Day 18, May 25

We woke up on Thursday morning at 4:15 am and made our way up the mountain in the dark to a good viewing point to see the sunrise.  Luckily we had a flashlight. The sun came up around 5:00 and it was spectacular. The tree in the foreground is called the "Dragon Pine"

Luckily the skies cleared and we had a very different view of the mountains. In fact we retraced our steps from yesterday to see the peaks in full sunshine.  Here are some of the same locations but with very different views.  Notice how I am hanging onto the railing. This little plateau hangs right over the edge and today I can see the sheer drop.

Remember this one.

You can see why these mountains were the inspiration for  Pandora in the movie “Avatar”

Pictures cannot capture the reality of the Yellow Mountains.

We were very lucky to have a clear day as it is cloudy and/or rains for 200 days per year.  We then continued to climb higher on cantilevered stairs clinging to the mountainside.

  By the time we finished we had done 180 flights of stairs.  Needless to say our legs were burning.

Around noon we started to descend beneath the tree line and saw some familiar sights.  Even azaleas cling to the rocks.

The cable car back down to the base was spectacular.  We drove back to the city of Huangshen, visited a traditional ink factory and toured the "old town" ......but by then we were dragging our butts....we had been up since 4:15.  So we went out to the airport and just waited for our flight  back to Shanghai.

It was a late flight so we did not get to our hotel until 2:00 am.  We said goodbye to Lyndsey and June.  We fly back to Toronto on Friday but will post one more blog before we close this chapter of our travels.

Day 17, May 24: Yellow Mountains

This morning we drove 80 km to the Yellow Mountains.  These mountains are  known for their sunrises, their pine trees,  their  jutting granite peaks, hot springs and snow in winter.  With some peaks over 1850 M high you actually look down on the clouds touching the mountainsides….. and  it is cloudy for more than 197 days of the year.

Once we got to the base it was very misty…..almost a light rain……thus the very stylish yellow rain wear.

We travelled up the mountain for 10 minutes in a cable car and then walked for an additional 2 km to our hotel.  It is quite cool so they provide red down coats to all their guests.

Everything the hotel uses is brought up the mountain by porters who carry up to 200 lbs per trip.  It is hard work but they make good money…..about $40.00 to $50.00 per trip.  They can only make 1 trip per day.

After lunch we went out for a climb.

We continued to climb up to some of the higher peaks

and to a  place they call their Grand Canyon.  You can just see one of the lower peaks jutting up to the right of us.  Thank goodness there is a railing.....you can't see it but it is a long way down.

The locks are put there by couples to represent their everlasting love.

There are some very beautiful windswept pines that take root in the crevices and cling to the side of the mountains.

This tree with its 56 branches used to be called the "Family Tree" but after the one child policy was passed to restrict large families.........they renamed it the "Unity Tree"

By the time we finished our walk we had climbed 78 flights of stairs. The mist was still rolling in but we are hoping for a brighter day tomorrow.  It is June's birthday so our guide carried a birthday cake all the way up the mountain.  We will celebrate tonight but NOT too much……because we are getting up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise.

Day 16 , May 23

On May 23 we flew from Shanghai to Huangshan……so from a city of 24 million to a city of 200,000, which is relatively small by Chinese standards.  It is at the foothills of the Yellow Mountains. Huangshan is also the name of the mountain range.  We arrived in the rain but went for a walk anyway.   The city was a major port because of its location at the fork of 2 rivers.  This bridge is over 900 years old and the “old city” stretches along the river banks now, much like it did then.

This region is very different from the big cities we have visited.  There are no high rise apartments. It is green and lush with very clean air and water.  The area  surrounding the city is agricultural.  The major crops are black tea, chrysanthemums for herbal tea, and bamboo.  The farms are very prosperous and families live in private homes with large vegetable gardens.

The restaurants here serve local specialties which are difficult for us to appreciate……donkey meat, pigs tail, hairy tofu etc.  They love it.  However, they also have more  “western Chinese “ food.  The roast chicken was fabulous but we had to get past the eyes staring at us.

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We have to pack a small backpack tonight to take up the mountain on Wednesday to spend a night at the top.

Day 15, May 22: Shanghai

We are spending another day in Shanghai.

In the morning we went to a silk factory.  Silk production goes back 4000 years in China. A woman discovered it….of course.  She was sitting under a mulberry tree and a cocoon dropped into her cup of tea.  The hot water softened the cocoon which started to unravel and that started the entire industry which changed the course of history.  The Silk Road became the most important factor to open up trade between China and the rest of the world. Here are the silk worms eating the mulberry leaves.

They then attach themselves to the leaves and spin their cocoons.

The cocoons are soaked in water and the very fine silk  threads are unwound.  Each cocoon provides about 1.5 km of thread.

Next  we visited the Shanghai Museum. It is pretty hard to miss because the top is shaped like a giant cooking pot.

We saw ancient bronzes of all shapes and sizes dating back as far as 1800 BC.

It is hard to believe that over 3 thousand years ago  an artist could produce such detail with molten metal.  Many of the artefacts were used for religious rituals and royal ceremonies.

The sculptures were just as impressive. They covered a period  from 400 BC  to 1300 AD. They show how Buddhism first travelled to China and then was incorporated into Chinese culture over time. 

The museum also includes more than 500 exhibits that highlight the 55 ethnic minorities that make up the population of China.  They include many from Inner Mongolia and Tibet. 

These ethnic costumes look pretty fashionable.  I would wear them now.

