Day 4, Week 2 in Wuhan, China

Views from the Xiling Gorge

Along the Shennong River


A Cave along the Shennong River

View of the the further mountains

Group Photo

On the Sampan, I cannot believe that my eyes are closed....

Photos of Sceneries along the Yangtze River

Photos of Sceneries along the Yangtze River

Sunset in the far horizon

Tuo-Gu-Tong in the Baidi Temple.

Building of the Baidi Temple

Drawings from the past...

Group Photo

What We Did

We woke up in the morning at around at 6.30pm. I was pretty disgruntled as I slept only at 1am in the morning (as it was freezing cold) and had to be awake at 6am. I was woken up, just when I wanted to get some sleep. There was supposed to some form of music played that was to make sure that the occupants onboard woke up, but we didn’t hear anything from our cabin. Probably, the speakers were not functioning well or we were in deep sleep.

We ate our breakfast at around 8am on the vessel, before returning to our rooms to await the announcement of the arrival of the tourist vessel that would take us deeper into the Yangtze River and Shennong River as well. I ate as much as I could as our lunch was only to be served at 3pm. Our tourist vessel arrived at 10am and then we boarded the tourist vessel, with a bottle of water in one hand, and a camera in the other hand. We headed to the 2nd level of the boat to get a better view of the surrounding area.

As the tourist vessel moved along, we came across several magnificent and majestic earth landscapes comprising of earth, mountains as well as rock. Many of such landscapes can never be seen in Singapore or even in Malaysia. It was indeed a great visual treat to witness such landscapes at such close proximity. I was also amazed by the fact that many locals stay around the area, especially at the high peaks of the mountains and hills. It must be very cold up there and accessibility is also a big concern as well. I guess, they are accustomed to that way of life and prefer to enjoy life at a slower pace.

We approached the sites where boats (Sampans) were towed upstream towards the mountains by the Tujia tribe. In the past, the people whom rowed these boats were actually naked. That practice ended 20 years ago. These days, they are fully clothed. As we approached the foot of the mountain, the boat handlers simply jumped out of the boats and landed themselves onto the rocks. They even pulled the oat upstream against the current of water as well. Some of them seem to be as old as 60 years of age and above, yet they were still going strong. In Singapore, men of such caliber are certainly very rare.

The water was very clear. We were told by our guide that the water was pure and drinkable as well. I didn’t dare to drink the water, but the water was very cold indeed. On the return journey, our tour guide and the men onboard sang Tujia Tribal Songs. The lady tour guide sang the song very beautifully indeed. It felt very soothing to the ears and it also had a rhythm to it as well. These songs are usually composed based on love and the nature of the Yangtze River and Shennong River.

As we boarded the tourist vessel, on the way back to our main cruise, we chatted along the way, while others decided to take a short nap while going down the river path. We headed back to the vessel, to take a short rest, before heading down to have our lunch. I felt that the lunch was not sufficient to fill my stomach, and decided to munch on biscuits instead. While, we waited for our next stop, we decided to do our journals. We didn’t know where we were heading to. Even Mr. Chua and Mr. Ma didn’t know as well.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed the surrounding area, as we entered the Xiling Gorge which was famous for it s vagarious rocks. We managed to get to see a frog shaped mountain. We were also told that there was an eagle shaped mountain as well, but we couldn’t find it.

We finally arrived at our destination, at the jaws of Qutang Gorge, Baidi City ( also known as White King City). The city is known as the ‘city of poetry’. We took a bus towards the city which was located on the island. We managed to the see the Goddess of Mercy at the temple as well. It seemed very majestic indeed. We had to walk up the mountain to reach the city. It certainly took us a while to get to the top. We managed to look at the various sections of the city, such as the temple, the various scriptures written and many more. The most interesting section was the Tuo-Gu-Tong in the Baidi Temple.

It was the recurrence of the scene in which Liu Bei entrusted his son to Zhuge Liang 1700 years ago. We were also told of its history and how was it transportation back then as well. We decided to buy the combs used in the past, by ladies as souvenirs. As we were running late, we had to head back down to the ferry terminal.

Upon reaching the ferry terminal, we headed back to our rooms and continued our journals and packed for the next day as we were leaving the vessel the next day at 7.30am. We also had to pack up and have our breakfast at 7.00pm. After our dinner, we carried on with our journals, till they were done. Following that, I decided to go for a walk and see the stars on the night sky. It was certainly nice to lie down and gaze at the stars. I wanted to stay up all night, but the cold weather forced me to call it a day. However something amazing happened, before I left, I managed to see a shooting star as I left the viewing deck. It certainly took me by surprise. I gave a silent wish and retired for the night.

What We Think

Culture and Heritage in Wuhan, China, certainly gives a much bigger insight of the history of ancient China. Almost every, single important event in Wuhan has placed a major impact on Chinese History. One such example would be the Red Cliff Battle (also known as the Chibi War).