Across the mist shrouded water specks of white light appeared clustered in the distance. Then a string of orange lights, like a necklace joined them, stretched across the river then disappeared in the darkness. We were approaching the Three Gorges Dam and these lights marked the huge spillway that had been constructed across the Yangtse River that flowed through China.

 

Red navigation lights to our right, perched on boat shaped bases, guided us towards the lock itself. We crept past a line of huge pillars like sentinels marking our way. Silently we glided forward, through the open gate of the fifth lock and towards a pair of massive lock gates that towered above us and remained stubbornly closed. We stopped and waited mid-stream for what seemed like an eternity. Ahead we could see other boats also awaiting the signal to enter this, the fourth lock. Imperceptibly we began to move again as the light above the lock entrance finally changed from red to green and the gates swung open. Bing, bong, the boat public address system leapt into life and announced our arrival in the lock. Cameras flashed as did the white navigation lights on the ramparts above us. Our ship’s navigation beam bounced off the high walls on each side of us and illuminated the boats already inside the lock. We moored up behind a large cargo ship and three other working boats were lined up beside us. Despite their size these boats were dwarfed by the lock that enclosed a two hundred-metre length of water.

 

The voice of our river guide echoed eerily around the confined space and I could barely make out the words as he recited facts and figures regarding the biggest hydro-electric project in the world. The yellow of reflected sulphur lights punctuated the dark depths around us. As we edged past a long flat boat with a cargo of coal heaped in the middle a small dog loudly registered its disapproval of our presence racing up and down the narrow space around the hold. The crew laughed at its antics and waved cheerily amused by the interest tourists showed in what to them was the daily grind of life. Guttural commands between members of the crew filled the air around us as the loops of thick cables were dropped over the bollards in the side of the wall. Once our boat was secured the gates closed easily and majestically behind us. The air reeked of coal dust and engines throbbed. The water level dropped rapidly and as the level went down the bollards to which the ships were secured came down with it creaking as they moved. Once the level had dropped 22 metres we were level with the water in the next lock and it was not long before we could move forward into the next lock taking up the same positions again.

 

These proceedings were repeated three more times as we went through locks three, two and one and three hours later we finally anchored beside another cruise ship for the short night ahead. Sleep had been impossible during these proceedings due to regular announcements from our boat or the shore. We had been cruising on the Yangtze River for three days and the continual announcements or wake up music that echoed through our cabins regularly had defeated any attempts to catch up on sleep.

 

Earlier that day we had enjoyed a cruise on the Daning River, a tributary of the Yangtse. It was a beautiful day and we had a charming guide called Julia. We started the tour at Wushan, a small town that had been rebuilt in anticipation of rising water levels after the dam was constructed. Julia told us that the old town of Wushan was already under water but not much remained of it as it had been demolished and the materials used to construct the new town, a cluster of high-rise flats. Julia herself had lived in the old town and had been forced to move into one of the new flats. She was very happy about this as the rooms were bigger and they had their own toilet. The government had assisted by providing subsidies to buy the new flats but these were only shells and the new owners had to pay for everything else including doors, windows, pipes and cables. 

 

We had started our cruise by passing under the bridge that was being constructed to span the Daning River at its junction with the Yangtse. We then entered the first of the Three Lesser Gorges, the Dragon Gate Gorge. On the side of this gorge we could see markers that indicated the level of the water during the winter when it rose to 175 metres for the hydro-electric power but in the summer it had been allowed to drop to 150 metres to accommodate the summer floods and help navigation. On one of the peaks we could see some new terraces for farming that had been built by the locals who had carried the fertile soil from the valley up there on their own backs or the backs of their animals.

 

Next we entered a very short gorge, so short it did not have a name but was always referred to as the No Name Gorge. Julia told us about the trackers that used to work along the shores of this river pulling boats through the rapids. Originally these trackers, sometimes three hundred to pull one boat, had worked in the nude to avoid getting their clothes wet but in 1982 when tourists began to visit the area the government decreed that they must at least wear underpants. Being pulled along a tributary in a small boat had been a great tourist attraction but sadly the rising water level and the diminution of rapids has caused the near demise of this activity.

 

Misty Gorge was next and we passed an island that had been completely submerged during the winter but was now covered with fields of sesame, wheat and sweet potatoes with goats grazing the grass in between. After passing a hanging coffin in a cave high above the water and some rhesus monkeys on the rocks close to the water we entered the third gorge. The Emerald Gorge was named for its green water and as a weak sun struggled through the clouds we could see why. We turned round in this gorge and cruised back to our boat enjoying the sunshine and the scenery.

 

Back on board the Yangtse Pearl we cruised through the second of the Three Gorges, the Wu Gorge, but now that the water level had risen so high it had lost its spectacular quality but was nevertheless very beautiful. No time to linger as tonight was the Captain’s Farewell dinner and the intercom in my cabin was already reminding me that I should be making my way to the restaurant.

