SAN JOSE - I've spent the last few days hanging out with my sister, her husband and my new nephew here in San Jose, California. It's pretty strange to suddenly arrive in a place that's so quiet and where people follow the rules of the road - for the most part at least.
The rest of my boat ride down the Yangtze was rather uneventful. At one point my cruise ship dropped the lot of us off so we could take a side trip up Shennong Stream, a truly beautiful Yangtze tributary. The Tujia indigenous community that lives up the stream has lost much of its arable land due to the rising water. I managed to get an impromptu interview with one of the local tour guides from the area. Surprisingly, despite my prodding she insisted that the loss of land did not hold a candle to the tourism opportunities provided to the local people as a result of the Three Gorges Dam. You see, despite the fact that the scenic Three Gorges have lost much of their majesty as a result of the rising waters, those in the tourism industry say that tourism has actually increased.
As it turns out, many are actually more interested in getting a look at the enormous and controversial Dam than they are in catching a look at the dramatic natural scenery. In fact, when I asked the English speaking passengers on our boat which they thought was more impressive - the Dam or the Three Gorges - it triggered a debate between the otherwise harmonious British couple on board. Marcia insisted that the Dam showcased what is possible when humans put their time and money toward something, while Andrew insisted that the natural beauty was far more impressive because it simply happened all by itself. Nothing got resolved.
For me, I found my visit to the Three Gorges Dam to be a bit of an odd experience. I'm not sure what I had expected, but I don't think it was fleets of tour buses and peddlers hawking Three Gorges Dam t-shirts, key chains and bumper stickers. Tour buses haul tourists up to two viewing platforms that are strategically situated to get group photos with the monstrous dam in the background. Many facts and figures about the Dam are easily attainable from tour guides, but they aren't the most reliable sources. When I asked one about how much power the dam will provide to China, she informed me that it would be 17 percent of the country's total power. That struck me as a lot so I asked another one. "Four percent," she exclaimed. When I asked about the discrepancy between her figure and the other tour guide she simply said "four percent."
The boat finally dumped us on the side of the river several kilometers away from Yichang, the nearest town. A group of taxis were sitting like vultures ready to pick away at the dead meat left over after the German and Chinese package tourists had been whisked away in their air conditioned buses. That left me, a hilarious retired Kiwi named Ron, an American guy and his Chinese wife from Shanghai. Luckily the Shanghainese woman was able to drive a hard bargain and we got out of there without losing our shirts.
I spent the next few days in Yichang doing very little, since there's very little to do. After flying to Shanghai I met up with Rita Xia, my final interview subject. Rita is a local university student who volunteers her spare time at the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots program to help support various China-based environmental initiatives. The interview went well, but I think it would have gone even better if I could have done it in Chinese. I was even prepared to hire a translator, but my contact insisted that her English was fine. Of course, it was indeed fine, but since it will be an interview intended for radio broadcast it will need a lot of editing before her ideas and comments can be clearly heard and understood by an audience. I guess you can never tell until you meet the person face to face - one of the problems of setting up an interview via e-mail.
I spent my last night in China eating in the pitch black at a restaurant called the Black Cafe in Shanghai's French Concession. The restaurant is modeled after the Parisian restaurant Dans Le Noir?, which allows its patrons to get a sense of what it is like to eat like a blind person. On the first floor of the restaurant, a small group of us sat around enjoying a few drinks in the modern lounge. After a while, the maitre d' presented us with a slick menu offering a choice of five set meals. I chose the chicken breast - the cheapest on the menu since this place was far and away more expensive than anywhere I had eaten in China (about CAD$30 for a meal) - but I have to admit that I was tempted to go for set meal #5: a total surprise.
After ordering, we were taken upstairs to the second floor and introduced to Thomas, our blind - completely blind - waiter. Thomas told me to put my hand on his shoulder and then everyone behind me did the same - like a chain. We then marched through some black curtains into a pitch black room. The familiar sound of diners chatting and clinking cutlery was bouncing around the room, but you couldn't see anything; I mean nothing! Our conga line marched around several corners before being told to find our way to our seats. I sat down and waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but there is no light at all. In fact, all patrons are requested to check their mobile phones and anything else capable of emitting light into lockers down on the first floor. After a few minutes of sitting in the dark, I started thinking about what would happen in an emergency. I mean, you could never have a restaurant in Canada with a dining room with no lights - not even a lit fire exit sign. I struck up a conversation with an Australian guy named Mark who was sitting across from me. Since I had only met him briefly that evening in the light, I wasn't even that sure of what he looked like - I'm not even sure now. People seemed to relax after a bit and the meal and conversation soon became quite like any other night out...except that during any awkward silences, someone always said something like "isn't this totally bizarre?" It certainly made for a memorable dining experience.
