Wow, just a couple weeks until school starts and I haven’t finished my summer reading, plus I’m on the opposite side of the world. Well, the highlight of the day onboard the Victoria II took place at 7:30am when we got off the ship in Yichang, and boarded a bus to go see the Three Gorges Dam site and the Sturgeon Research Center.

First, we arrived at an exhibition hall for the Three Gorges Dam, saw a scale model of the site (the model had running water too, like an actual dam), and then left. Our next destination was the Sturgeon Research Center in Yichang. A sturgeon is a type of fish (3 species are found in the Yangtze River) that can grow up to like 3 meters long and can live for up to 60 years. Inside the center, there were models of various sturgeons, and even real live ones (there were two really big ones swimming around in a tank). As we made our way around the museum, we also saw the organs of a sturgeon, pictures of people taking caviar, various other fish (including the animal that the Chinese call wa wa yu, or doll fish…see because of the Chinese name, I thought it was a fish…then I found out here that it’s actually the giant salamander), crocodiles, and more.

Our next stop was the actual site of the Three Gorges Dam. Therefore, we had to drive a while (I have no idea how long because I fell asleep), but we eventually got there at around 10:15. The local guide told us that we could only spend 30 minutes here, which sounded really weird to us because we were estimated to get back on the boat at 12:30pm, and the drive back was definitely not an hour and 45 minutes. However, we still made the most of our time, went up to a lookout platform and saw the five step shiplock being constructed. It rained in the morning, so the rest of the dam was very hard to see.

It turns out that we were going to make an unplanned (by Victoria Cruise Lines at least) stop (Note: in this entry, from now on, is being written on the 22nd because the batteries on the laptop died…no charging stuff in the rooms on the ship) to the Yichang Museum. This museum was really small, but it had pieces from many points in Chinese history on display. By the end of the museum walkthrough, the lady that was telling us about stuff inside the museum told us that they had many more pieces that they wanted to put on display, but did not have enough money to build a bigger museum. Therefore, they were selling antiques they found from the late Ming, early Qing dynasties in order to remodel the museum.

Personally, when I heard of this, I felt really bad for the museum because they were giving pieces of history away just so they can earn a few bucks. My parents ended up buying this jade ding (kind of like a jar) for $600 US, and a jade qi ling (dragon-like figure) for $100 US. All of us trusted the lady that gave us a tour of the museum so a few people in our tour group bought stuff to take home. However, when we got back on the ship and talked with another group of tourists who also bought stuff there and as the parents thought about their purchases more and more, the less they thought that what they bought was real.

The other group that bought stuff, they bought it to sell in their antique store. Therefore, when they found out from the cruise director’s wife that all antiques have a wax seal on it, and their piece did not have a seal, they were not pleased and told us that when they got it back to the states, they would have all their pieces appraised. If they weren’t real, they would cancel the payment (they used a credit card). My mom used a credit card also (she almost paid in cash), so maybe she can cancel her payment too.

After the Captain’s farewell banquet and a variety show put on by the crew, the cruise director, Michael, talked with us saying that he would file a complaint to the local government of Yichang telling them that the local guides brought the tourists to a spot without the cruise line’s permission and that a government owned store should not be lying to customers. He also told us that this was the first time that they ever stopped in Yichang because normally they docked in Zigui. However, because the Gezhouba Dam was being closed all day for cleaning (we later found out that this was only the third time they’ve done this in about 13 years), we instead stopped in Yichang.

Even later at night, Mao ah yi did this test to see if the jade pieces they all bought were actually jade. Besides my parents, Ian’s aunt bought a jade bi, and Mao ah yi bought a jade square thing, and a qi ling. The test was to drop a drop of water onto the jade. If the water disperses, then it is not jade. If the water bubble retains its drop shape, then it is real jade. It turns out that they were all fake (if not fake, really bad jade). The worst one was Mao ah yi’s. Her jade square wasn’t even stone or plastic. She thinks it might be dyed glass or wax…she doesn’t know (at least both of ours are stone).

Okay, well that’s really all that was interesting to note for today. The adults basically talked about this all night. They kept saying they didn’t care, the money will just be like a donation. However, they kept talking about it, which showed that of course they all cared and felt cheated. The cruise director felt sorry as well because he didn’t want it to put a scratch on Victoria Cruise Lines. Oh well, bound to be cheated at least once in China.

Oh yeah, the moms finally played Mahjong for money and Mao ah yi ended up winning 45RMB, Terry’s mom lost 29, my mom lost 15, and Ian’s aunt lost 1.