ON THE YANGTZE RIVER

Here we are, floating up the Yangtze River in China, and how I can have internet service seems simply amazing. I often think we are in a time warp here; I look out the window and see primitive housing, famers tilling fields by hand, an occasional oxen, and then I see a block-style cement home, no windows, yet a satellite dish on the roof.

Then there is the BIG city that we float by. Most of the cities on the Yangtze are "new old" - meaning they have been built in the last ten years. The Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze, which is the largest construction project in the world, caused 1.3 million people to be relocated from their farms and villages and put on higher ground. When Tom and I were on this river in October of 2002, we were the last boat tour that went down the river before the dam was completed.

My, how things have changed since then! The water level rose 15 feet a day once the dam was finished - the dam is 1.4 miles across. It took just under TEN YEARS simply to pour the concrete for the dam, and that was working non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That is an awful lot of concrete.

So, many of the villages and cities that we saw in 2002 are now under water. Each city has to be completely torn down - all buildings demolished and most trees cut down so navigation on the river won't be compromised. There is a great deal of shipping on this river - mainly coal.

Tomorrow we arrive in Chonquin, which is the largest city in the world, with 33 million people! I will definitely NOT try to find a taxi there.

I will have lots of photos very soon - we arrive in Shanghai tomorrow, September 1 and fly home on September 2.

Today Tom and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary onboard this very different river cruise ship. Last night Tom was part of the "act" - they wanted passenger talent, and our Track and Field group put Tom up there to tell his jokes and stories. He was good.

More later. I apologize for no photos now, but my internet connection is very, very slow.

After all, I am on a SLOW BOAT IN CHINA.

Carol