I have spent the last few days aboard a cruise ship sailing from Chongqing to Yichong, along the Yangtze river through the center of China. The region I have sailed through is called the three gorges reagion. Many of you would have heard about the worlds largest hydro-electric dam that China has been building. The Three Gorges Dam, a majority of the project was finished in 2009, has meant the relocation of 1.3 million people as villages and farms have been covered by water and huge gorges have been filled up. At points the water is now 100 meters deeper than it was originally. Now with the dam complete, the water will fluctuate 30 meters in depth between the winter and summer season to avoid flooding.
I have been very impressed with the project here. Before coming here I heard how bad the Chinese government was for putting the dam in place, forcing all the people to relocate and all of the potential environmental issues that could take place. However on this trip I have learned a lot about the region and have seen what has been put in place. For all of the villages that are now under water the government has built complete new modern cities above the new water level. They have also subsidized the housing so those who are relocated can buy apartments and houses for extremely cheap or in some cases have been given homes for free. You can see they have done a lot of work to try to protect the environment and have taken actions to try to stop any adverse affects, including the fact this dam will significantly reduce the amount of coal burning required for electricity in the area. They have moved farmer to new locations to farm and are trying to set up new industries to replace the old industries and for the farmers who have moved to the cities. Additionally I have learned that in this region every 5 years it floods. In 1998 the floods were so bad 6000 people died. Having the dam here means they can regulate the river to ensure the floods do not continue to take lives. So, while relocating 1.3 million people and drowning homes, villages, farms, and livelihoods can and I am sure has caused much heartache, I have been impressed by the sincere actions taken by the government to care for the people and make things better instead of worse for everyone affected.
Can I also say that I am slightly jealous of the engineers that worked on this project? There are some cool bridges, new cities, infrastructure and of course the dam around here. It would have been one interesting project, I am sure with its fair share of headaches, but one good project none the less. Oh, one more thing I appreciate about the area is that the government made a point not to use the same design everywhere, they wanted variety. So no one bridge looks alike here & the apartments from town to town look different.
On this boat I think I am the youngest passenger by a long shot, well expect for the 13 year old here from Canada. Most of the passengers here have children my age. This fact has made this trip perfect. I partially took this cruise to see the Yangtze, but the other main reason was to just chill for a couple days. Since my last attempt failed (see my previous blog) I thought perhaps if I was stuck on a boat for a while I would actually get some R&R to build up strength for the remainder of my trip. You know what, I think I have got it to work. I have been able to just relax most of the time, take in the scenery, sleep in, take naps, and have nice chats, although I have ate way too much food as the buffets are too good. Everyone here has been so nice and lovely, there are a number of Canadians, some Australians, a German and of course a few Chinese. I think they are all little surprised that I am traveling by myself & I have had to tell my story many times, but they are all great.
The main purpose of this cruise is to enjoy the magnificent views provided by the Three Gorges & the Three Lessor Gorges, which are more stunning the the three main gorges. I have now seen the huge Three Gorges Dam & have rode the ship through the locks to go from the top to the bottom. Besides these we also stopped a few places along the way on the tour where we learned about different cultural things about the area as well. One of the places we stopped was Ghost City. This is where in the Chinese religion, Buddhism, they believe all souls go after death. So according to the main Chinese religion your soul ends up here on top of a hill at the Yangtze River after you die. There is a building called hell & one heaven. Hell is higher up on the hill than hell, not sure what you symbolism you can gather from that. Either way, it is an interesting place, but not really a place I will be rushing back to. There are places where I could have worshiped different gods to get health, wealth, and/or a happy marriage. At heaven there is a very large statue of the god that is the gate between heaven and hell. In hell there are 4 judges, and around the side you can see exhibits of the different tortures given for the different bads committed, it is not a pretty sight. So after that stop I imagine I can now claim I have been to heaven and hell, how many people do you know that can claim that? Never imagined I would ever be able to, not sure it will do me any god on my resume though.
Besides the sides stops, this cruise was just what the doctored ordered. The views were stunning. Many of the photos and pictures of China we see with great scenery, gorges, rivers and mountains is from this area. It was so nice to sit back and just float on through some amazing landscape that I never dreamed I would see in person.
Sometimes, ok way more than sometimes, quite often on this trip I stop and have had to pinch myself. I just can not believe where I am at, where I have been, and where I am going. I am awe struck at what I have experienced. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would do half the things I have done at any point on this trip, or in large parts of my life for that matter. I talk about so many amazing things in this blog & cool experiences I have. Whenever I sit back and think about what I have done, each of these experiences throw me back and make me appreciate how lucky and blessed I am. Just thought I would share some of that with you.
This has turned into another long blog. You know, when I sit down to write these blogs I usually think, “oh I do not have that many interesting things to write about this time, this is going to be a short blog.” Although each time I start writing and next thing I know, I have got another long blog. I usually can even add more and more if I had the time to & did not think I would bored my readers to death. So, here you go it happened again. I sat down thinking all I can tell you about was how stunning the gorges were & that was it, but now I have wrote another long blog. Well, I hope you find all the other bits more or just as interesting.
~Laugh & Love Life~
Sorry there have been no pictures lately, but it has been difficult to find internet that will support picture uploads to the blog.
