Beauty, Sport, Fire and a Yangtze River Cruise

I returned to Wuhan three days ago after celebrating China's National Day (which brings with it a full week of vacation time) in Yichang and the wonderful Three Gorges.

Yichang is a 4-5 hour bus ride from Wuhan and is the home of Beth, Brad, Dawson and Amy--all Lipscomb grads who are in their second year of Work in China. They went to Xi'an for the holiday, but Beth graciously let us (Justin and Rachel Bronson, Virginia, and myself) crash for free in her apt while we were in town.

We were warned even while in the States of the October and May holiday weeks of China. "It's miserable," we were told, "only go if you enjoy staring at the back of Chinese heads while you crane your neck to get a glimpse of a monument that you don't understand and can't enjoy." The entire country has Mon-Wed off of work (well, except for the tourist-related jobs, I suppose) and the entire nation likes to travel. So, the sights to see are generally packed.

That said--it's also when we as teachers have off--so OF COURSE, we're going to go see China! Justin, Rachel, Virginia and I decided on Yichang and a Yangtze River Cruise b/c we knew it would be an easy first trip to plan and the Gorges are soon to be significantly diminished when the massive Three Gorges Dam (the largest in the world) completely closes its gates--to then supply an estimated one-third of China's energy. Finally, we figured that a cruise ship can only hold so many people, so the crowding would be limited to our off-shore excursions.

When we booked our tickets for our "cruise" with the travel agency in Yichang, our travel agent told us enthusiastically and in very broken English that our tickets (which were incredibly overpriced b/c of the holiday) would include "beauty, sport and fire." What? We asked for clarification--and as usual, got none. Then we asked the English-speaking colleague who our agent had translate details to us over the phone. They were all very concerned that we were choosing a domestic cruise--Chinese only, no English tour guides abord. We breezed past their concerns and tried to figure out the beauty, sport and fire options--to no avail.

I suppose you could characterize our entire 3-day cruise as a search for the illusive Beauty, Sport and Fire. Between conversations on theology, politics, ethics, Chinese culture, group dynamics, food, sex, friendships, family backgrounds and future dreams, we watched the cliffs upon cliffs glide past, posed for photos with cute Chinese children and awkward, middle-aged Chinese men, created clever phrases for our mood ("gorged on the gorgeous gorges") and became expert users of the squatty potties. We feared for our lives when we were woken up at 5 a.m. with sounds of Celine Dion blaring "My heart will go on" over the boat's sound system ("Didn't that boat sink? Are they trying to tell us something?") We made up our own histories for the off-shore excursions that we took--"to your right, you'll see the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Amazingly enough, it is also the exact sight where Chairman Mao, Thomas Jefferson, Michael Jackson, and Yao Ming became boy scouts together!"--to which the Chinese ooohed and aahhhhed as the tour guide announced the history to them in Chinese over a loudspeaker. We saw coffins suspended in chasms thousands of feet above the river. We saw homes built on ground that sloped at 95 degree angles. We were rowed downriver by men in whitey-tighties and rope sandals.

There were beautiful scenes, there were grueling (kind-of) hikes, there was spicy food---but we're still debating if that constitutes the intriguing Beauty, Sport and Fire we were promised when purchasing our tickets.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and a relaxing week. I feel proud of myself for buying our bus tickets myself and more confident about my ability to get around China. It was fabulous to be out of this dirty city and to see the Chinese countryside. I am blessed to have become so much closer to my travelmates. It was funny to build on a phrase that Laura and I chose while we toured the French countryside in Normandy--as we wove our way through street hawkers I made the comment "Gatlinburg is Gatlinburg whether you're in Gatlinburg or France." I can now also say that Gatlinburg is Gatlinburg whether you're in Gatlinburg or China. Except that maybe the prices are more negotiable in China!

I'm meeting with my travel buddies on Saturday to exchange photos--so I'll pick the best ones and post them then. Tomorrow--I FINALLY begin teaching! I'll try to update soon with how it goes! Love you all!