Three Gorges

After leaving the Pandas and Chengdu behind we boarded our '4-star' Chinese cruise ship for the 4-day trip down the Yangtze River and through the famous Three Gorges. During the winter months the number of ships plying the river greatly decreases, so the selection is a bit slim. We opted for the 1st class cabin and thank goodness we did, otherwise we would of been sharing with upto 6 other vodka swilling chain smoking Chinese. Not a bad thing in a bar, but in an enclosed cabin for 4 days it's not very good for your health. The cruise itself was rather boring and for anybody considering the trip in the future I would only suggest doing it if you can splurge on a fancy luxury liner.
The main reason for the trip was to see the Three Gorges, which by popular misconception are still rather impressive. I was under the impression that because of the controversial Three Gorges Dam the gorges were going to be soon submerged underwater. I think this is partly the work of the western press trying to villify the Chinese in their modernity drive. The gorges are all still there, just about 150m shorter. The dam itself is rather impressive and is a symbol for all that is modern China. Throughout the country the drive to modernise overtakes everything else, so the fact that almost 2 million people have been relocated due to the rising waters is of little consequence to the Chinese government.
After we departed out boat we made our way to Xi'an in order to see the Army of Terracotta Warriors, one of the highlights of any trip to China. However, on our 15 hour overnight train trip we had to endure the companionship of a constantly burping women and snoring man. Throwing in my sporadic coughing, Leighanne struggled a bit for sleep.