We arrived at the dock in Chongqing and prepared to board the riverboat that would be our home base for the next three days, the Yangtze Explorer.
The lady at the fruit store was taking her lunch break, but the porter tied our luggage to a pole that he slung over his shoulders and carried the bags down to the boat. Our boat is the middle one from the last photo.
We settled in to our cabin on the Yangze Explorer, which consisted of a bedroom, bathroom, and a nice sitting area. The only difficulty we had was the tall step up into the bathroom. Steve also had to duck as he was stepping up as the top of the doorjam was rather low.
Our first stop was the village of Fengdu. Here we visited a two room kindergarten with large numbers of very energetic children in each class.
There was green outdoor carpeting and open air restrooms behind the building. They sang a few songs for us and then wanted to give everyone a high five or a fist bump.
The vegetable market in Fengdu was bustling with activity and there was an interesting array of goods for sale.
Next door to the vegetable market was the Fengdu meat market. We were once again astounded by not only the unusual cuts of meat offered for sale, but also by the lack of refrigeration.
There were some interesting shops as we meandered along the main drag in Fengdu. We saw a woman cooking meat with a blow torch, a man using a machine to make noodles, and a woman in front of a clothing store making alterations on a very old sewing machine.
All along the street were vendors selling prepared "fast food" that was appropriate to the local taste and culture, but definitely not something we cared to sample. The favorites seemed to be pig snouts, pig tails, pig tongues, pig ears, and pig tripe.
When a hydroelectric dam was built on the Yangtze River a great deal of drought and energy problems were solved. At the same time, 1.4 million people lost their farms, villages, and homes due to the higher water levels caused by the dam. These people had to be relocated.
We had an opportunity to check out the home of a relocated farmer and see how he lived. He seemed to be very happy with the arrangement because the home he was given was sturdier and nicer than his original home.
Next door to the relocation home, we also visited a typical home of a farmer who had not been relocated. The contrast in living conditions was definitely noticeable.
The Yangtze River, which is the longest river in China and the third largest in the world, has some amazingly beautiful scenery. The most noteworthy scenic spots are along the 120 mile stretch of river that passes through the Three Gorges.
Qutang Gorge, which is only five miles long, is the shortest of the three gorges. The entrance to the gorge, called the Kuimen Gate, is the point at which the river flows between Chijia Mountain on the north and Baiyan Mountain on the south. The gorge is very narrow and it is surrounded by tall mountains (up to 4,000 feet in elevation) which makes for some breathtaking scenery.
