Three Gorges Dam and Chongqing

Dear friends and family:

It's been a while since we've had access to a computer, but we are now in Chongqing at the heart of the largest municipal region on earth--some 40 million people fill the valleys of this mountainous area in the dead center of China. There are internet cafes all around us, as well as dumpling restaurants, high-rise apartment buildings,"bang-bang" men carrying huge loads on their shoulders, and massive crowds of people. The super-rich rub shoulders with the dirt poor in this hard-to-describe city. The city has forced us to reasses the simplistic description of China as a "Communist" country. It has forced us to confront startling poverty and to ask some hard questions about how we travel. It has given us a chance to reflect on the global nature of pollution and commerce. And it has offered a strange contrast to the westernized avenues of Beijing.

Our Chongqing adventure began at the docks after leaving the cruiseship that sailed us westward along the Yangtze river. We saw the Three Gorges Dam as well as Fengdu, the "city of ghosts." For some Taoists, Fengdu is the mythical location of hell-- statues of angry demons lurked in tiny grottos and larger temples. It was a spookyplace.

The cruise was a nice time to relax and recharge our batteries. Our time in Chongqing has been a whirlwind. We spent a day with local students, chatting in small groups about everything from High School Musical to the recent riots in Xinjiang. We also shared hotpot with them, quite possibly the spiciest food you can find.

Tomorrow, we head for Shanghai and the Yellow Mountains. We will be in the perfect location to view an early morning total eclipse of the sun: if we get a clear day, this once in a 300-year occurrence should be quite memorable!

Our adventure continues!
-Mike and Julia