Immeasurably More

Now that I am home again the photo culling process has begun.  (I took 1246 photos.)   Photos from Tuesday in Shanghai: From my window at the Shangra-la Hotel. Throughout the trip, my family mostly breakfasted on dim sum, dumplings, fried noodles, rice or tofu soup and baby bok choy.  But this was the Shangra-la breakfast menu, so it's not like we didn't have options.

And again in Beijing with the communal bathroom. Awkward... At least this time we knew what switches to look for.

Sun. 6 pm. I have counted 22 switches and 5 knobs in our room at the Xi'an Crown Plaza. Most of them seem to control lights. But Roommate-cousin and I were not interested in light switches.  Our exploration of the room's amenities had so far revealed a view of Xi'an,  a divan couch, and a walk-in closet supplying bathrobes and slippers.  I stopped exploring when I turned from the view and noticed the tub.  It looked like a nice tub to relax in.  And to be watched relaxing in. Under what circumstances can a window between the bedroom and bathroom be considered an amenity? Roommate-cousin and I were equally creeped out by the idea of a divan with views into the shower. "We're going to have negotiate shower times."  Roommate-cousin suggested. "But there has to be a blind!" I protested. And we started flipping switches.  Many lights went on and off before we managed to trigger a faint mechanical whirring and clicking, but no change to the und...

Sunday 2 pm. We have left the boat and been to Chongquing Zoo to visit the Pandas.  Cuter bamboo eating machines you cannot find.  However, I prefer the small red Lesser Panda who was intelligently choosing apple chunks instead of pork rind from among the snacks thrown to him by the Chinese visitors who were steadfastly ignoring the "Do not feed the animals sign."

Sat. 2 pm. I didn't sleep well last night so I knew that roommate-cousin was out late. By previous agreement, I am allowed to do whatever is required to wake him up so he can go to the "gym" while I go to tai chi.  Since after coming in he proceeded to snore, I thought he deserved both having the pillow pulled out from under his head and then being whumped with said pillow.  This evoked a mumbled "you're so mean." When I returned half an hour later, he was still in bed.  Me: "I thought you were going to the gym?" Him: "I am." Pause. Me: "Have you just missed the last half hour?" Him: "Yes." The previous night's fun apparently included Roommate-cousin wearing an all-in-one panda head and paws hat-scarf-mittens garment.  I don't spend a lot of time on Facebook, so if these photos show up, please, please, PLEASE let me know. Roommate-cousin made it off the boat and to "heaven", th...

Fri. 11:30 am. The scenery of the lesser three gorges is difficult to capture with a camera, but I suppose that mountains often are.  The scale simply does not translate through the average point and shoot lens.  But that hasn't stopped me and most of the other members of my group from trying.  We jostle for position along the railings.  Plenty of people have professional looking SLRs with long lenses. As we snap away at a coffin resting in a carved out opening in the cliff face, I am thinking about the 100 meters of cliff that is submerged under this dam created lake.  How and why did coffins come to be in such an inaccessible spot? There are theories but no once seems to know. The Chinese government relocated 1.3 million people before they dammed the Yangtze. Our boat guide tells us about her families living conditions before and after the move; her parents now have an indoor toilet but the pebble beach where she and her friends used to play is gone.  For the farmers,...

Thurs. 8:45pm After the side to side bouncing we experienced when we came into the lock this morning, I was expecting the same from the five locks that help river traffic overcome the 100m or so difference in water level created by the Three Gorges Dam.  Instead, as  we enter the first lock we seem to float exactly where we ought to, between the lock wall and a coal barge, as we wait for the doors to clang closed behind us and for the water to rise.  But the doors don't clang shut.  I don't even notice that they have shut until I see the water level is changing.  And then the unearthly screech of metal on metal begins, calling to mind ghost stories and horror films and ear plugs.  But it does not last long - 15 minutes at most - after which the door in front of us opens silently and we glide into the second lock.

1:30 pm. The ship shuddered as it bumped the edge of the lock crushing the tire a crew member had hung over the ship's edge.  An hour later and the  riverbanks have grown to cliffs.  We are in the gorges.

9 am. It is foggy on the Yangtze this morning.  We can make out houses and smokestacks on the banks but nothing beyond.  Barges pass us carrying logs, coal, cars. Other than the sound of our own engines, the world seems quiet.  I see a solitary bird fly past. 10  am. Jin, our onboard program director, is talking to us about the history of the Three Gorges Dam which we may or may not be able to see later on through the fog.  It produces 2% of China's power, but as Confucius say, "it's better than nothing."

TIRMa caught me at a moment when the satellite internet signal would support skype and has obligingly configured this blog for updates by email. If the signal holds, I will write more later.  But tai chi Master Tom will begin the morning exercise class soon.

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My business travel wardrobe can be described as Black. Grey skirt, black skirt, black slacks, black heels, black flats, black jacket.  The accompanying cardigans and t-shirts are in a variety of colors (including but not limited to black and white). My China ready wardrobe can be described as Blue. Blue jeans.  Blue T-shirts.  Blue sweaters.  Blue socks.  What isn't blue is white or black. Since nothing's changed but the color, why has my vacation packing taken three times as long as the business packing ever does?

The subject line of the email read: This is a weird hypothetical question. HYPOTHETICALLY, if the family took a 12 day China River cruise this November over Thanksgiving, would that be something a person might be interested in?  The person (who is of the female persuasion) would have to share a cabin with one of their male cousins.  (twin beds, obviously) Any thoughts? I imagined each of my three cousins as a cabin-mate.  I frowned at my account balances.  I thought about my plans to visit friends in New York that I haven't seen in years.  I wondered how much I would hate working Christmas week almost entirely alone in the office while everyone else was on vacation.  I almost decided not to go. And then I remembered the family Thanksgivings we used to have - trying to fit everyone into my grandparent's house which was decorated with Chinese silk paintings and knick-knacks.  Friday always included a movie and Chinese meal.  Sometimes Grandp...