Chongqing and Pandas

Out of the room by 5AM for a 5:30 pickup. They were a little late, but we made the airport, the gate, and the plane with ease for the flight to Chongqing. Another smooth, comfortable flight.

  

Tired of these out the window pictures? Trust me a window beats the middle seat of a 747 anyway!

Chongqing is not only the starting point for Yangtze River cruises, but the home of the Panda Breeding facilities that have helped to save this animal from extinction. Liang Liang lives here but he was busy and wouldn't come out to see us.

Today had all of the feeling of a killing time day but we are experts at killing time. We thought we  were going airport to Panda facility to boat. No, between the pandas and the boat was free time so . . . .

The Panda facility was actually the Chongqing Zoo, and the pandas were out, active, and wonderful. They eat by piling the bamboo shoots on their bellies and then strip the inedible parts to get at the hearts of the stalks. The rest of the zoo was a bit sad, a bit dirty, and I pitied the animals both for their conditions and the way the visitors hammered on the glass to get their attention. Interesting note; one of the animals on display was the North American Racoon. They run wild all over Wadsworth using the storm sewers as a subway system and have even lived in our chimney, yet, here they were, in their own display area.

Old Chongqing

Old Chongqing

From the zoo to the old city, similar to the Hutong in Beijing. This is the China I wanted to see. The modernization of China has destroyed much of Old China in the name of progress. The Three Gorges Dam Project, one of the sites we will see on the cruise, has displaced over a million people in the name of progress by flooding their homes and farms. We were dropped at a mall so we headed for Starbucks for a western toilet for the ladies and wi-fi. Only wi-fi was a fail because you need a Chinese phone number to get the code. So off to explore! Luck was with us again. Third city in a row with a large, active, vibrant pedestrian mall.

Soldiers. Right after this I got the NO photos sign.

Knitting women at the pedestrian mall.

It is here that the wealth disparity of China is so evident. The 'stick men' and cleaning ladies sit patiently hoping for any job, no matter how menial while other Chinese drive by in their Audis and Buicks or walk by with shopping bags from Gucci and Armani.

A stick man has a four foot length of bamboo and negotiates jobs that can be done by loading some object on to his stick. The cleaning ladies only work on weekends because they are not trusted to be in the apartments while the owners are at work. One pair of stick men came by carrying two sheets of 3/4 inch 4 x 8 plywood, which I know is not easy. Others hauled trash and other goods balanced on their bamboo sticks while seas of women wearing the latest fashions parted for them but still . . . .






Dinner, like lunch, was more food than three people could eat, but Wu, our guide, said it was a normal amount for three people, and maybe not enough. Five dishes and two soups and we left food on the table. (None of our guides would eat with us. We asked. They declined. No idea why.)

On to the boat: just think Princess on a smaller scale in every respect. Wu hired a stick man to schlep our bags all of the way to the boat. I do not know the negotiated price but we gave him more RMBs. What a hard life.

Chongqing by night from the river.

The boat pulled out at 9PM Fengdu as our first destination early tomorrow.