West Lake

My mom, a couple of her friends, and I went to West Lake (西湖) this afternoon.  This lake is what Hangzhou is most famous for, and you could definitely tell with all the tourists and visitors.  There was even a couple of newly weds taking wedding photos.  It was a fun and relaxing time, and I posted some pictures below.  There's just something about sitting in a boat surrounded by water and beautiful surroundings.

Three Gorges Cruise: Day Four

Today marked the end of the cruise. In the middle of the night, the boat passed through the Three Gorges Dam by going through five stages of lowering the boat until it reached the lower water level. This process takes about 3 to 4 hours in total. We visited the dam during the morning and got to see the surrounding location via several tourist areas. We also passed through the third and last gorge today, but it was so foggy that I unable to take any good photos. The cruise was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The intricacies and awesomeness of the mountains were more amazing than I ever could have imagined. If anyone is considering visiting China to see beautiful scenery, I would definitely recommend a cruise in the Three Gorges area along the Yangtze River.

Area where ships are lowered:


Three Gorges Dam:

Three Gorges Cruise: Day Three

Today was an action-packed day. It started at 5:30 am; my dad and I paid some extra money to visit Baidi Cheng (White Emperor City) to get a view of the first gorge. We learned a lot about the history of the city, as well as how it's changed since the new dam was built. Since most of you probably do not know, the Chinese government built the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangzte River to produce electricity. However once the dam was built, it raised the water level almost 170 meters. Therefore, it drowned out a lot of villages and people had to relocate. After we got back from visiting Baidi Cheng, the boat moved through the first gorge. It was definitely very humbling traveling through the narrow river with enormous mountains on either side. It is unlike anything I have ever seen. The feeling was almost as if we were in an imaginary place straight out of a poem or painting. In reality, some of the most famous poems were written about this area of the Three Gorges. Once we got past the first gorge, we stopped to get onto a smaller boat which took us to the Lesser Three Gorges. The mountains seemed even taller, because we were on a smaller boat. After about an hour and a half, we got on to even smaller motor boats and visited the Mini Three Gorges. This was probably my favorite part, because we were very close to the water and right up to the mountains. After this four hour long excursion, we entered the second gorge. This gorge is famous for three mountains (which are shown below): Goddess Mountain, Caps Mountain, and Scissors Mountain. There was so much to see today that it was hard to process all of it. I don't think I can put it any other way; the views were simply amazing.

First Gorge (Top View):


First Gorge (Boat View):


Lesser Gorge (Sleeping Beauty):


Lesser Gorge (Buddha Mountain):


Mini Gorge:


Goddess Mountain (Look carefully for the little rock on the top that looks like a woman. Follow the rock that looks like two fingers down to the right and you'll see a little tiny rock jutting out):


Caps Mountain (it looks like a cap):


Scissors Mountain:

Three Gorges Cruise: Day Two (Ghost City)

Sunrise in Fuling (this was about the only time I saw the sun. It was extremely foggy the whole trip):

"Princess Elaine":

Today was the first day the cruise officially started.  We got up around 7 am and ate breakfast in one of the dining halls.  We were considered to be foreigners on the cruise, so we were able to eat in a separate area from all the Mainlanders.  There were only two other foreigners on the ship: a couple ladies from France.  So we set sail along the Yangtze, and boy what a sight it was.  We were always surrounded on both sides by gorgeous mountains, beautiful landscapes, and interesting villages.  Today we our shore excursion was Fengdu, or otherwise known as the Ghost City.  The Chinese people believe that when people die, their spirits go to this city to be judged by the King of the Underworld, where they will either go to Heaven or Hell.  We stayed here for about three hours, climbing Mingshan mountain and visiting the different temples on the mountain.  There were numerous stories and legends about different parts of the temple and below are some pictures as well as descriptions.

Bridge to the Underworld:

This was the first test for spirits entering the underworld. Only good spirits can get across; the bad ones fall into the river of fire below. We had to take an odd number of steps across the middle bridge. Men start with their left foot, women with their right.

33 Steps to Heaven:

The Chinese believe there are 33 levels of heaven, and each of these steps represent one of the heavens; the best heaven is the top step and represents immortality. In order to obtain this, we had to walk all the way to the top while holding our breath. Again men start with their left foot, women with their right.

"Only Kindness Brings Peace":

There are four Chinese characters written here that say: "Only Kindness Brings Peace"

King of the Underworld:

Scary guy. Nuff said.

Three Gorges Cruise: Day One

We left Hangzhou around noon for our flight to Chongqing to go on the Three Gorges Cruise.  Our flight was pretty much on schedule, and we arrived at Chongqing around 6:45.  We were picked up from the airport to go to the loading dock, but it turns out the water was too shallow, so we had to get on the boat around 100 km(about 62.5 miles) downstream.  We were picked up by a bus and took a two hour drive to Fuling.  By the time we got on the boat, it was already 9:30, and we were all very tired from all the commuting.  Princess Elaine (the name of the boat) was docked for the night, and we didn't start moving until the next day.  Overall it was a tiring day of traveling but worth it for what was about to come.

Here's a picture of the room my dad and I stayed in (my mom and grandma stayed in a similar room across the hall):

Pre-Cruise

I will be leaving shortly for the Hangzhou airport to fly to Chongqing for a 4 day cruise on the Yangtze River (长江). I won't have internet access, so I will try to keep a journal of what I did each day and take lots of pictures. I will post my adventures when I get back. If you're interested, here's the website with information about the cruise: China Regal Cruises. Stay tuned!

Arrived!

After a 14 hour flight and 2.5 hour drive, I have arrived at Hangzhou at my Grandma's place.  I'm not too jet-lagged, which is nice.  I'm updating the blog via email right now, as I have not received the software from my cousin to get around the block.  Email (jamesanlee@gmail.com), AIM (ppa55ccatag, jamesanlee), Facebook Chat (via AIM) and Skype (jamesanlee) work just fine.  More adventures to come!

Edit:
Here's a picture of my room that I'll be staying in for most of the time: