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We woke up at 6 a.m., and finished getting ready to leave our lovely accommodations on the ship. Craig said goodbye to Dr. Lee, and thanked him for the treatments. Dr. Lee wished him well and said that he was now intrigued by MS, which he had never encountered before. As this was Dr. Lee's last voyage, he was packing up his belongings from his office.
We went to the dining room for breakfast at 7. We enjoyed one last meal with our new friends: scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, muffins, cereal, diluted orange juice (they must be running low since it is the last day of the cruise) and coffee. We said goodbye to our tablemates and wished one another safe journeys. We had to disembark by 8:15, so at 7:45 we went back to the room and gathered our luggage together. We left the room at 8. Of course Birgit and Stephan were leaving their room at exactly the same time! We really are on the same wavelength with them. We went downstairs to the lobby and said goodbye to the Singaporeans. We thanked the cruise director Dick Carpentier and the chef. I asked to get a photo of them together, and the chef gave a big smilr and said, "I don't take photos with him" while the two of them posed together. They are a good-natured bunch of smartasses! Our Chongqing guide, the lovely 26-year-old Mia, was waiting for us in the lobby. We hired a porter to carry our heavy bags up the ghats to where our car would meet us. As we left the ship, Stephan and Birgit were right in front of us. "Are you stalking us?" Stephan asked. It was uncanny! A little marching band played as people disembarked. We think it was some of our crew members, but we're not sure. It was a shock to the senses to go so suddenly from a rural cruise to the heart of a huge city. Vendors were selling maps of the river on the ghats. Craig wanted one, but we were too overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle to actually perform a transaction. When we reached the top of the ghats, we waited a few minutes for our driver to make his way through the throng of taxis and pedestrians to get to us. We felt like we were always in someone's way. It was quite overwhelming after our relaxing few days on the river. The driver arrived and we got into our nice big clean comfy van. Our first stop was the Chongqing Zoo. The zoo has 8 giant pandas. Giant pandas are active in the early morning and early evening (generally the coolest times of day), so our driver braved Monday morning rush hour traffic to get us there in time to see the pandas before their midday siesta. The zoo was really beautiful. It was an oasis in the middle of the city. There were lots of plants and trees that were very well manicured. Everything was very clean, and the animals had indoor as well as outdoor enclosures. The first animals that we encountered were the lesser pandas (a.k.a. red pandas). These are small animals which remind me more of a cross between a racoon and a fox than most people's conception of a "panda." One of them came very close to us, probably hoping that we had some food. They were very cute. We moved on to the giant pandas. We arrived at the perfect time to observe little Sishun, a lovely juvenile female, eating her breakfast. Sishun's name had not yet been officially announced at this time, but Mia knew it and shared it with us. This little panda had made her public debut on May 1, 2014. Sishun was lying back on a raised platform, enjoying her bamboo breakfast, double fisting at times. She was very content as bamboo detritus accumulated on her belly. She was so cute! Her mom Ya Ya was in the next pen over and we could see her walking by in the background. We had such a good view of her. We were still using my backup camera, but I took out my good camera and used my one precious battery which had any life at all left in it to take a photo of Sishun. She was quite photogenic! People were practicing tai chi at the zoo in the morning stillness, and it was all very peaceful. There were many families there. As it was a school day, the only children there were pre-kindergarten. A few parents asked us to pose for pictures with their kids, which we gladly did. The kids were adorable, if sometimes terrified of us. We moved on from Sishun to the enclosures of the other giant pandas, and saw Sishun's father Ling Ling. It was a very hot day, and Ling Ling was more interested in trying to get inside to air conditioned comfort than playing on his jungle gym and slide. Another panda (Liang Liang) did a forward fold onto a cool stone and just sat there contentedly. So Craig joined in on the panda yoga and did a supported forward fold of his own. We had to get a picture for Jenny, our yoga instructor back home. We really enjoyed getting to see the pandas, and it really whet our appetite for our upcoming volunteer work at a panda health center in Chengdu. We could have watched them all day, but we tore ourselves away so that we could see the other zoo animals. There were enormous hippos, rhinos, pigs, and porcupines. Then we reached the primate area. There were so many different types of