| Log Cabin Chronicles Letter From the Oasis #12 |
 Jerry Buzzell  Jerry's previous columns are archived HERE
| Posted 07.06.02 |
Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Up the river and back again (Finale)
Shennong Stream, China
Jerry and Linda Buzzell recently returned from a three-week visit to China. The tour included a four-day cruise on the Yangtze from Chongqing, through the Three Gorges, past the Three Gorges Dam Project (due to flood the valley next year), then past the Gezhouba Dam to Wuhan.
Hanging coffins, said to be thousands of years old have been found in several places along the Yangtze and its tributaries. They are somewhat of a mystery.
There are monkeys along this river but, although I looked, I didn't see any. There are also said to be very large salamanders in the stream. I didn't see them either. We did see birds and butterflies. Butterflies were abundant and have been very plentiful along the Yangtze.
We finally came to the turnaround point at the end of Longchang Gorge where there is a broad stretch of pebble beach onto which the boats were pulled. And table after table of vendors.
Talk about the inevitable... We were given fifteen minutes to wander and buy. Most of us looked for colorful pebbles and stones on the beach or for monkeys in the surrounding hills and cliffs or salamanders in the river. A few people shopped. Then it was back to our peapod boat for the swift running of the rapids back downstream. The fending poles and hooks were stowed, the ropes were coiled and hung, and the fore rudder was shipped. Propulsion downstream was solely with the current. The fore and aft rudders were used for steering and, with some of the abrupt bends the stream took, the two steersmen had to work in harmony (while the other four boatmen sat and rested). We were quickly back at the mouth of the stream where the oars came out and we were rowed back to the beach. We disembarked, tipped Jasmin and the boatmen, and ran the gauntlet of people selling treasures. Back to the ferry and back to the ship.
Jerry & Linda |
Shennong Stream passes through a deep gorge, with verdant sides, trees, mosses, flowers, and some high cliffs. On one of those cliffs, about 30 metres from the water and the same from the top, is a cave in which, we were told, is a wooden coffin. With the eye of faith, I might have seen a coffin-like shape where we were told it is.
