Archive for May, 2004
We were called out of our slumber at the early hour of 6 A.M. We had breakfast on the ship and checked out of the Splendid China at 7:45 A.M. The day would prove to be extremely busy.
We boarded a bus after deboarding the Splendid China and rode to Yichang City (about 40 minutes away). In the city, we found the China Three Gorges University (CTGU), which was formed from two older universities in 2000. We were greeted by a representative of the student body before being paired off for tours with individual students. I first met Lee, a bio-technology major. Lee indicated that I should probably be paired with someone closer to my major. I think they may not recognize Computer Engineering separate from Electrical Engineering, because they could not find an exact match. In the end, I was paired with a Civil Engineering major with the English name Davy (?).
We followed a large group around campus. This group toured the CTGU library, gym, power station simulator, and the grounds in general. We all went to lunch together at one of the school’s dining halls before breaking out into pairs to visit the dormitories.
Davy’s room was located on the second floor of one of the dormitory buildings. His room was comparable to my apartment bedroom except it was home to six students. The room was simplistic: three bunk beds, a few newspapers hung on the walls, a long desk in the center of the room, a water tap for a water jug, and some cubby holes for the residents. Maybe three of the five roommates were home, but the room was soon filled with other students from the building. I guess everybody wanted to see the American. I asked questions and fielded questions in turn. Most of the students spoke some English and I could generally figure out what they were trying to say. Davy translated as necessary. The Chinese students I talked to were perky and spirited. They all seemed to be studying civil engineering, city planning, and hydropower. We talked for one or two hours over various small topics.
After visiting the dorms, the major groupings (EE/IT in my case) reconvened for group discussion and exchange. This seemed like the most disunified event of the day. Most discussion was limited to about three people at most and the groups in different parts of the room were discussing different things. I was asked at several points what my specialization was. I indicated that I did not have a specialization. In a way, computer engineering is a specialization of electrical engineering, but is generally regarded as a distinct major in the United States. I do, however, feel that the university system in the U.S. provides a very broad education and that further specialization is only achieved through electives, co-ops/internships, and further studies in your field. Our system gives a great deal of flexibility to graduates as they settle into the work force, but it also assumes a great deal of initial investment in preparing employees through company-sponsored training. This is a sharp contrast to China’s system where students receive a very focused education preparing them for immediate immersion in a very specific job type. Each system naturally has its advantages and disadvantages.
After the group discussions we left the CTGU campus for dinner at the Three Gorges Corporation building. We were originally slated for a meal at the “Noble Steakhouse” and I think many of us were disappointed by the distinctly un-Western-style food we received.
After dinner, we returned to the CTGU campus for a last hurrah with the Chinese students. Davy was there, so I got to chat with him more and exchange e-mail addresses. The performances alternated between groups with the Chinese students performing many excellent traditional songs and dances and our group representatives repeating many of the performances seen last night. I did not perform. When I think about it, I have never taken the time to develop (or randomly happen upon) any cool parlor tricks. I have a good ear for music but I have the lyrics to only a few songs memorized and most of the music I listen to does not lend itself well to karaoke. After the party, we bid our hosts farewell and made the forty minute bus ride back to the TGP area and our hotel.
The morning proceeded much as it did yesterday. Breakfast was served in the same self-serve format as the day before. We started the second lecture by Professor Wang. This time Professor Wang talked about the environmental concerns and the relocation plans surrounding the Three Gorges project. The professor closed with two videos. The first was a general informational video and the second was a computer simulation. We got through the first video before we took a break to survey passing through the gorge. When the lecture was done, we were again free for the rest of the day until the boat excursion. Lunch was much the same as breakfast.
I spent the early afternoon journaling and reading. I think I almost fell asleep at one point.
We docked at Badong (?) and boarded a smaller river boat. We took this boat through another gorge until we arrived at Shennong Creek. From there we boarded small wooden boats manned by crews of six boatmen (two captains and four paddlers). The boatmen took us upstream and back down. At places where the stream was too shallow, the paddlers got out and pulled us along from the shore. The whole thing proceeded at a leisurely pace. It took us about three and a half hours for the entire excursion.
Between the time we got back and dinner, I played a game of Three Card with six others using two decks. It was a fun game, but it seemed to be largely based on luck.
At 7 P.M. we were treated to the captain’s farewell dinner, which wasn’t much different than the welcome dinner. The captain gave another speech and came around to each table for a toast. The dinner was good but unspectacular.
After dinner we had another round of entertainment. This time, however, members of our group also performed. It was quite entertaining. Sean, Joshua and Dave performed, “White Christmas,” acapella. Maggy and Jessica each performed solo. Eugene did his handstand trick. Russ and Joey did a short improv rap as well. The crew also did some excellent Chinese dances. I retired for the evening shortly after the show was over.