Tomorrow, I catch my flight from San Francisco to Ottawa - finally home after almost six weeks. I'm tired and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.
A.
The rest of my boat ride down the Yangtze was rather uneventful. At one point my cruise ship dropped the lot of us off so we could take a side trip up Shennong Stream, a truly beautiful Yangtze tributary. The Tujia indigenous community that lives up the stream has lost much of its arable land due to the rising water. I managed to get an impromptu interview with one of the local tour guides from the area. Surprisingly, despite my prodding she insisted that the loss of land did not hold a candle to the tourism opportunities provided to the local people as a result of the Three Gorges Dam. You see, despite the fact that the scenic Three Gorges have lost much of their majesty as a result of the rising waters, those in the tourism industry say that tourism has actually increased.
As it turns out, many are actually more interested in getting a look at the enormous and controversial Dam than they are in catching a look at the dramatic natural scenery. In fact, when I asked the English speaking passengers on our boat which they thought was more impressive - the Dam or the Three Gorges - it triggered a debate between the otherwise harmonious British couple on board. Marcia insisted that the Dam showcased what is possible when humans put their time and money toward something, while Andrew insisted that the natural beauty was far more impressive because it simply happened all by itself. Nothing got resolved.
For me, I found my visit to the Three Gorges Dam to be a bit of an odd experience. I'm not sure what I had expected, but I don't think it was fleets of tour buses and peddlers hawking Three Gorges Dam t-shirts, key chains and bumper stickers. Tour buses haul tourists up to two viewing platforms that are strategically situated to get group photos with the monstrous dam in the background. Many facts and figures about the Dam are easily attainable from tour guides, but they aren't the most reliable sources. When I asked one about how much power the dam will provide to China, she informed me that it would be 17 percent of the country's total power. That struck me as a lot so I asked another one. "Four percent," she exclaimed. When I asked about the discrepancy between her figure and the other tour guide she simply said "four percent."
The boat finally dumped us on the side of the river several kilometers away from Yichang, the nearest town. A group of taxis were sitting like vultures ready to pick away at the dead meat left over after the German and Chinese package tourists had been whisked away in their air conditioned buses. That left me, a hilarious retired Kiwi named Ron, an American guy and his Chinese wife from Shanghai. Luckily the Shanghainese woman was able to drive a hard bargain and we got out of there without losing our shirts.
I spent the next few days in Yichang doing very little, since there's very little to do. After flying to Shanghai I met up with Rita Xia, my final interview subject. Rita is a local university student who volunteers her spare time at the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots program to help support various China-based environmental initiatives. The interview went well, but I think it would have gone even better if I could have done it in Chinese. I was even prepared to hire a translator, but my contact insisted that her English was fine. Of course, it was indeed fine, but since it will be an interview intended for radio broadcast it will need a lot of editing before her ideas and comments can be clearly heard and understood by an audience. I guess you can never tell until you meet the person face to face - one of the problems of setting up an interview via e-mail.
I spent my last night in China eating in the pitch black at a restaurant called the Black Cafe in Shanghai's French Concession. The restaurant is modeled after the Parisian restaurant Dans Le Noir?, which allows its patrons to get a sense of what it is like to eat like a blind person. On the first floor of the restaurant, a small group of us sat around enjoying a few drinks in the modern lounge. After a while, the maitre d' presented us with a slick menu offering a choice of five set meals. I chose the chicken breast - the cheapest on the menu since this place was far and away more expensive than anywhere I had eaten in China (about CAD$30 for a meal) - but I have to admit that I was tempted to go for set meal #5: a total surprise.
After ordering, we were taken upstairs to the second floor and introduced to Thomas, our blind - completely blind - waiter. Thomas told me to put my hand on his shoulder and then everyone behind me did the same - like a chain. We then marched through some black curtains into a pitch black room. The familiar sound of diners chatting and clinking cutlery was bouncing around the room, but you couldn't see anything; I mean nothing! Our conga line marched around several corners before being told to find our way to our seats. I sat down and waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but there is no light at all. In fact, all patrons are requested to check their mobile phones and anything else capable of emitting light into lockers down on the first floor. After a few minutes of sitting in the dark, I started thinking about what would happen in an emergency. I mean, you could never have a restaurant in Canada with a dining room with no lights - not even a lit fire exit sign. I struck up a conversation with an Australian guy named Mark who was sitting across from me. Since I had only met him briefly that evening in the light, I wasn't even that sure of what he looked like - I'm not even sure now. People seemed to relax after a bit and the meal and conversation soon became quite like any other night out...except that during any awkward silences, someone always said something like "isn't this totally bizarre?" It certainly made for a memorable dining experience.
Tomorrow, I catch my flight from San Francisco to Ottawa - finally home after almost six weeks. I'm tired and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.
A.
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