Traditions and travel

[OldDan1943]

A couple of sticks of Juicy Fruit gum and they went on their way, happy as clams. . .

Think of what you could have gotten with some nylons and chocolates.

 

[slowgoesit]

Think of what you could have gotten with some nylons and chocolates.

At the time, juicy fruit, bic pens, and blue jeans were the big items in demand! But we were warned over and OVER again to not sell them, as you didn't know who you were selling to, and if the wrong person, you might remain for an extended vacation. . . . they dealt heavily with black marketeers who didn't pay off the right people to operate there!

 

[Irish Rambler]

In the old East Germany nylons and perfumed soap were a single mans passport to better 'relations' and they were very 'keen' for you to come back and you learn a lot from pillow talk. Interesting times.

Back to interesting times in China. Most of the 3 day cruising on the Yangtse was done at night and during the day we were generally tied up and off on visits. Here are some general photo's.

1, China needs hard currency so even walkways are decorated for the tourists.

2,Temple perched high on the mountain.

3,4,5 These models were in the library on board and regular talks were given on the dam project.

6,Copy of an English style post office letter box.

7, In case you are wondering about plugs, the bottom 2 connected are French style 2 pin.

8,These little fish are not filleted or cleaned and eaten whole, and you wonder how coronavirus got started. The fish are caught on the river and we never saw an effluent treatment plant anywhere.

9, Organised chaos during the construction of the locks & ship lift.

10,Navigation and water level indicator, the angled concrete riverside banks dissipate the wash from passing vessels and prevent undermining.
In Germany these are called 'Pegels', when we cruised in our own displacement cruiser up the river Rhine against the current they were invaluable in determining the river height and flow rate.

 

[Irish Rambler]

A few more pics of the upper Yangtse.

1, Apologies for turned photo, this pic gives an idea of the general width and sides of the gorge.

2, Escalators being built up the gorge side. When the dam was built the gorges were flooded and according to Chinese belief the dead were buried where they were happy, their bodies were unable to be buried due to the flooding of the gorges so the families hollowed out fissures in the gorge side and embalmed and buried their dead so the spirits of the of the dead persons can watch over their land. We were told they are called letter box graves. The escalators give access to the families to leave gifts at the graves.

3, Neat well laid out tributary junctions.

4, Ever present river police patrols.

5, Tour boats awaiting passengers, we visited during the 'off' season.

6, We got this one for a day trip up the side gorges.

7,8, This vessel was 'tired' and in bad need of maintenance.

9, But they can still decorate the supports with dragons to keep the evil spirits away.

10, A more modern design but if you went close up lack of maintenance and cleaning leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Some more gorge photo's.

1, Everywhere you travel bridges are being built, this type is quickly built and very popular.

2,3 Here's the start of others.

4,Self explanatory.

5,6, More graves carved in the gorge side. In some you can see the profile of recently embalmed and buried corpses.

7,Building bridges 'on steroids', loo closely at the photo and you can see a fabricated section being lifted into place. We returned about a hour later and it was bolted together and another ship was just arriving with another prefabricated section.

8,9,10 Self explanatory signs, all navigation signs are in international standard and all informative signs are in English and Chinese.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Our final visit to a factory, this time fabricating Chinese vases.
These vases are in fact copper and gas welded with profile designs and the rest is hand painted before being 'fired' in the kiln to give the distinctive glazed decorative finish.

Photo's.
1, Before and after photo's

2,Apologies for the turned photos, this is a work station.

3, Beautiful workmanship.

4, As you can se by the notices my normal flash camera was not welcomed.

5, These are the curlicues brazed to the vases for decoration.

6, Artistic paintwork.

7, Intricate jewellery box.

8,9, Beautiful vases for sale, get your visa card out !

This visit to the local enterprise was very instructional, also its workers being a co-operative also had a communal canteen in which we ate during our visit, obviously the idea was to make you mellow before you visited the salesroom on your way out.
It worked !
The admiral admired a jade brooch and earing's and like any self respecting ships captain I whipped out my Visa card for my admiral. Peace reigns OK !

 

[Irish Rambler]

OK folks, I've got loads of photo's of Buddhist temples which I'm happy to post if you're into Buddism.
But that concludes our visit to China.

We left Wuhan just in time before the outbreak of the Chinese Coronavirus epidemic which is highly contagious. However we have since our return, been informed by the Muslim council of Europe that everyone is welcome to shelter in any their mosques, food(halal) and bedding will be provided for the duration of the epidemic.

If you've been following our posts over the last few years, I thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart because without 'you' our posts would be worthless, and the considerable money we spent travelling apart from our own enjoyment , wasted.

We've posted our various travels during 2019 as we've tried to 'spend the kids inheritance' visiting and seeing local traditions, hence the name of the post.

Question ? Would I visit China again ?
Absolutely not as long as I'm above the sod, an authoritive, totalitarian controlling regime absolutely contrary to my WASP freedom loving persona.

It's time for me to step back and not 'hog' the forum and let others post of their adventures which I will follow avidly, I will of course continue to contribute to the wonderful Trawler Forum on any technical issues if I can be of help to any other member.

What Now ?
Myself and the admiral are renovating a 300 year old house in the South of France to make a few dollars, when that's finished were going having some gentle cruising to Collouire down near the Spanish border, one of the prettiest (a favourite with the artists) ports in France, a few drinks in the sun, some tasty tucker, a few glasses of wine and some lovin in the siesta.

What more could a man wish for ?

Have you ever hear of Aigues Morte ?
Its the port where in the middle ages the Christian Knights (crusaders) left France to fight the scourge of Islam.
Wanna know more ? Let me know and I'll post for you as I cruise along the Mediterranean coast towards the Italy.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. IR. Nice shots. When we did the Yangtze we also took a side tour through the area you posted (#245-last three pic's) and our guide said that was known as the "Little 3 Gorges". If I recall, the water level was some raised 180 meters in that area.


VERY interesting country!

 

[Irish Rambler]

That's correct, there's sufficient draft for seagoing ships up to 10,000 tons to navigate up the 3 main gorges, there are some very picturesque little side 'feeder' gorges. We also saw (I missed the photo) places along those little gorges where wild monkeys come down the hillside to be fed.
As you say RT very interesting country and our visit was worthwhile to see the contrasts. I wish I were a better photographer to have done it justice but as you know its virtually all snap shots. I'm sure it brought back some memories for you.

 

[slowgoesit]

I've enjoyed following your adventures! As an aside to post # 246, the building next door is the one where they make the 600 year old Ming Vases!

 

[Irish Rambler]

slowgoesit. Thank you for your kind comments. The Chinese guide we had couldn't understand the irony when she said they still made Ming vases in China and I burst out laughing, she was quite affronted.
Incidentally if you followed my post, or bought the book, 'Windmills and Wine' you will see where due to the Chinese civil wars how the Dutch who were importing Ming crockery then began to make their own in Delft in Holland. In Ireland all the old timers still refer to any crockery as Delf.