I woke up at 6:30 A.M. The shower was not terribly pleasant as the water ranged from cold to very hot and even the flow was inconsistent. Breakfast was good (very Western) with eggs, sausage, bacon, watermelon, pineapple, and rolls. At 9:30 A.M., we began our first in a series of two lectures by Professor Wang about the Three Gorges. Professor Wang is a funny Chinese man who speaks English and seems well-traveled and rather spry for his age. After the lecture the day was pretty much free. We were delayed in our departure, but we eventually did get underway at about 10:00 A.M. I spent some time on the bow of the boat taking in scenery, shooting pictures and enjoying the breeze. I got a few good group photos. We had lunch at about 12:30 P.M. before resuming activities. I alternated between sitting outside on the bow and writing in my journal inside.
We reached Feng Du, the Ghost City, a little after 5 P.M. We deboarded the boat, rode buses into the shell of the old city, and split off into groups. We rode cable cars in pairs of two up the mountain side to visit a series of three temples. One was a Buddhist temple, one was a Taoist temple, and I didn’t catch what the other was. I got separated from the group for a bit after I wandered off from the store to shoot photos. The store had some neat weapons but they were more or less the same quality as those at the Great Wall (i.e., low quality), so I wasn’t interested. The shrine is reputed to have three challenges to determine if a person is good. The first is a set of three bridges. A good person is supposed to be able to pass over the slippery middle bridge in an even number of steps. The outer two bridges are for health and wealth and are for the return trip. The second challenge consists of a very heavy (~400 lbs.) semicircular stone in a stone track or groove curving up into a pedestal in the middle. A good man is supposed to be able to get the stone onto the pedestal. None of our group could do it, but a local man showed us how it was done. The third and final challenge was to stand on a spherical stone in the ground and balance on one foot. The foot to use is based on gender: a man should stand on the left, a woman on the right. We rode the cable cars back down to the base of the mountain where they had group photos prepared to sell to us at 20 RMB ($2.44) each. They didn’t get many takers until they lowered the price. I bought one just to get change for a 100 RMB ($12.18) bill. I have 90 RMB ($10.96) left until I change money again. I’ve made it this far on only $80, which I think is pretty good. We left Feng Du at about 8 P.M.
We were treated to the captain’s welcome dinner at about 8:30 P.M. The captain gave a short speech and then we all toasted with very small glasses of a very sweet red wine. The most interesting things (dishes) to me were a very good rice cake and a beaten egg whites soup. Special entertainment was provided after dinner. Members of the ship’s crew performed about a half dozen different ritual dances. A game using volunteers: three from our group and two from the Japanese group. The game was a variation of musical chairs with the participants looking for an object in the room at the end of the music. A hilarious older Japanese man won and was awarded with a wall scroll bearing a poem in Chinese somehow derived from the man’s name.
After the entertainment was over, John taught me the card game Pitch. Pitch is a four-person, team-based card game. Sean and I played against John and Janell. We won on a gutsy, and lucky, bid by me.
I woke up early, despite a late start. I took a shower and then I called home using my AT&T calling card. It worked this time around. You must use the local access number to dial the U.S. access number and from there you can call a U.S. number. After a nice chat with Mom, I tried unsuccessfully to use my Chongquing China Mobile card to call Grammy and Granddaddy. I went down to the business center for assistance. The attendant there informed me that the card could not be used with extension phones like those in the hotel and that it would only work with one special phone in the business center. I waited about ten minutes for that phone to free up before I had to leave.
We checked out of the hotel around 9:30 A.M. and made our way to a cable car station overlooking the river. We took the cable car round-trip across the river and back again. We split into three groups to fit into the cars, but it was still crowded. I took a number of pictures as we crossed the river and looking out from the towers. I don’t think the pictures will come out very good because of the perpetual haze that seems to permeate Chongquing and every other city we have visited.
We departed the cable car station and travelled by bus to the highest point in Chongquing: Eling Park. Eling Park was the British or Australian embassy before 1949. After 1949 it was converted to a park. There is a tall pagoda that makes the highest lookout point, a garden and an extensive mural of the Three Gorges painted by a famous Chinese artist. I bought a nice foldout pamphlet with a copy of the mural and information about the Three Gorges for 60 RMB ($7.31). I bought a bottle of 7-Up from a nearby convenience shop for 5 RMB ($0.61).
We left Eling Park and made our way to the Gold Island restaurant in Chongquing. Lunch was good, if nondescript, as just about every other place we’ve eaten at has been. While we have seen a great deal of variety in the Chinese cuisine, all the restaurants feel fairly homogenous as they all follow the same style. Sure, all the dishes vary but they all sort of blend together and I have difficulty recalling any one of them as being truly unique. I can most easily recall the Yangtze Island restaurant because of the wine girls, but that had nothing to do with the food. I did not get a picture with the restaurant girls before I left. I have made it my unofficial goal to get a picture with a girl from each restaurant we go to.
After lunch, we made our way to the General Stillwell museum. General Stillwell was apparently one of the Americans who formed the Flying Tigers to aid China during World War II. This was all news to me. This museum was set up to honor their achievements. A member of the museum gave us a short speech and then let us explore the museum with our eyes and our wallets. The museum had many works of art and sovenirs similar to those seen at the Friendship Store in Beijing. Unlike the Friendship Store, the museum was willing to let us bargain. I walked away with a T-shirt bearing a “blood chit” similar to those worn by the Flying Tigers during WWII. The blood chit identified the bearer as someone who was aiding the war effort and that he should be cared for as such. The T-shirt cost only 40 RMB ($4.87) without bargaining, which I felt was a good deal. I did like some of the art pieces very much but they were more than I was prepared to pay.
