Xian to Wuhan-Thursday 12-SEP

Sorry, we have been really behind on the blog.  We haven't had much overlap of free time and internet, though we have had some of each!

Mailing the one and only postcard (not in pack of 20)!  (Hi Erin!)

This morning we went to the Tang Art Museum.  (No, there were no orange space drinks…)  We had a guide walk us through and talk about all sorts of art either from the Tang Dynasty or reminiscent of it.  I suspect mostly the latter.  I know I am not the most artistic person, but I honestly found NOTHING in the museum I would like to look at in the future (i.e. have on the wall or in my home).  Then we went upstairs and had a “calligraphy” class.  It was a tad interesting, and they showed how to make the eight strokes, which are used for all of the Chinese characters.  We were each given a sheet of rice paper, shown how to hold the brush, and “practice” writing one of each stroke.  We did not develop great skills with one stroke.  Then she drew a few more complicated things, and had us replicate them.  One was a symbol for woman and then man, and the woman symbol was squiggly and sort of block headed, and the man symbol looked like a grid and a sword.  Actually, the man symbol was supposed to be a field and a tool.  But before telling us what it was, she asked us to guess the meaning, and one guy piped up with “When the dragon comes through the window, kill it!”  Everyone had a good laugh!  After that, I wrote the name of the first three cities we had visited, and eventually showed a person working there, to see if she could read it (that is, if I wrote them correctly).  With little or no hesitation, she said each of them, so I gave myself a good grade.

After the “calligraphy”, she showed us some art we could buy and we were given 20 minutes or so to “shop”.  We found nothing we both wanted.

So, we got back onto the bus and headed for the airport.  We flew Xiamen Airlines, so a new one for me, but like China Eastern, also a member of the SkyTeam Alliance.  We wonder if Theresa can get Delta miles for these flights?

The flight from Xian to Wuhan was only about an hour, and included a light lunch.  But, they make you prepare for landing (seat up, electronics off, and tray table up) 20-30 minutes before landing, so it seemed less comfortable.  Oh, this is going from C to D on the map.  Wuhan is an industrial city (yea, more pollution) and they make a lot of cars here.

Primitive ground equipment in Xian!

Primitive Air equipment in Wuhan!

I guess not all VIPs are created equal!

Neither are all busses!!

We left the airport and boarded a bus for the four hour journey to Yishang, where we would board our river boat on the Yangtze.  I do not recall what “Yi” is, but “shang”, as you might recall, is above, or up.  (As in:  “Shang-hai” = “above-sea”).  Along the way we think we saw water buffalo, but, no one managed a picture.  We stopped halfway through the journey for “snacks” and the tour guide bought bags of chips for everyone.  They must be good, since on the front they all have a guy with his thumb up.  He is not smiling, though, so I have my doubts.  Actually, they were not bad, but like Pringles (fried potato paste, not really sliced potatoes).  The bathrooms at the stop were…campy.  Like a campsite latrine.  But they had soap.

Our River Cruise Ship

It was dark when we arrived at the boat dock.  We had read that the ship was completely refitted/refurnished in 2011, so had illusions of a brand new beautiful cruise liner.  Well, they have nice carpet, but the floor is warped and bowed sheet metal (perhaps 0.125 inch thick?) and it is ill-supported in many places, so many spots pop or “oil can” up and down when you walk or stand on them.  There are high and low spots so dramatic you can see them despite the carpet.  So walking can be surprising when one foot goes in a shallow spot and the next on a side slope.  Regardless, we headed to the dining room for dinner while the porters took our bags to our rooms.  I saw one of them.  He had a long bamboo pole on his back, and two huge bags on each side of the stick.  I know our bags are supposed to be under 44 lbs, so I’m sure four of them must have been between 150-175 lbs.  He struggled to both balance and support them, and they swung like pendulums independent of each other, so it must have been miserable going up the steps.

The dinner was as Western as we have had all trip!!  They had spaghetti, among other things, and no chopsticks to be easily found.  After dinner, Theresa and I took a little walk upstairs and then went to unpack and go to bed.  The room followed the trend since our first place at the Waldorf.  There are two beds that look like a dorm room.  I’m not sure if they are singles, but they are NOT big enough for doubles.  But each room has a balcony, also known as a laundry room, as nearly everyone did laundry and hung their stuff out on the chairs etc.  It is quite classy!  There is a little TV that has HBO, but the movie freezes and cuts out every few minutes.  Oh well, we are not here for the TV!