By Land, Air & Sea In One Day

If it’s Tuesday this must be… Xi’an? Wuhan? Jingzhou? Oh hell, I don’t know anymore! Once again we awaken to grey, misty skies and I wonder if the sun ever shines in China. Today we embark on another domestic Chinese flight headed to Wuhan, which is the capital of Hubei province located in central China. It is also the hometown of our guide, Christina.The uprising that finally overthrew the Chinese dynasty system originated in Wuhan.

I am not looking forward to today’s flight after my experiences in our last domestic Chinese airport so I decide to be more proactive. I remove my glasses and decide to adopt the facial expression seen in my passport photo. This seems to work as I am allowed to proceed through the security checks without assault. The flight is uneventful and we arrive in Wuhan to hop on the bus that will drive us through a tour of the city. Then we will head to Jingzhou to board our cruise ship.
As details are now starting to get fuzzy, I will ask for assistance from any of my Bus #2 buddies: did we have lunch at the Buddhist restaurant in Wuhan? I believe we had lunch there before we headed on to Jingzhou but I may be mistaken. At this point I was taking DayQuil tablets to keep my cold symptoms at bay so my recollections may be a bit off. If someone can verify or refute this, please leave a comment at the end of this post.

After lunch it’s back on the bus for our ride to Jingzhou. In case you think our bus rides are just boring treks I’ll reassure you that usually they are information sessions. Our guides take these opportunities to fill us in on the local history and background stories of the places we are visiting. We have beer and water available for purchase in coolers. On this journey we get a rare treat. We stop at a local service area for a bathroom break and get to visit a Chinese convenience store.

We are like kids in a Chinese candy store and we come out with some interesting finds. We pass them around the bus and that provides more entertainment. We are an easily amused lot. Eventually, we end up in the ancient city of Jingzhou. Our ship, the Sinorama Diamond, is anchored here. We get on board and actually have a little downtime. This will be our floating home for the next 6 days. Tomorrow morning we have an excursion to explore the ancient city wall and the Jingzhou museum. We then shove off and partake in the Captain’s Welcome party at night. The shipboard accommodations ain’t half bad.

We have our first really good night’s sleep. In the hotels the room temperature was sweltering as the government mandates when the heat goes on and you can’t individually regulate it. We could turn it down and open windows but with my head cold I was constantly clogged because of the forced air heat. We have a nice breeze blowing off the water. I am comfortable. ZZZZZZZ
Jingzhou is located on the Yangtze River and consequently it has been a strategic transportation and distribution center for over 6,000 years. It’s city wall is one of the best maintained and was rebuilt in 1696. It is our destination today and when we climb it we are rewarded with a beautiful view of both the water and residential areas.

As with the Great Wall, sticky rice was used to create a binding substance that served as the mortar for the stones of the wall. I find a vendor selling Chinese swords that elongate and contract when you shake them and decide that these would be appreciated gifts for my grandsons. I attempt to strike a deal for the bundle of 3 but this vendor won’t negotiate. (This was the only street vendor in China that did not attempt to barter with me. I left him and went to the base of the wall and found another vendor who was more than willing to seal the deal. I mastered 3 phrases in Chinese: 1. “Very,very good” 2. “I love you” & 3. “It costs too much” The first 2 are attributed to my guide, Christina and the last courtesy of my Aunt Nancy who studied Mandarin for 5 years and that is the only phrase she can say.)
Our next stop is the Jingzhou Museum. The grounds are beautiful.(Good Feng Shui!) The museum houses the earliest and most complete mummified remains of a human man found in China. He is called the red mummy because his color was derived from the minerals used in his embalming process. He is amazing and is more than 2,000 years old. He died in his 60s from a parasitic infection. I stare at him a long time.

There is also a series of large chime bells that were unearthed as well as a cool exhibit showcasing ancient Chinese embroidery with silk and jade plates and tableware. Don and I are the only Westerners pouring over the tableware exhibit and the Chinese guard tries to explain that we are looking at a depiction of a duck. He speaks no English and we appreciate his efforts as I am sure he is appreciative of our interest in his exhibits. When we have had individual encounters with the Chinese people (who were NOT trying to sell us something) this is pretty much how it went.

We get back to the ship and begin our preparations for the Captain’s Welcome Party. This is a dressy affair which ceremoniously presents our captain and crew, providing an opportunity for cocktails and dancing before dinner. It is unbearably hot during the event and I have to step out onto the deck on numerous occasions just to keep from passing out in my sequined finery. Note to self: wear less clothing at the next formal dinner.

Next: We visit the Three Gorges