After the museum we made a quick stop in the market district by the Oriental Hotel where we had dinner yesterday. The local guide directed us to a supermarket where we could stock up on drinks and snacks before boarding the boat. I picked up a Fanta, Sprite, grape soda, Ritz crackers, Oreos and potato chips for 18.1 RMB ($2.20).
We left the market and drove down to the docks to board Splendid China, which will be our cruise ship as we travel down the Yangtze River toward the Three Gorges dam. The chief officer gave us a short welcome speech and we were issued our room key. Only one key was issued to each pair of roommates so some conscious key management will be necessary. Dinner was served a short time after we checked into our rooms. Dinner followed the same winning format seen in the land restaurants with the lazy susan, the no refill sodas, and authentic Chinese cuisine. Refills for soda were a whopping 17 RMB ($2.07) and it quickly became apparent that everything on the boat will be bloody expensive. Except for four other Americans and seven Japanese we have the boat completely to ourselves. The rooms are smaller than any of our previous accomodations but all the ammenities are present. The worst part of it for me is that the beds shrunk from about a full to a twin which is too short for my height. The TV channel selection is pretty limited and I can’t find any English stations. A wacky anime-like cartoon and a Chinese soap opera looked the most interesting of the TV selections.
After dinner we had another speech from the Vice-Captain and another group meeting. We rushed a bit through the group meeting as it represents business cutting into our free time. I snapped some photos of the Chongquing skyline as it was lit up for the night. I retired afterward. Our voyage will not actually begin until tomorrow morning.
I have been waking up at 6:00 a.m. for most of the trip. Our typical wake-up call (the first of many) is 6:30 a.m. We got a little bit later start with a 7:00 a.m. wake-up call, but I still woke up at 6:00 a.m. and prepared for our last day of professional dress.
After breakfast, we departed for the Chana auto factory in Chongqing. We were given a brief tour of a small showroom featuring compacts branded by Ford, Suzuki, and Chana. (Pictures were not allowed.) After seeing the showroom, we were given a presentation in Chinese followed by Q&A. I was a little peeved that the slides were in Chinese as well. I figure they could have made English slides even if the presentation was delivered in Chinese. After Q&A, we were allowed to walk through the plant and survey the machining and assembly lines. The assembly line was pretty neat. I saw a mix of automation and human labor. The lines we saw were producing compact Chana minivans.
The Citrus Research Institute is located in the boonies of Chongqing. We were given two presentations followed by Q&A. These presentations were held in a fairly dilapidated building on the grounds. The room we were in had no air conditioning, while we were in full professional dress. The first speaker presented in English and he generally gave a broad overview of the Citrus Institute’s research. The second speaker presented in Chinese and the presentation he gave was so technical that even the translators had difficulty. After Q&A we toured the laboratory facilities and the nurseries. The lab facilities were quite new and modern (a far cry from the first building we saw). The Institute specializes in plant virology and grows virus-free specimens in controlled greenhouse environments.
We left the Institute for dinner at the Oriental Hotel in one of the market districts of Chongqing. Dinner was served in the same manner as virtually every meal since our first lunch. Pepsi, 7-Up, water, and beer were served as beverages. Chongqing seems to be a Pepsi town, whereas Beijing and Changsha were Coke territory. Strangely enough, I don’t recall any tea being served at this meal. The meal consisted primarily of spicy food (true to the regional tradition). It proved to be one of the least enjoyable meals I’ve had on this trip; lunch, on the other hand, was probably the best.
I asked the local guide where I could find weapons (i.e. swords, daggers, etc.) in Chongqing. I thought an ornate Chinese dagger would make a neat souvenir. He directed me to a couple of department stores somewhere in Chongqing. The way he described the stores, directing me to check around the sporting goods, made me doubt that I would have found what I had in mind. I logged on to the Internet for about 25 minutes after I could find no suitable groups to go out with. I checked my e-mail and looked up instructions for using my AT&T pre-paid calling card internationally (again).
DJ had a guest when I returned to the room, so I left again to explore the neighborhood around the hotel by myself. I found a convenience store nearby where I bought a Pepsi and some Oreo cookies for 8 RMB ($0.97). I did not even try to bargain with the man as I have not yet picked up sign language the Chinese use for bargaining. I do feel at a disadvantage for my lack of knowledge. After further searching and a few dark alleyways I found a China Mobile store where I bought a localized calling card for 50 RMB ($6.09). There was no discount, but it was still cheaper than the 100 RMB ($12.18) cards at the Holiday Inn Yangtze business center. A notification that the card is only good for the Chongqing area is clearly printed on the back of the card. The phone card I bought in Beijing was similarly marked. I guess they don’t have a nationwide system.
I returned to the hotel after finding the calling card. This time, DJ was asleep and I followed suit after a short spell.