 

This dinner would be the last dinner of a trip that had begun two weeks ago in Shanghai where Teresa had been our local guide. Shanghai was in the throes of preparing for Expo 2010 and it was not possible to stroll along the Bund or even get close to it but our disappointment was assuaged by a fantastic evening cruise down the Huangpo River passing the many illuminated tower blocks. One evening we went to an acrobatic show that was excellent, not just the acrobatics but the costumes scenery and choreography.

 

Next stop Beijing where we strolled around the Summer Palace, rode rickshaws through the hutongs (old single story dwellings by the river), walked along the Great Wall, traversed the huge Tiananmen Square, meandered through the Forbidden City and wandered around the Temple of Heaven. The sun shone and the sky was blue which was very unusual but Rachel, our guide there, told us that since the Olympics the weather had changed following measures to reduce pollution. Local factories had been closed and a new traffic system had been introduced to reduce the number of cars in the city, odd registration numbers one day and even numbers the next day. It was wonderful walking along the Great Wall of China under azure skies, shame about the huge banner announcing the Beijing Olympics one year earlier. Our evening entertainment included the fabulous Kung Fu show and a Peking Opera experience.

 

We left the good weather behind when we continued our tour to Xian but this did not spoil the impact of the terracotta warriors as they are under cover. At least the rain stopped long enough to allow us to visit the Muslim market and mingle with the crowds in the large city square although it was not easy finding our way back across the busy main road to our hotel via the subways. Our second night there we munched our way through a dumpling dinner, a delicacy for which the town was deservedly famous, and then watched a Tang Dynasty show, a series of dances and musical pieces against stunning sets.

 

From Xian we travelled to Chengdu, where we met our local guide Roxanne, and then to the Hongzhu Hotel for an overnight stay before visiting the panda centre at Bifengxia the following morning. Our journey there was lovely, we drove through a gorge, the steep sides of which were covered in different varieties of bamboo. Waterfalls cascaded down to the brown river below. We stopped in the small town of Shangli and spent some time exploring the narrow streets that stretched alongside the river. It was fascinating and it felt like the ‘real’ China. People were happy to have their photographs taken and chuckled when shown their images on the small screens. We continued to our hotel that was right in the countryside and it was lovely to hear birdsong through the open windows. Our early start was hindered by a delayed breakfast and when the restaurant finally opened we were faced with a huge buffet of Chinese food despite being the only guests in the hotel. There were some fried eggs and toast (only half the toaster was functioning), jam, sponge cake and water melon accompanied by green tea or ready mixed coffee. We were further delayed when some small tea caddies were found to be missing from some rooms and finally departed when I promised to trace them by the time we returned for lunch. In fact more were returned than had been reported missing!

 

When we arrived at the Bifengxia panda centre we transferred to electric trolleys that whizzed us to the first of three enclosures where the pandas could be seen. We flew past a panda up a tree but we were not allowed to stop to take pictures and when we went back that way it had gone. It was feeding time so the pandas were near their brick sheds munching on bamboo branches and carrots. After watching them for a while we were ushered back on to an electric trolley and taken the kindergarten where we saw new-born cubs in incubators and there was the opportunity (at a price of £100) to enter an enclosure with the one year old cubs for five minutes. It was wonderful being so close to this, one of the oldest and rarest mammals in the world.

 

When we returned to Chengdu there was time for some sightseeing but sadly the fountains in the main square were not working as they were being cleaned, all public places were being spruced up in anticipation of National Day on 1 October when China would be celebrating 60 years as a republic. Security was getting tighter and there were police everywhere. We learned about the rituals involved in tea drinking and we spent some time wandering through the Peoples’ Park watching people singing, playing instruments, ballroom dancing, practising tai chi and matchmaking for their offspring. The latter involved the display of posters and distribution of leaflets to likely candidates.

 

Now that we were in the province of Shichuan the food was much spicier, a minefield of chillies, peppercorns and lumps of ginger but it was worth it to experience the stronger flavours. One unusual dish did not have many fans, small yellow semicircles that had the texture of polystyrene that were then stuffed with a brown mixture containing who knows what but we preferred not to know have just passed tanks full of wildlife on our way into the restaurant. For some in the group it was a relief to board the boat where we enjoyed a mixture of Western and Chinese food. We had driven through the largest city in the world, Chongqing, that boasted a population of over thirty million and acres of cement works, to board our boat, the Yangtse Pearl.

 

We cruised down the Yangtse River going ashore to visit Fengdu where we visited the Temple of Heaven before climbing up the hill flanked on either side by grotesque statues to visit the Temple of Hell before descending in the chair lift that had conveyed us to the top of the hill to start our tour. And that was where our tour finished two days later on the banks of the Yangtse walking round the massive Three Gorges Dam project with our guide William – an interesting conclusion to a fabulous tour.