The Yangtze River Part 1
An adventure is never an adventure when it happens. An adventure is simply physical and emotional discomfort recollected in tranquility. Tim Cahill
The Yangtze River (pronounced “yongza” rather than “yankzee) flows from a mountain range on the Tibetan plateau in Western China nearly 4,000 miles to the Pacific Ocean near Shanghai. It is the largest river in Asia and the third largest in the world. The river runs across the country from West to East and is commonly used as the dividing line between North and South China and as such has had tremendous historic and economic influence on the country. The most popularly known area of the river is the Three Gorges area which has attracted visitors for generations for its rugged natural beauty and, more recently, for the dam built in that region. Many cruises now travel this famous area of the river and is where we were bound on our Golden Week trip.
Our trip started early in the morning from Shanghai on a high-speed train bound for Yichang. I had considerable anxiety about our departure as it was Golden Week and I had read plenty of horror stories about crowds and missed trains. The Hongqiao Railway station put all those fears to rest. The Railway station is new, truly immense, and had a boarding process so well managed that even though this train and every other in the station were sold out, it took only 15 minutes to board and depart. The train ride was comfortable, spacious, and full of fascinating views of the countryside.
The weather was cloudy and rainy for our entire week-long trip which was unfortunate for sightseeing, but also meant it was not hot. As we all stared out our windows watching Chinese cities and landscapes pass by, we had plenty of time on our 8 hour trek to absorb more of what is real China.
We also learned a little about train life in China. Riders come prepared with dried snacks of all sorts, noodles, rice cakes, canned beans, and meat sticks which they, or their kids, eat almost nonstop for the entire ride. I should have packed for this ride like I pack for our road trips in the United States!
Our arrival in Yichang was to a downpour. Yichang is not a small town (honestly, I wonder if there are any small towns in China) but it is not geared to tourists so there is not much to do. Knowing this, and that we had a couple hours before we could board our ship, I thought the best way to spend our time was to visit a picturesque restaurant on a cliff with a view of the gorge and walk among the few shops that surround the area. OK, plan made; now enter the language barrier.
After calling a car through Didi (an Uber like app here in China) I confidently pop out my phone with the restaurant name and address on it to show the driver. The address was in English but I thought the large photo of the restaurant with a map pointing to its location would help. Wrong. The driver didn’t recognize it. Still undeterred, I got out my translation app and told him we were on a river cruise departing later and wanted to go to this restaurant first and would be willing to hire him for the entire afternoon to take us to both. I gave him the number to the restaurant to call for directions. Again, no visible recognition. I was beginning to get frustrated so I opted to go to the ship port first. I gave him that address in Chinese. He looked at it and still didn’t seem to understand. Instead he leaned out of the car to have a 5 minute discussion with another driver. After that, he seemed to know what to do. He took off driving quickly and erratically though the town. He drove with horn blaring while changing lanes to pass cars on crowded streets in oncoming traffic. He cut off large buses, mopeds, bicycles, and at one point even drove on the sidewalk. I was beginning to take comfort in the fact that at least our family would be together at the end and sadly a couple of unaware Chinese moped riders would be joining us. But at the end of the ride, as I pried my white knuckles off the door, the kids closed their wide eyed stares from backseats, and the cab filled with the sounds of colorful four letter words from Jeff, we stopped downtown at a large pedestrian mall and the driver motioned for us to get out. We threw him some cash, didn’t say our usual “XieXie” (thank you) and quickly jumped out of the car.
Taking stock of our situation, we realized that we were downtown, in a downpour, not near our ship, and hungry. Spotting a KFC, we decided to get some comfort food. What may be a surprise to some, KFC is a higher end restaurant chain in China and the chicken is really good. After getting food in our belly and an appropriate attitude adjustment, we called another car to get us to the port.
Our new driver also was confused about where to go, but was much more accommodating than the other; he called the ship to get the directions. Then he called his wife and told her he would be late for dinner. I knew this because he used a translation app to tell me what he was doing at each step of the way. He was very polite, kind, and wanted to make sure we knew he was going to help us. Our ride was more restful this time as all recognizable driving rules were followed.
Yichang sits near the gorge area of the river and has very steep and hilly terrain. In the darkness, I could tell we were approaching the port as I saw the river appear in front of us. Looking to my right as we passed over a large bridge I saw the colorful lights of the hanging terrace restaurant we were trying to find earlier. As I pointed that out to Jeff, the driver turned around the bend in the road in front of us, stopped and told us this was where we got on the ship. I was standing, mouth agape outside the car, absorbing the fact that the place we wanted to go all along was right next to our ship, when the driver left us.
At the top of this dark hillside, stood a small cement building with a security guard at a window waiting to review passports and a single luggage scanner humming softly in the night air. No one but the security guard and the four of us were there. A single light bulb, slowly swinging from the ceiling by a cord, was our only source of light. In the distance, a dark wooded trail lead down the hill toward the river. Breaking the silence, Janna started laughing hysterically. I turned to see her saying through tears, “What is this place? This is crazy!” Jeff breaks out of his shock and applauds Janna for releasing the tension. After clearing security and walking down the hillside, slowly rolling our luggage behind us, we got to the bottom of the hill and saw a fully lighted cruise ship with red carpet welcoming us aboard.
Our 4-day cruise was on the President 8, a 5-star listed vessel. River cruising ships are much smaller than their ocean-going counterparts and while you can’t compare this vessel to the mega ocean cruises, it was modern, clean, uncrowded, and full of helpful staff. We found ourselves able to walk decks, go to the lounge, spa, or atrium shops, and rarely see more than a handful of people at a time. This is exactly what we needed to rest, refresh, and prepare for our next activity – The Three Gorges Dam.
