Flag of the Peoples Republic of China with brown water of Yangtze River in background.

Yangtze River Cruising

October 4-7, 2006

Chongqing

We had a comparatively short flight (90 minutes) from the new, large, and attractive Xi'an airport to the new, large, and attractive airport serving Chongqing. We were a bit surprised that China Eastern Airlines turned out to be just the same as any other airline in the world--- the plane was a Boeing 737, the announcements were in English as well as Chinese, and the flight attendants were the same pretty, accommodating young women that you'd find on Alaska, Finnair, or KLM. We immediately looked to see if China Eastern has logos on their "barf bags" and were happy to find that they do--- our daughter, Jeanne, has the strange hobby of collecting these bags from different airlines. (Most American and European have stopped putting their logos on their bags.)

Airport design and appearance notwithstanding, what was most noticeable to us about landing in Chongqing was the pollution in the air--- visibility was very, very limited when we were landing and it clearly would be impossible to land a plane there without modern flight instruments.

We boarded a bus at the airport and had a hour or so bus trip to the riverside dock in Chongqing where were were to get on our cruise boat, the Victorian Queen. The drive was very interesting although once again the heavy smog limited our views to less than a hundred yards. We learned that the Chinese don't seem to calculate the size of their cities the same way Westerners do. We were told, for example, that Chongqing City has about 35 million people which seem impossible until we learned that "city" was actually an administrative term used for an area that extended over a couple of hundred miles from Chongqing's actual metro center. It was like figuring the population of New York City by including Providence, Boston, Newark, Jersey City, and Philadelphia, along with all the smaller communities around them.

Once we were in the city, the "out the bus window" views became a bit clearer and we were able to see some of the sites as we drove through the streets. Once again the fact that "New China's" cities look as modern as any in the world struck us, although there were clearly signs of the not so distant past.

At the dock, we collected our hand luggage from the bus, and clambered down a long flight of stairs leading to the river, fending off a few beggars and dozens of vendors anxious to sell us caps, maps, copies of Mao's "Little Red Book," and various other $1 specials. (Maybe the most common English phrase in the world is no longer "OK" but, rather, "One dollar"!) It was getting pretty dark as we picked our way along the rough surfaces of the pontoon with some crew members strategically along the way with helpful "Watch Your Step" warnings. The ship actually had to point a searchlight on the bridge to help us make our way from the shoreline to the deck. There was a small band playing approached the ship (Dixie, She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain, and Oh, Suzanna) and most of the crew members were lined up on the deck to offer a smiling "Welcome Aboard."

We were immediately directed to the main dining room where were were to await our cabin assignments. As we sat there, one of the ship's officers came up and told us there was an opportunity for some passengers to arrange a cabin upgrade. So, few of us went along with him to see what was what. He first showed us the type"standard" room" to which we were assigned and then took us to see a "Superior" suite" and one of the Victoria Queen's two enormous "Shangri-La" suites. (Bedroom, separate sitting room with satellite TV, bathroom with shower and Jacuzzi, and huge balcony area right at the front of the ship.) Thinking ahead to spending about almost four days in a tiny "standard" cabin, Ralph said"cost be damned," and immediately whipped out his credit card to claim the Shangri-La suite!

In addition to having lots of space and beautiful appointments, the decision to upgrade to the Shangri-La Suite was again justified upon sailing when we discovered our verandah deck was probably the best place on the ship from which to observe an incredible display of colorful lights from the Chongqing's riverside buildings and other vessels on the Yangtze.