monkeys, each species in their own enclosure (though a handful of species shared space). The zookeeper went into the squirrel monkey enclosure to fetch their food bowls. When he left, they were trying to figure out how to open the door to follow him. They held on to the little window in the door and peered through. They were definitely very intelligent, and it seemed completely plausible that they were plotting a revolution. There was a mandrill who looked like a Beijing opera star, who stuck out his tongue at us. The colorful markings on his face and chest looked like he was wearing makeup. He was captivating. The glare from the glass (and my substitute camera) made photographing these monkeys very challenging, but I did manage to come away with a few decent photos. We went to one glassed-in monkey enclosure which had various tire swings and ropes hanging from the ceiling. It was dark inside and the enclosure appeared not to have an inhabitant. Then some kids went over and were obviously looking at something of interest. We went to the front of the enclosure and were surprised to find a large ape with a furrowed brow, sitting with his face very close to the glass. He was an orangutan, but we didn't realize it at first. We were only familiar with orange orangutans, but his fur was black. He had a very serene look on his face. Kids tapped on the window to get his attention, but we just stood quietly looking at him. When the kids went away, I was able to get face-to-face with him. He had a contented look and he stared right into my eyes. He seemed so empathic and intelligent. And human. After a few minutes, when my attention was drawn in another direction, he pounded the glass lightly with his fist and then put his palm up to the glass as if to get my attention. It was very humbling. I repeated his gesture, touching palms with him through the glass. We stared into one another's eyes once again. We shared a very special moment. It was amazing. Of course I couldn't also help but feel a bit like I was visiting a loved one in jail, helpless to do anything about his incarceration. Zoos are always very morally ambiguous to us. But nonetheless, I hope our little social encounter brightened his day. The zookeeper came back to feed the squirrel monkeys and they went crazy. There were many choices (apples, oranges, and nuts) but, as is the cliche, they preferred the bananas. A rat ran across the enclosure and tried to scavenge from them, but they chased him away. Time was slipping by quickly. We could have enjoyed observing the animals all day, but we had a packed itinerary. On our walk to the zoo exit, we saw Tibetan brown bears, birds, pigs, porcupines, lions, and tigers. The white tigers were absolutely gorgeous and majestic; to a cat owner there is always something about the big cats... After spending several very enjoyable hours at the zoo, we headed back to the docks and had a lovely lunch at the Paradise Club restaurant overlooking the Yangtze River. We had kung pao chickn, greens, incredibly tender beef with onions and peppers, egg drop soup, watermelon, fresh grape tomatoes, lemon Jell-o, and lemon sponge cake. Craig had a Harbin beer and I had a Coke. It was a lovely meal. Then we went to Huguang Guild Hall, a former family association complex in Chongqing. During a time of plague and famine in the Qing dynasty, only 100 families survived in all of Chongqing. Immigration from other provinces (Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and Guangxi) was encouraged to increase the population. This particular complex was built in 1759. It was used as a gathering place for villagers who had moved to Chongqing. They lived communally, helping one another through difficult periods. Many other ancient neighborhoods which bordered this complex are in the process of being torn down to make room for the modern. The contrast is stark. Next to the beautiful 18th century guild hall, crumbling brick walls belied "progress." In that same vein, we could see the brand new Dongshuimen Yangtze River Bridge, a beautiful partially cable-supported girder bridge which supports automobile traffic as well as a monorail. ( Chongqing is a peninsula. The city proper has 20 bridges, but there are 8000 in the municipality. ) Mia bought our tickets and we went up a flight of stairs to see a beautiful ancient style building. We met Bella, who would be our guide at the site. We went into a room called Emperor Yu's Palace. Emperor Da Yu was the "Hero of Water Control." The families built a shrine to him here, to pray for good weather so that the Yangtze would not flood. The large bronze statue of Da Yu was a reproduction of the original, which was damaged. As prayers/wishes, people tied colorful strings around the shrine, and also hung little red wooden plaques with tassels and Chinese knots. On one side of the plaque was a Chinese character which symbolized the wish: prosperity, longevity, etc. On the back, the person would write their name (and sometimes even their address, since many Chinese people share the same names and they want to ensure that their good luck is delivered to the proper person). Bella