to expect. Silently, I was praying to whomever, not for a western style toilet, but merely for something manageable and not too savage. I opened the door cautiously as if the door was hiding something wildly hideous like a dragon or Courtney Love. But it was just a hole in the floor and a handle to hang on to for dear life. Luckily, someone had left one of their ...

... br><br>Oh - one thing we will share is we received a bound album from the Chongqing civil affairs office with professional pictures of Chongqing, the Civil Affairs office where the adoption took place, the Orphanage, and pictures of Emma in the Orphanage, and her adoption ceremony with our family and then the 4 other families who traveled with us to the province. It's titled and ...

... and to prolong the service life of gas engine and oil, finally, to economize expense on oil purchasing and save oil resource. III. Features 1. Adopting high-precision stainless steel strainer with excellent mechanical intensity and long service life, which is corrosion-resistant and high-temperature-resistant, it can intensively remove particulate matter from waste oil. 2. Completely removing water and harmful gas from the waste oil. 3. Recovering the color of the treated oil ...

... I went to a bar and saw some really cool building that had been painted in the graffiti but looked cool. It was really cool to see Joe who's been working at a school and how he descibed planting the idea of them refusing to do morning exercise and if a lot of them refuse then they can't punish them all, something that would never really occur to a child who lives in a communist country. He also fot his mum so send over a ...

... just enjoy the sound of the waves slapping on the shore and the paddles hitting the water and the birds singing in the trees. When he took a moment to compose himself before singing a traditional song the beauty of the surroundings came through and was intoxicating. The highlight of the trip is supposed to be when the boatmen get out and use a bamboo rope to tow the boat -- pulling it throught the water by brute strength. However, this feat was ...

... We did have the so called "first class" cabins though - basically meant our own toilet! Thank god too cos the others smelled big stylee! The cruise was really nice - beautiful scenery again... the 3 gorges were pretty and the 3 gorges damn was massive. Have managed to catch a cold - am bunged up like mad. Looking forward to some heat...

... the traditional boatman's garb. Of course, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to be a ham. Besides my 5 minutes of fame at the front of the boat, the ride was mostly uneventful as the top of the boat was covered and you couldn't see very much of the little gorges. We stayed docked in Wushan that night so I figured it would be a good idea to get off the ship and go into town to get some real food and check out the town. Our guide ...

... at Fengdu - China's "City of Ghosts", where you visit temples and shrines dedicated to the gods of the underworld. This is the place of final judgment in the Yangtze basin. Landmarks in the town bore horrific names - Ghost Torturing Pass, Last Glance at Home Tower, Nothing-to-be-done Bridge etc. Tonight, enjoy a Farewell Banquet and a cultural show onboard. (B, L, D)

... boats beached down from the houses, the sampans going by. Everyone looked up at us and waved back with friendly smiles. Life might be hard for many people living along the river: hard climbs up and down from river to house, hard work in the fields, hard work paddling the sampans from their place to the nearest shops - but there were many smiles along the river. Unlike in the relocation part of the city, these people seemed happy.