Chongqing - Yichang - Chengdu.
(Yangtze River, Dujiangyan Giant Panda Base)
June 2017
Our final adventure in China was a three day cruise down the Yangtze river to view the stunning scenery and amazing three gorges dam. We now know why this is popular trip with tourists from China and overseas. Despite the damp and coolish weather there was plenty to see and do.
Finally we had the obligatory visit to the Pandas in Chengdu. A day volunteering to clean up Panda poop, make Panda cakes and get up close and personal to the largest, cutest, cuddliest black and white bears :-) .
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| Typical Yangtze party boat |
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| Our "Sister cruise Ship" |
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| One of the many spectacular bridges over the river. |
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| Cruising the Gorges |
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| Admiring the view; not the weather. |
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| Bridge over tamed waters. |
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| Despite the rain the Yangtze was close to its lowest point of the year. |
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One of the many villages along the river.
(A long walk up to the town when the river is this low) |
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Spectacular "Goddess Gorge".
Too narrow for our cruise ship. |
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The amazing "Ship Lift".
Three Gorges Dam sight; lifts and lowers ships to compensate for the 40 meter height difference. |
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We are on the "top floor" .
Going down to continue our journey and go under the bridge. |
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| Almost at the bottom. |
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| Not a great deal of room between the side of the ship and the side of the lift. |
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And we made it
300 passengers, a cruise ship - an engineering marvel. |
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The more conventional and slower "Lock System"
It takes 5 locks and about 4 hours if you don't use the lift. |
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| Now we can go under that bridge. |
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| A flotilla of "Yangtze Cruise Ships" . |
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| Our next stop |
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| In volunteer greens, preparing for some Panda action. |
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| Not a great deal of action here. |
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| Checking out an escape route. |
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| Training to be a tyre fitter. |
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| World Series Panda Wrestling. |
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| What we do best - eat bamboo. |
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| What we do best - cleaning Panda Poo. |
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"Masterchef" comes to Panda Base.
Thankfully we didn't have to test the Panda cakes. |
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| We left it up to this guy to test them. |
Our favourite Panda, despite his hardship he was the most friendly and playful.
A fantastic way to end out two year adventure in the land of the Dragon.
Still plenty more to see and do; hopefully we will return one day to enjoy more of this amazing country; its stunning landscapes, unique antiquity and diverse rich cultures.
Thank you China.
