Cruising the lesser three gorges passed Wushan, 80,000 people relocated, Old Wushan flooded, new bridge projects, travel to Chongqing before 13 hours now five, copper mining, hazy in summer, snow in winter, many in New Wushan with cars, before no room only for motorcycles, now a big test before driving, old Wushan one square km, new seven sq km. Water level 120 meters in summer, rises over 70 in winter. Sesame seed crops in hills, plants for rice paper. Difficult to navigate at night, light posts seldom seen on cliffsides. Winter water level visible on side. Last night 8/24 docked at Ba Dong. Now passing Ba Wu gorge. The boat is shaped like a 707 with windows on the roof.
Approaching the “high coffins” where the leaders of the community from ancient times are buried. In ancient times when wife looked for husband the men would line up and she would throw a beautiful ball of flowers from the second floor and whoever caught would be him. There is a rock formation in the cliff that is supposed to be the “Goddesses Ball.” The two bridges under construction near Wushan look like something you would find in Cincinatti or Buffalo but only for 80,000 people makes me wonder why or if China is putting infastructure in the right places, or if it is doing any good or just giving people work. Maybe the plan is give people work now building a bridge that will last 100 years and let the city catch up later. Opposite from what America does it seems like pre-emptive construction.
Being in China is a bit like being a child because it is a constant confrontation with an unknown world, a reminder of everything you don’t understand and an indication of what you can never expect to learn in a lifetime. The Chinese however seem much better at accommodating the English than English are at accommodating the Chinese. Paper cups aluminum cans bits of Styrofoam all floating by on the Yangze. Little speed boats for transport, cargo ships of coal, piled up, lone fisherman in wooden canoes, rafts, Chinese mostly seem very nice, it is hard to judge how “free” people are when you look them in the face and they smile at you and you see the kids eating candy, and they get so excited about a game of foosball. I once believed Keruac when he said “freedom is an inner thing.”
Maybe the argument isn’t about freedom in China but about development, for someone like me who doesn’t remember the cold war and isn’t scared by the mention of communism. The factor is just the percentage of poverty in the population that matters, “freedom” is something else entirely, I think.
Cruising the Yangtze today, the M.S. Fortune passed Wushan, where 80,000 people were relocated during the Three Gorges Dam construction effort.From a secondary boat, shaped like a 707 cabin with skylights and able to sail the smaller tributaries of the Yangtze, we passed Ba Wu gorge.The local industry along this part of the Yangtze is copper mining, and in the hills are sesame seed crops, and plants for rice paper. The jagged river bank makes navigating at night impractical; last night the M.S. Fortune docked at Ba Dong. We were not permitted to leave the boat and explore the town for some reason.
The opinion of Wushanians seems positive regarding their displacement.The "Old Wushan" was flooded, and replaced with a "New Wushan" on the hill above the old one. The "New" Wushan is thought to be an improvement.A teacher who has lived in Wushan many years gave me a rundown on all the changes. The streets of Old Wushan only had room for motorcycles, but the new city was planned with wide roads to accommodate cars. People learning how to drive must pass a strict driving test. The old city covered one square km, and the new covers nine. Transportation is better now, according to the teacher; new bridge projects have made travel to Chongqing eight hours faster than before.The two bridges under construction near Wushan look like something you would find in Detroit or Miami, but because they serve a city of 80,000 people, I start to wonder if China is building infastructure in the right places. Maybe the plan is to give people work now and let the city catch up later.Sailing in the "lesser three gorges," we passed the “high coffins” where the leaders of the community from ancient times are buried. A friend told me the story of the "Goddesses Ball":In ancient times when wife looked for husband the men would line up and she would throw a beautiful ball of flowers from the second floor and whoever caught would be him. There is a rock formation in the cliff that is the “Goddesses Ball.” This is the ball the Goddess threw to find a husband.
