We had our folding stools (veteran groundlings that we are) with us, but never needed them. The car we were instructed to board had plenty of sitting room, although most of the passengers attempted to take as much room as possible. We sat all the way to Yishang, although there were anxious moments at the various stops when we thought the “conductor” might figure us out and ask for our tickets. (Twenty-years' “re-education” in one of the autonomous regions.) Clearly this was a car-load of real people, relatively impoverished, no tourists, Chinese or other. But they were generous and patient; very mixed age-wise, some women with small children. Americans on trains are rare enough, I assume, and Americans in the hard seat cars probably unheard of. We needn't have worried about being questioned.
The car itself was old, not very clean, but the hard seats were actually vinyl-upholstered and not uncomfortable. Scarcely a minute passed without some concessionaire or other passing by, hawking fruit, drinks, toys, snacks, hot meals, etc. The smoking was a bit much. Vicki's description of the sanitary facilities in the preceding post was a vile slander: you could not see the tracks below. (Although a little ventilation would have been welcome).
The countryside through which we passed was mountain/valley, 99% rural and agricultural, dotted with small towns, and about six stops. Farming here is very different from what we see in the states. It is impossible to tell one “spread” from another. Plots are typically an acre or less, never anything more than a few acres, much of it too hilly or rocky to farm. Most of what we saw in the valleys was either rice or citrus, mostly the green oranges we have been enjoying, some cotton, occasional lotus, and frequent ponds for fish (or crab?) farming. In 500 km or so, we saw two tractors. Everything else was hand-tilled, an occasional water buffalo pulling the plow. There were many, many people out working the plots. Clearly, the valleys we traveled were very old and very fertile, with a very high water table: the Yangzi and its tributaries. Perhaps tractors don't work so well in the mush.
We arrived in Yishang on time, aided in our disembarcation by the conductor and fellow passengers. We waded through the touts, found a metered taxi and drove to the cruise ship dock west of town. (Yishang is 3.9 million according to our 2006 guidebook). Although we were an hour or more early, the crew let us board and settle in our cabin, #321 aboard the Century Star, on the port side, forward, sort of. Neither abaft the beam nor before the mast.
After exploring and provisioning ashore, we enjoyed a pretty good meal on-board: a tomato egg-drop soup, fried rice, for Vicki, sweet and sour pork, for me, chicken and peanuts, both done Chongqing-style (spicy!), with more sliced green onions than we have ever seen before. This is our first “cruise” ever, and we are particularly impressed to have our own balcony. We get underway at 6 AM tomorrow morning for this, the splurge part of our China trip. Today didn't start out that way.
The Century Star, our home for three days on the Yangtse
Ships under construction, waiting for the water to rise...
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