China: Yangtze River Cruise
This was our cruise ship while on the Yangtze River.
Shore excursions required a bit of balance and careful navigation of metal planks.
The interior of the ship was nice.  Of course, high quality merchandise could be purchased on board.
As you might guess, the rooms were small and beds were hard. Nice views though.
Ok we weren't the only ones with a sitting area. Here is looking up river on a sunny day.
What if there is a fire?  Have no fear!  Here are the official water buckets to douse a fire.
This is actually an unfinished hotel designed to look like...who knows?
This is the gate to ancient city of Fengdu or Ghost City.
This guy guarded an entrance along the way up the mountain.  Charming.
We walked up the mountain. The saner ones in our group like Ken & Claire here rode the chair lift.
At the top some of the temples were being rennovated.  Check out the bamboo scaffolding.
Our tour group gathered for a picture. The sign says "Tour Group Picture".  Really.
This is the Emperor of Heaven statue and it stands about 21 ft. tall.
The Homeward Looking Tower dating back to the Ming Dynasty.
A nice view over the roof tops as the sun sank slowly in the west.
Back on the river, this interesting bldg was not yet occupied. Small wonder.
All along the river we saw new cities that have sprung up over the last 10-15 years.
A nice sunrise picture on the Yangtze.
The water level will rise another 65 ft. or so before reaching its maximum level.
A nice gentleman took our picture looking downstream in the morning.
Canola is a popular crop   along the river. It is easily identified by its bright yellow flowers.
The Chinese farmers will plant anywhere! I wonder who carries the water to the crops.
Trucks and their cargo being moved along the river.
The Chinese build more bridges than we have seen anywhere.  This one was particularly nice looking.
The magnificent Wu Gorge on the Yangtze.
Another fine Wu Gorge view.
A hydrofoil boat near the town of Badong.
We took a side trip up the  Shennong Stream. The locals are cleaning things up along this popular route.
We took a ride on "peapod" boats that were poled up river.
The popular consensus of the group was that our local guide was "cute as a button".
In the old days the trackers would pull the boats up stream in the nude.
Heading downstream towards our cruise ship.
This is one of the famous "Hanging Coffins".  They are 1,000+ years old and made of wood.
We head back to the city of Badong to continue our cruise down river.
At about 11 PM we arrived at the first lock of the Three Gorges Dam.
Right behind us was the Dragon Ship reported full of drunken tourists. Some folks have all the fun!
In the morning, we toured the dam.  Here are three of the 5 locks of the project.
Since it was so hazy outside, this model shows the locks and the 1.2 mile wide dam.
Later down river we passed another scenic bridge.
We entered another lock farther down river.
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