10/12/07-Chongqing(Zoo, Stillwell and Flying Tiger Museums)/Xi'an
After breakfast, we disembarked our Yangtze Cruise ship in a light rain at Chongqing, the biggest city in China, (weighing in at 31.5 million souls) and headed directly to the Chongqing Zoo. Our local guide was a young man named Alex. He walked us immediately to the Panda enclosure where we saw 2 mature ones and a 1 year old. The older one's stayed at a distance and were difficult to shoot but the baby was a real clown. She pranced around for a while and then decided to climb a tree in search of some tender shoots. Because it was slick from the rain, she had a devil of a time navigating and slipped down a number of times, but she was persistent and met her goal. The zoo itself is very spacious and the animals we saw had adequate room to roam. But, we observed a Siberian Tiger who was very emaciated and a pretty scruffy Tibetan Bear. There were a great number of rats eating grain and nuts in the avian section. They were feasting on the bird seed. The rain made things drabber and more discouraging than they probably were, but the baby panda won the day. See the zoo at Chongqing Zoo on "Day 7 Chongqing/Xi'an Pictures" page .
After the zoo, we were transported to two adjoining museums in a remote section of the city. These museums commemorated the life and times of General Stillwell and the participation and Flying Tigers in the early years of the Japanese invasion of China. It seems that the city was a central location for many of the activities of both Stillwell and the Tigers. There were many signs on the walls lauding the efforts of both. See Stillwell and Flying Tigers Museums on "Day 7 Chongqing/Xi'an Pictures page".
Note: It is the general impression here as well as in all of China is that America backed the wrong general in the war. Mao Sedong was much more popular with the people than Chang Kai Shek. Chang had the money and an mechanized army but Mao had more troops, was more aggressive and better organized.
After another great meal (spicy and delicious) at a local restaurant, we were deposited at a large central square . At each end were large impressive edifices colloquially called the Yin and Yang. One (the moon) is very modern while the other is traditional (the sun). After we walked around the area for about an hour, our guides informed us that our next flight was to be 5 hours late. This meant two things: we were not going to get to our next destination until late that night and we now had 5 hour to kill. So we again convinced our guides to take us to a commercial shopping area where we could do some browsing and have a nice coffee. The department store was high-end and pricey but at least we were out of the weather. Then we found a very nice cafe where 8 of us had delicious beverages, and used the facilities.
Once back on the bus, we pleaded with our guides not to take us to a restaurant for a large meal but we guess they felt obligated to do so. So, another 12 course meal was eaten by the “thickening 13”. Again, the food was so delicious that everything was consumed. How we did this, we'll never know!
The airport at Chongqing is very modern (3 years old) and well organized.
Note: The Security at all the local airports in the country is much less a hassle than in the USA. We breezed through them right to our gates in 15 minutes after entering. There was no taking off shoes and belts and constant ID and boarding pass checking. My pat-downs were perfunctory and usually performed by a young woman. It's almost pleasant!
Unfortunately, Brona was not having a great day. Besides fighting off a cold/sore throat, she noticed at the airport that she had acquired a rather nasty-looking rash on both her lower legs. Happily, Lynda is a walking apothecary and came up with a salve that eventually remedied the problem. It was decided that the cause of the rash were new socks that Brona had put on in the AM. By this point in the tour, a lot of the group were either suffering from colds or the “trots”.
Note: The water in China is not drinkable for most non-Chinese so we relied on bottled water which was plentiful. Half the hotels we stayed in supplied 2 complimentary bottles each day. Some charged 1 dollar and one charged about 3 dollars per bottle. In those cases, we simply purchased water on the bus at 3 bottles per dollar. However, even with all the caution we exercised, some bad bacteria crept in via vegetables or fruit. Ergo, the “trots” were not uncommon. However, all were able to schedule their toilet trips conveniently. Only one person got really sick. Poor John got a double whammy: a very bad cold accompanied with the aforementioned “trots”. He actually missed a venue (The Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an) and ate almost nothing for a few days. We didn't envy him his malady but realized that he had the opportunity to actually survive the tour without gaining weight. And, he did!
As expected, we arrived in Xi'an (8.5 Million people) on the late side to a small, modern airport outside of town. The bus ride to the city took 55 minutes, following along a brightly lit and almost empty freeway. It was slightly surreal. By 11PM we were at the hotel, tired and somewhat dirty only to find out that at this hotel they shut off the hot water after 10 PM and restart it at 5:30 AM. So, we washed in cold water and piled into bed. Our room was large and comfy however, so all was forgiven.
This was a very long and tiring day.
