Imperial China Day 18
Imperial China
OAT Day 2-14 - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - Cruise to Chongqing-Museums-Overland to Chengdu - Chengdu, China
The rain was heavy this morning as we woke up in Chongqing where we had docked for the night. This is the end point for many of the Yangtze River Cruises. After breakfast we finished packing and were out of our rooms by 8:30.
To leave the Victoria Rose we had to walk across the Yangtze on a floating bridge right at the water level. I put my foot in the water; this is as close as I want to get to swimming in this river!
The largest city in China, Chongqing has 32 million people and still growing! This was the war-time capital for Chang Ki Shek. It is a heavy industry city, with production of machinery, automobiles, textiles, and many motor bikes.
Most buildings here have been built around 15 years ago because the Japanese bombed the city during the Sino-Japanese War prior to World War II and were not rebuilt until recently. Along the hillsides we saw many air raid shelters and caves where people would seek safety. Now many are small workshops or stores.
We had a unique tour of the city as our new bus driver was semi-lost trying to find the museums we were to visit. We finally arrived at the General Stillwell Museum where we were free to walk around to see his headquarters.
We walked across the street to the Flying Tiger Museum. Here we had a slide presentation and lecture about the importance of the American air support provided to the Chinese prior to and during WWII.
We left the museums at 10:15 to start our four hour bus ride to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. The driver started to take the old road but we were able to turn around and we got on the new expressway which knocks 2 hours off of the old route.
The farmers were planting rice with most of the paddies flooded with chocolate brown waters from the irrigation ditches. Every hillside is terraced; every spare piece of ground is cultivated and alive with a different shade of green vegetation.
We stopped at a busy truck stop to use the restrooms and to try a snack from the local vendors. We are starting to like the thin crisp rice cakes! Matt bought us some little sweet rolls labeled as “France Bread” and some hot, zesty broad or horse beans called “spicy beans”.
We made another stop a few hours later because the driver was getting sleepy. I measured the temperature and found it to be 72 degrees and 40% humidity. It was sunny and warm as we traveled south.
While the driver had a cigarette, Matt taught the group the basic aerobic exercises all Chinese people learn to do. We stretched our legs and when the driver was ready we were back on the road.
Our next lesson was the eye massage exercises that all school children do each day. Massaging the pressure points of the temples, forehead, and around the eyes is supposed to stimulate the blood flow and improve the eyesight. It was very relaxing.
We arrived at our hotel in Chengdu at 3:00 PM and went straight to our room. This city has been known as the "City of Hibiscus" for 1,000 years, ever since its tenth-century ruler, Chang Meng, ordered hibiscus planted on the city walls.
In spite of modern development, Chengdu maintains its traditional ways; this relaxed 2,000-year-old city offers a glimpse of old China. While Gennie settled in and the hotel Tech Staff helped to get the internet connection going, I took a walk around the neighborhood.
This is a very bustling city - I happened on an alley that was alive with cell phone vendors. I wonder what Verizon would think of this enterprising business? I came back to the hotel, found that Gennie had completed her university work and the internet was humming along nicely!
We met in the hotel lobby at 6:00 and walked a few blocks to our dinner at a nearby restaurant. This is the country of hot and spicy food, but our dinner was surprisingly bland.
We asked Matt about it and he said that most Westerners do not like their food as spicy as the people here and that OAT tries to tone it down to please more customers. There was chili paste on the table and even it was not too hot.
We stopped for ice cream on the walk home. Matt told us our morning flight to Guiling had been moved up so we went back to the room to pack a small bag for our 3 day stay. We will have this replacement to our itinerary as Tibet is still not open to tourists.
Accommodations: Xin Hua International Hotel - - - Meal: B, D
Picture 1 - Map of Trip - Chengdu
Picture 2 - Crossing the Yangtze River
Picture 3 - Flying Tigers Museum
Picture 4 - Truck Stop Along Chongqing-Chengdu Expressway
Picture 5 - Cell Phone Vendors in Chengdu
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Comments
Post a Comment!Sounds like you guys had a bad day-- rain, poor driver, bad internet, bad food. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
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