explained all of the architectural elements of the building complex, including the fact that dragonfish on the end of roof beams meant that the person living there had earned a Ph.D., and that so-called "constipated dragons" were placed facing outwards on roofs for prosperity (the dragon ingests money and "holds onto it" because he is "constipated"). Some buildings were decorated with gold leaf. If you used gold leaf without the Emperor's permission, you would be killed. There were two opera stages here, an outdoor one for the masses, and an indoor one for the elite. There was a hole in the roof of one of the buildings. This acted as a skylight and a means of harvesting rain. The rain collected in a stone basin. This basin also acted as a form of primitive air conditioning. We saw several tableaux depicting life at the Guild Hall, including celebrations, arranged marriages, and charity works. One tableau showed a nobleman's daughter hiding behind a screen, nervous about seeing her (significantly older) arranged husband for the first time. Bella joked that now that Chinese women no longer bind their feet, they have the option of running away if the husband is undesirable. On the wall behind this tableau was a large slab of marble. The natural color variation brought to mind Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kanagawa." Chongqing was a volatile place during the Cultural Revolution. Many local families buried their treasures so that they would not be destroyed. The reason that this guild hall remained intact was that many of the Red Guard actually took shelter here. Recently, some of the buried treasures have been unearthed. Some of them, such as ceramics, were on display. We had Bella all to ourselves; we had only seen maybe 5 or 6 other people here. Bella said that it was smart to come around lunchtime. In the early mornings they can have up to 3500 visitors (!!) It was definitely good scheduling on the part of our tour guides! After leading us through the various buildings, Bella brought us to the immigration museum and gallery / gift shop. No photos were allowed in the immigration museum, but there were a lot of interesting artifacts both from Chingqing and from the other parts of Sichuan where the immigrants came from. The highlights of these were some intricate wood carvings. The gift shop had some really interesting art works for sale. We admired some really cool pen and ink drawings on banyan leaves. The banyan is the city tree of Chongqing, due to its resilience. We purchased one of these drawings in a small frame. The employees at the Guild Hall and gift shop were quite friendly. After that, we ventured just outside of the city on hilly streets to the Flying Tigers Exhibition Hall. It is a very low-key, unassuming museum, but very interesting. A woman gave us an introductory lecture about the history of the Flying Tigers and the cooperation between the Americans and the Chinese which ultimately saved Chonqing from Japanese control in World War II. We don't usually have much interest in war and military history, but this was fascinating. It brought tears to our eyes as we saw photographs and read placards about Claire Lee Chennault and his band of American volunteer pilots who helped the Chinese, and the resulting admiration that the Chinese had for them (which is still evident in their attitude toward Americans to this day). For 3 1/2 years, the "Hump Airlift" was a route to get necessary military support from India to China, since the Burma Road supply chain had been cut off by the Japanese in 1942. There was a scale model of the Hump Route, which flew over the Himalayas. 750,000 tons of good were brought into China via the Hump Route, and 1579 pilots (both American and Chinese) were lost during the mission. There were scale models and paintings of the iconic P-40 planes with their sharp teeth which have become synonymous with the Fying Tigers. We saw an example of a "Life Saver." This was a Chinese flag which was sewn into the back of American volunteers' flight jackets. It contained a message in Chinese characters saying that the wearer of the jacket was a friend of China, and should be rescued and safeguarded if he gets injured or shot down. It was signed with Chiang Kai-shek's stamp. One of the more heart-tugging moments for us was seeing photos of a three and a half year old Chinese boy who was adopted by the Flying Tigers. He was ceremonially inducted into the Air Force and was known as Little Tiger Joe. He was pictured in uniform next to the airmen, and it made us emotional. There were several exhibits devoted to Lt. Gen. Chennault's life during and after the war. He married a Chinese woman named Anna Chang, who was 30 years his junior. Chennault passed away in 1958, but Madame Anna Chennault just celebrated her 90th birthday and lives in Washington, D.C. Commemorative Chinese postage stamps were issued in 2013 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Lt. Gen. Chennault's birth. It was obviously a low-budget museum, but it was very informative. There were photos on the wall of former Flying Tigers visiting this place 10 years ago, soon