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Today is our first day on the ship. We had a little orientation with the cruise director Barry and was told that we would stop at YiChang instead of going straight to WuHan since the government has decided to close the ship gate. Somewhat disappointed, but still excited to be on the cruise and looked forward to seeing the beauty of the three gorges.
During Orientation, we noticed an Asian couple there. The girl looked very familiar to us. We then figured out that she was a local anchor from one of the TV stations. We didn't really know for sure and since there was no way of finding out, we left it at that. We later found out that she was Kristen Sze, channel 7's midday news anchor.
My first impression of the Yangtze River was not exactly a good one. The water was soooooo dirty. It was completely yellow, with lots of silt and garbage. I later learned that the water wasn't always like this. During the Cultural Revolution where the villages were trying to satisfy the steel quota from the central government, the villagers cut down a lot of trees to provide fuel to melt the metals collected from families. Without the trees, the silts came into the river water and changed the water's color. What a shame.
In the morning, we attended the Chinese traditional medicine seminar and Chinese herbal facial seminar. We learned six acupressure spots that fix problem such as headaches and senility, and received a recipe for a facial mask using ingredients such as pearl powder, aloe vera, vitamin E and other Chinese herbs.
In the afternoon, we went on an excursion to visit Feng Du, or Ghost City. Our group was paired up with another group from Shanghai, which we termed as Shanghai Triad. Our group was 17 people and the Shanghai Triad had 14. Both groups were put on a small tour bus with 30 seats. Obviously there were 2 seats short. As soon as the Shanghai Triad realized that the bus was too small for the combined group, one guy yelled out viciously in Chinese, "Stop. Stop the bus. What's the meaning of this?" Immediately, two or three more people joined the yelling game. I was first startled because of the sheer volume and meanness in the voices. Then I saw how our local guide was pleading with the group to please calm down, giving up her seat, telling us that it was only 5 minutes ride, and asking the group to please bear with the temporary arrangement. But they were not happy and was yelling for the bus to stop. The bus driver never once hesitated and never stopped the bus.
Then the Politician gave up his seat to the person who was standing, the Shanghai Triad was still not happy. Their reasoning was that no one should've been left standing. This I agree. But I didn't agree with their approach. I felt that the Shanghai Triad should've started out by asking nicely. Whoever made the mistake of over-stuffing our bus should be blamed, not this local guide. The Shanghai Triad should not have started out by yelling at her. A better way would've been asking her to see if there were empty seats on other buses where the extra people could go.
The same thing happened on the way back. The local guide ran back and forth trying to find a big bus for us, and she came back with the answer that the group would have to wait longer for the big bus. Four of us discussed it quickly and told her to just get a small bus to transport everyone back and we would take care of the seats. Basically, our plan was to have Marie, Earvin and I squeezed into two-seats. I had originally planned to be the last to get on the bus, so the entire Shanghai Triad could claim seats first, but a couple of the Shanghai Triad people insisted on getting on the bus last. We saw that these last two people were taking video images with their video camera so they would have evidence. I do think that a complaint is warranted in this situation, but I was completely put off by the attack towards the local guide.
Our tour guide was a young girl. I could tell that she was completely freaked out. I was amazed at the fact that she didn't burst out crying. She also took some heat because she didn't speak English and we had some non-Chinese speakers. I talked to her a few times during the tour of Feng Du and basically told her that she didn't do anything wrong and encouraged her to keep going. I told her that the Shanghai Triad's anger wasn't really directed at her. She was just the unlucky one who was there as an easy and direct target. Through the conversation, I learned that she had just graduated and worked as a tour guide for only 3 months. This is the first time she'd ever had guests who behaved like that. I told her to just treat it as an experience. She ended up thanking me in the end as we were going back to the ship. She also explained to me that some of the big buses were out of commission, and only one was available to transport people, and that was probably why we were assigned a small bus. I think only my brother and maybe a few more people from our group tipped her. Poor girl.
Since the local guide did not speak English, Mrs. In-law was very very upset. She finally told us that she was going to leave the group and joined another one with English-speaking guide. I tried to stay with her and told her that I was going to translate for her, but she was very insistent and refused over and over. Finally, we just let her go. Through out most of the cruise, Rene went with the other English-speaking group whenever possible. I understand that she must feel left out, but I also feel that she should've tried to be a bit nicer to everyone around her who tried to help her, especially Mr. & Mrs. Chen. Maybe I am biased since I heard stories from Mrs. Chen about how Rene would snap at her.
The City itself was interesting. Again, most of the structures were not original. On the way there, I also saw the empty old town. Many people were taking apart the old buildings/houses by hand. The explanation for this inefficiency was to salvage the reusable building materials, such as glasses and bricks. I formulated two other guesses: 1. This creates job opportunities for people. I have heard that unemployment is pretty bad. 2. This decreases the material costs for construction the new towns. Although I have no way of proving my guesses :D.
About Feng Du
Feng Du was called Pingdu in ancient times. It is the so-called "Abode of Ghosts", "the dead come to Feng Du and the devils go to hell" according to the superstitious legend. Since the Tang Dynasty, 48 temples have been built on Pingdu Mountain, such as the "the Hall of the Jade Emperor", the "Palace of Hell", "Balcony of Nostalgia" etc. Though Feng Du is related with mysterious stories, it has a wonderful and quiet sight. Atop the Pingdu Mountain (now called Ming Mountain), which stands on the riverside, one can get a majestic view. The famous poets Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Li Shangyin and Su Shi all wrote many poems about it. Today, the works of the famous painters Wu Daozi, Tang Bohu and Zhao Zi'ang are still on display in Feng Du.
During dinner, Mrs. Jefferson* and Mrs. Professor asked if we were interested in signing their letter to complain about Benjamin's poor performance in time management, his lying about the tips money, and the quality of food. I told them I'd discuss it with our group of four and get back to them.
* Mrs. Jefferson: She's traveling with her Husband. She's nicknamed Mrs. Jefferson by Marie because Mrs. Jefferson looked like Mrs. Jefferson from the TV show, The Jeffersons.
After discussing amongst us, we decided to not sign their letter. While we agreed with certain issues that they brought up, such as the tips money and time management, we felt that they were going overboard with their numerous complaints. In addition, we were here to have fun. Why let minor issues dampen our spirits? It wasn't like we were still under Benjamin's care.
Mrs. Professor also asked if we could be the contact person for our group during our stay on the ship. After some discussion, we agreed with some conditions.
After dinner, there was the welcoming performance. The ship crew were the performers. The program included folk song singing, dancing, and folk instrument. They did a really nice job.