I went on a cruise along the Yangtze River to see the Three Gorges. The cruise started from the city of Wuhan and went upstream towards Chongqing which was to be the last stop. It was a very leisurely cruise, but if you go on one, be prepared to have groups of American and British retirees as fellow passengers. Honestly, it felt like a retirement village. I think I cut the average age there by half.
And because the cruise was catered mainly to American and British tourists, the food was naturally bastardized versions of Chinese food. The usual lemon chicken, sweet and sour pork and all those crappy food. You will also find that these people have a Disneyland view of China. They will LOVE everything about it, and say everything’s so lovely etc. I’m just so glad I went as an independent traveller. I hate having to go around in big groups.


The water levels along the river have already risen about 120 metres due to the Three Gorges Dam. Many of the villages and houses you see along the cruise are newly built ones. The people were moved to higher ground while their original homes are now all underwater. Drowned and gone for all eternity.


Still, the cliffs are gorgeous. Coupled with the mist, it feels as if you’re entering a dream world as the ship meanders through the gorges.


At the Shennong Stream, we had to transfer to small boats because the water level was too shallow for the big boat and also the water passage was too narrow. These small boats are called “pea pods”. They are so-called because the shape of the boat resembles that of a pea pod. A pea pod is powered by five men. One coxswain, who’s also the skipper, one rower in front of the coxswain, two rowers at the front of the boat and one man who’s the second mate. He helps to guide and punt the boat up front when the boat needs to go upstream. These rowers are local farmers.


These pea pods have been in used for hundreds of years. When the pea pod has to go upstream and through very shallow waters, the rowers jump out of the boat and hook a rope made of bamboo onto the pea pod. They then stand on the banks and hang on to the hardy bamboo rope and pull the boat along. The men at the front and back help by punting the pea pod with a long bamboo pole. It’s back-breaking work! Originally, the men used to pull the boats in the nude as they didn’t want the ropes to spoil their clothes (due to the rubbing of the rope on the clothes). But because of tourism, they have had to have some modicum of decency.


The pea pods break out of their orderly arrangement after we, the tourists, have gone back to our big boat after going through the Shennong Stream.
By the way, most Chinese people refer to the Yangtze River as Chang Jiang 长江, meaning Long River. The word “Yangtze” is really what it is known as in Shanghainese. According to my guide, the term “Yangtze River” came into common use in the English-speaking community because the first Westerners arrived in Shanghai and they asked the locals what the river was called and they told the foreigners the river’s name in Shanghainese. The name has stuck ever since.