after it opened. We bought a nice book about the Flying Tigers and a commemorative postage stamp set honoring the Chennaults as a way of showing our support. As we left the museum, the employees locked up. We think they had been open only for us. Now we were even more glad that we bought something! Wang Jun called Mia while we were visiting the museum. We spoke to him and he asked if we had spoken to Mia about our need to purchase a camera battery charger. We hadn't, as we had been on the go all day and didn't want to interrupt the itinerary. Wang Jun spoke to Mia and explained our predicament. Mia said that the only other thing on our agenda was dinner, and she kindly offered to take us shopping to try to find a charger before dinner. We were so grateful! Wang Jun said to keep him posted. If we weren't able to get the charger in Chongqing, he could contact our Chengdu guide to see if we could get one when we go there tomorrow. We drove to the hotel, the Chongqing Hilton, and checked into room 2719. It was a very nice, modern, comfortable room. AFter dropping off our luggage, we met Mia in the lobby. She asked if we would mind taking the subway, as it was rush hour and she didn't want the driver to get stuck in traffic. We had never taken the subway in China before, so we were eager for the new experience. Like most other things in China that are not thousands of years old, the station was very new, modern, and clean. She bought our tickets at a kiosk (2 yuan each, ~ $0.30), and we waved them in front of a turnstile to get in. We took Line #1, which had opened within the past year. Mia told us that she and her friends rode on its inaugural run. We took the immaculately clean subway train for three stops. When we disembarked, we went through a turnstile that ate our tickets. We emerged in Jiefangbei Square, a shopping district filled with high rise buildings. We saw the People's Liberation Monument, a clock tower built in 1945 to commemorate the victory over the Japanese in WWII. Sixty years ago, it had been the tallest building in Chongqing. Now it is dwarfed by all of the skyscrapers and luxury stores surrounding it. Rolex, Cartier, Omega...this sure feels like a capitalist economy, despite the fact that it is communist! Mia explained that Chongqing is one of the Three Furnaces of the Yangtze River valley due to its extreme heat. She said that it is known for hot weather, hot pots (a local specialty dish) and hot girls. Mia wasn't sure exactly where to look for our battery charger. Neither she nor Wang Jun had heard of Olympus before; it is apparently not one of the more popular brands in China (perhaps due to the rocky history between China and Japan). She suggested starting at Suning, a large appliance and electronics chain store. As we ascended the escalator, I could see the Olympus logo on the wall. I held my breath and hoped that they might be able to help us. Mia talked to some employees, and we showed them our broken charger. They made a few calls, and said that they didn't have one in stock, but they could have one sent to the store. Since we were leaving the following morning at 8:30 a.m. on a train to Chengdu, this seemed impossible, and our hearts sank. But then they asked if we could come back in a couple of hours to pick it up, and we were thrilled! Mia said that we could do a little more sightseeing and then eat dinner in the area while we waited. Perfect! So with a spring in our step, we walked over to Hongya Dong, an eclectic shopping / dining / tourism / park complex built into the side of a cliff. The building is built in the architectural style of the Bayu minority ethnicity. It is an 11-story stilt building. We started off on the ground floor, where there was a nice water feature in the park. There were statues of military victories and sea serpents. There were two large drums and a dozen bronze bells of varying sizes. A small supension bridge hung in front of a two-level man-made waterfall. Lush green plants grew all around. It was a little oasis amidst the city. Looking at the building towering above us, we noticed its intricate wooden architectural details, as well as various gables and rooflines, all surrounded by a crenolated wall made out of cement blocks. It was a very interesting building. Red paper lanterns hung from its eaves. Although the logo of the American fast food chain Subway at the apex of the 11-story building broke the spell cast by the exotic architecture. We took an elevator to the 4th floor, the "Street of Savory Cuisine." We watched a man make potato noodles from scratch. He mixed the potato up into a slurry, then put it through a strainer to shape the noodles, which oozed out of the holes looking like lavender worms. He then fried them in oil and tossed them high into the air to dry them. They looked delicious. Another man pounded rice into rice cakes. There were lots of chilis everywhere, and the fragrances made our mouths water. The wood carvings in the architecture were amazing. We marveled at dragon heads and geometric designs. We took a very crowded elevator to another level of the complex, which housed many bars with