Compared to the great scenery of yesterday, today was more modest. Also, it was a travel day, where we caught a flight from the river city of Yichang to Shanghai.

We spent the morning checking out the Three Gorges Dam. We had a hilarious guide for this – Max. He kept referring to himself as “Max” as in, “Ladies and Gentlemen, don’t forget that Max told you to be back at the bus in 30 minutes.” Also, he was a great joke teller. His demeanor reminded me of my friend and climbing partner Michael. Here’s ole Max telling us about the dam:

And here’s a panorama of the dam:

There’s a mountain that overlooks the dam. It has an eerie resemblance to Chairman Mao lying down. “They say” that since Mao approved of the dam idea but died before it was even started, that his resemblance lies on the mountains above, sort of overseeing the whole operation. Here’s a shot (see the head on the left and the beer gut?):

We then went through the easter portion of the Xiling Gorge, which was enjoyable of course, then we came upon another dam (whose name escapes me) in the city of Yichang. This dam was wider than the Three Gorges Dam (just by a little), but not nearly as tall. We had only one lock to go through then were on our way. The town, or city, of Yichang is scenic. Beautiful Chinese architecture clung to the edges of the cliffs and there were some neat pathways cut into the cliffs.

We had a great farewell lunch of hamburgers. As we left, low paid Chinese workers came and hauled our luggage out on sticks balanced across their shoulders. Sturdy folk.

I also had to say goodbye to “Apple” and have my picture with her. She was our waitress essentially and had a great sense of humor and smile. I love the name “Apple”.

I’d long been wanting to see the skyline of Shanghai and it was exciting to finally land and see it. We went to our comfortable hotel, had an excellent (but long) Sichuan dinner, up on the 39th floor of the hotel. From here, we got a good panorama of the city at night. In the distance I could see Pudong; I had to go down to the Bund tonight to see it at night and take pictures, no telling when I’d be back.

My folks and I headed down and enjoyed a stunning walk along the river looking at the modern buildings of Pudong and the gorgeous colonial buildings of Shanghai. More street vendors and beggars to deal with, not to mention the smell of pee now and then. But the view was great. Both sides of the river were lit up like Christmas. It’s hard to say what city has the best skyline: Shanghai or Hong Kong. I guess, if I had too, I’d give the nod to Hong Kong still. The view across Victoria Harbor is bigger (though Hong Kong is much smaller than Shanghai), but what keeps Shanghai in close competition is the awesome colonial buildings on the old side of the city. Check out the pics: