Yichang International Hotel

We left the hotel at 830 AM for another harrowing drive on Xian streets to the airport for our 1130 AM flight. As we left the hotel the driver made a U-turn in the middle of rush hour traffic. It would be like making a U-turn Saturday night on the Las Vegas strip. (The night before we actually drove on the wrong side of the street to get into our hotel.) We flew on Xiamen Airlines to Wuhan. Had lunch on the plane (about an hour flight ...

... we read before we arrived there, was that if the dam ever failed the town that we were staying in would be flooded within 30 minutes. So top floor it was for us when checking in. We also adventured down to the water front and whist we were there we saw two old men strip down to their Y fronts and start washing in the filthy, muddy river. The river was that muddy it was surprising that they were dirtier than before they started.

... up a tributary of the Yangzi, called the Shennong Stream. After about an hour we transferred to traditional wooden barges (called pea pods) that seated about 15. They were rowed by 4 sturdy little men. These men traditionally didn't wear any clothes as the grass-like materials they made clothes from would chaff and were also heavy when wet. When they became a tourist attraction, the government insisted they wear shorts (much to Chrissy's disappointment ...

... like a dense donut! Our first day was very exciting because we spent about 3 hours going through the water locks at the Three Gorges Damn. Basically, the project has constructed a place where ships pull into an area, they close it off and then fill the area with water to raise the boat up to a higher level of water. We had to go through 5 different locks which was interesting for the first couple and then we were ready ...

... they are real), musical instrument stores, and other establishments that obviously cater to a more sophisticated clientele. My first day in Yichang was a rest day, since it was pouring rain outside. I did get to peruse the city a bit and I made my way to the banks of the Yangtze. On the way back, during a break from the rain, I joined in on a basketball game with the locals. On a side note- one should never underestimate the Chinese in sports- they are very good. They devote a lot ...

... the other ladies whith us had suitcases, one which weighed 20kg! They hired a couple of local guys as porters to carry it to the top. The porters quotes say 20 Yuan (around $3) and the ladies paid them a little extra (around $5) as they felt sorry for them. These were relocated people who had lost their homes, their farms, their livelihood and now have no other way of making a living. After a fairly uneventful evening in Feng ...

... treated to a panpipe rendition of the titanic song (the 2nd time weve heard it in a bar in china!) and then a live pianist takes over. We leave pretty soon after intent on getting a massage back at the hotel. When we finally find the massage floor we are greeted by an angry massridee (or whatever u call the guy who runs a massage place) who speaks no english and points to a price list in chinese. We have no idea. We get shown into one ...