stereotypical international themes. There were Irish pubs, a Tex Mex bar, a German beer garden, etc. It all looked rather incongruous. (Though we did take a quick look around for Birgit and Stephan, since they always seek out bar culture and this would certainly be an experience to experience a Chinese take on international pubs!) We then took the elevator to the 11th floor roof deck, which is actually at street level on the next parallel street. There is a nice view of the brand new Qianximen Jialing River Bridge, the twin of the Dongshuimen Yangtze River Bridge which we had seen earlier in the day. There were some interesting statues here, including a huge pirate ship complete with pirate statues. This would have made slightly more sense if it were 11 stories below at the river level. Here the boat was sitting on the edge of a cliff. There was another statue of an old-fashioned soldier manning a cannon, and a statue of a barber. It sure was an eclectic mix! Next we walked to the Wan Yue restaurant for dinner. While Craig was in the restroom, a large group entered the restaurant, and I was thrilled to discover that it was the Singaporean group from our Yangtze River cruise! In a city of 30 million, what are the chances that we would run into them? Especially since we wouldn't have been in this area at all had we not had to replace our battery charger. Otherwise we would have eaten closer to our hotel. We were happy to see them and to compare notes about how we had spent the day. As usual, we really enjoyed the food. We had very tender beef with onions and peppers, greens, and chicken soup. Wang Jun called again during dinner and we told him the good news about the charger. He was thrilled. As we were leaving the restaurant, we stopped at the Singaporeans' table to get a group photo and wish them a happy journey. They were so sweet! We left at around 6:45 p.m. to head back to the store. We were afraid to be hopeful. If we tried something like this at a store at home, we would probably go back only to find that the employee we talked to went on break and nobody else knew what we were talking about. But fear not, as the escalator arrived at the second floor, we could see our camera department employee. He nodded at us and went into the back, emerging with a brand new charger. It looked right, but he didn't want to take chances. He opened the package, inserted my battery, and told us to wait a few minutes while he plugged it in to make sure that it worked. We were so happy! We waited patiently and after a few minutes I tried the battery in the camera and it had indeed charged. Even though the employee thought it would only work in China, it actually has a US prong onfiguration and supports both voltages. In fact, it was much nicer than our previous one. It was the best 130 yuan ($21) we ever spent! Now we would be able to use our good camera for the remainder of the trip, including our day volunteering at the panda center! We were walking on air on our way back to the subway. We are so grateful for Mia's willingness to help us. She really went above and beyond to help us out! We took the subway back to the hotel, arriving shortly before 8 o'clock. We had managed to do all of our sightseeing, get the charger replaced, and we were still home at a reasonable time! We said goodnight to Mia and thanked her for all of her help. When we got to our room, we e-mailed Wang Jun to tell him that we had the charger in our possession, so his Chengdu colleague wouldn't need to worry about it. I charged a battery. Craig fell asleep as I was writing in the journal. He gets so tired from our activity-filled days, that I am often up later than he is, just to try to document the day. But I soon found that I was too tired tonight as well. I stopped writing at 10:30, knowing that I'd have time to catch up with my notes on the train tomorrow. I woke up in the middle of the night to change batteries in the charger. I managed to get three batteries fully charged! We were finally well-prepared for the next leg of our trip. On to Chengdu and volunteering with the pandas! |
 Goodbye, Victoria Jenna!  Lesser (red) panda at the Chongqing Zoo  Craig, Sishun, and Steph at the Chongqing Zoo  Sishun eating bamboo at the Chonqing Zoo  Panda yoga with Liang Liang at the Chongqing Zoo (supported forward fold)  Mandrill at the Chongqing Zoo  Steph's buddy the orangutan at the Chongqing Zoo  Our lovely guide Mia  Huguang Guild Hall  Tableaux at Huguang Guild Hall  Craig with a bust of Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault at the Flying Tigers Exhibition Hall  Painting of Chongqing during WWII, and painting of Flying Tiger planes, Flying Tigers Exhibition Hall  Mia and Craig on Line #1, Chongqing Subway  People's Liberation Monument, once the tallest building in Chongqing  Hongya Dong, Chongqing  Craig at Hongya Dong, Chongqing  Qianximen Jialing River Bridge viewed from Hongya Dong, Chongqing  Reunited with our Singaporean friends from the Yangtze River Cruise, Wan Yue Restaurant, Chongqing  Our hero! Suning employee who procured our battery charger! 
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