Following the museum we went shopping on Nanjing St, one of the most famous shopping districts in China. Tonight is our last night with the tour . On Tuesday morning the four of us fly to the Yellow Mountains for a private tour.  So tomorrow will be a travel day. 

Day 14, May 21 - Shanghai

This morning we got up at 5:30 to fly to Shanghai.  The name means “ upon the sea”.  Until the 19th century it was a fishing village and market town.

Shanghai is located on the eastern coast of China where the Yangtze River  flows into the East China Sea. The city proper has a population of more than 24 million.  It is the worlds busiest container port.

Because of its location the city flourished as a center of commerce between China and other parts of the world and became the primary financial hub of the Asia Pacific region in the 1930s. The British and other European architectural influence can be seen in  the area along the river  called “ the bund”.  Here is what their financial centre looked like back  then.

This is their financial centre  now.

The slightly curved tall building on the right was built to resemble bamboo.  The tall needle like structure on the left  with the colourful knob is a communications tower.  You can see that now the Chinese architects have their own sense of design.  Here is their version of the Chrysler Building in New York……doubled of course.

 We are staying at the Shanghai Sheraton and saw them preparing for a wedding.  Red is the predominant colour as it will bring good luck to the bride and groom.

Day 13, May 20

This was the view from our balcony on the last night of our Yangtze River cruise.  All the cities along the river provide a fantastic light show at night.

This morning we docked in Chongqing in Sichuan province. It is a municipality like Washington DC and has a population of 33 million people.  Chongqing is a very mountainous city with 2 rivers cutting it into several pieces. The climate is hot, hot , hot!!!! Today it was about 33 degrees with 85 % humidity.  It is a subtropical climate that experiences monsoons. It is the hottest city in China with temperatures soaring to over 45 degrees in August.  From 1937 to 1945 Chongqing was the wartime capital of China and was heavily bombed by the Japanese.

However this city is best known for its Pandas.

Even though there is an extensive Panda breeding program they are still endangered because they have a very low birth rate.  However they have moved from an “endangered” species designation to a “ vulnerable” designation with an estimated number of 2000 to 3000. They do not seem too interested in reproducing. Most of the new cubs are the results of artificial insemination.  Here are three 9 month old cubs.  There is a set of twins.

They play like little kids and are very clumsy....just like toddlers learning how to walk.

 Giant pandas are generally solitary, and each adult has a defined territory, and a female is not tolerant of other females in her range. Social encounters occur only during the brief breeding season in which pandas will gather. After mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub.

In 1984  the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) began to offer pandas to other nations  on 10-year loans, under terms including a fee of up to US$1,000,000 per year and a provision that any cubs born during the loan are the property of the PRC.

Just before we left Garry got photobombed by a Panda.

China is a country where most people live in apartments. However their government ensures that there are plenty of green spaces and parks for them to play and relax in…..and they make good use of them.

We also did Tai Chi but are not quite as graceful…..maybe if we had the silk pyjamas we would be better!

Chongqing is growing so quickly that they  have to issue new maps every 3 months.  However we did visit part of the old city which allowed us to rub elbows (literally) with the locals. Sichuan province is known for its spicy food so walking past some of the food stalls made our eyes and noses run from the hot chillies in the air. I am the one in the royal blue shirt.

The side streets had some interesting shops.  Here a young woman is getting the calluses on her feet removed by sticking them into an aquarium of fish.  I wonder if it tickles?

Garry was wearing his Toronto Pan Am shirt and suddenly a young man screamed the words “Raptors” and “Kyle Lowry”.  He was a real basketball fan.  He also knew about the Toronto Blue Jays……go figure! We had a nice chat. There are some things that are universal.

Day 12 May 19

After Tai Chi this morning we went on an excursion to Shibaozhai , the Red Pagoda,  which was built in the Ming Dynasty around 1573. The pagoda is 9 stories high with very steep steps and once you start climbing there is no going back……only 1 way traffic.

The river level rises about 65 meters during the rainy season making it an island for a few months every year........so it is only accessible by a long red suspension bridge which is  a pretty shaky experience. When you walk on it the wooden slats create a wave motion which can knock you off balance if you are not careful.

The Chinese love their dragons........

........and also lions  and of course their oxen.

There is an outdoor market where you get to meet the local villagers and some of them are very very cute!!!

Day 11, May 18

Today we transferred to smaller boats and travelled up a small tributary of the Yangtze River called the Goddess Stream.  We are now in the Wu Gorge which is the second of the Three Gorges.

The cliffs are made of limestone.  Before the Dam was built the water level went up and down with the seasons.  During the dry months the water was so low that “ trekkers” would pull the boats up the gorge over the rocky stream bed.  Even now with the Dam,  the water level still changes with the seasons but it never goes dry.   You can see the water marks on the sides of the cliffs.

We disembarked on floating docks to the sounds of a Chinese performance. The music bounced off the cliff walls and became a “Rock Concert” ( no pun intended)

The sides are terraced with fields of oranges which we all eat at Christmas. The small huts on the cliffs are the family cemeteries.

This afternoon our ship sailed through Qutang Gorge, the last of the Three Gorges.  It is the narrowest and the shortest. The rock formations and the visible coloured striations make this a geologist's paradise.

Most of the people who lived here were relocated........but one older couple in their seventies came back to return to their old lifestyle. They are the only people who live here now. You can see their small farm sitting on the edge. Needless to say they raise mountain goats!!!! They  can only reach their home by water.

The "gorgeous Gorges" scenery make a perfect backdrop for a selfie

As we sailed through the last Gorge the final cliff is the steepest and is the picture that appears on the Chinese 10 yuan bank note.