三斗坪篇(一)     (Day 4-Day 18)  

Day 4 (6-7-2000)

We went to visit the various sites here this morning. I had to use my limited Putonghua understanding power to try my best, pretending that I get what the engineers were talking about, too bad. Very tired, the sun is very 'heavy'. I didn't pre-read any texts about the Three Gorges, so I couldn't get much about what the engineers said...

In the opening ceremony of the summer semester, the guests were invited to give some addresses one by one. Boring~ After 1.5 hours, I went to meet my tutors. In the first period of this summer semester, i was assigned to get along with a general, with four stars on the should of his uniform. He spoke slowly, yet very firmly. We call his Head Lo. He has two assistant tutors, namely Mr. Lee and Mr. Chi. They are all very kind, we are all convinced that they are assemble to the structural mechanic's demonstrators. Our group members called them Teacher Lee and Chi and they laughed happily.

The scheduling of my group is relatively 'loosely packed'. When we have to attend four-hour lectures that morning, we don't have to work in the afternoon of that very day. The 'work' of my group are mostly some visits. I wish I can have opportunity to go to the sites frequently.

After dinner, I chatted with Dr Yuen. I think that he is very able, that he has got three degrees: Applied mechanics (MSc), Geology(BSc) and PHD. Civil engg. He is very willing to learn, and thinks in a way very logical. Tonight, we played poker with him and found that he is very skillful. He will teach us Math II in the second semester.

I slept early at 11:30pm to get enough rest.

Day 8 (10-7-2000)

We visit the Guozou dam. It is located at the upper stream of the Chianjian, can help to prevent flooding, generate hydro-electricity and give a comprehensive route to the marine traffic. At the water gate, the velocity of water becomes very
large. The water, being jetted out of the gate, are vaporized and this makes the surroundings full of fog. The tiny droplets of water, undergoing refraction, give rise to several rainbows across the water surface. The water, contaminated by the mud and sand eroded from the soil of the upper stream, becomes light brown in
colour. The whole picture looks like clouds exploding continuously. The stream is very energetic.

After lunch, we visited the Chinese 'trump' (中華鱘)(a kind of fish, endangered).
We went to the Three Visitors' cave (三遊洞)  this afternoon. Inside the cave, it was quite
smelly, so we didn't stay for long.

The students from the WuHan University leave the training centre today. I hope
that we can keep in touch through emails.

I have discovered that money is of the utmost importance here.
The items sold here are not that special, and as I visit the various places, I can find the same type of items everywhere.

Day 9 (11-7-2000)

The courses this morning is extremely boring. Although I can hear very clearly
the voice of the speaker, his Putonghua is very difficult to follow.

I have registered a new icq here. The number of users has doubled as compared
with the situation last year.
We went to the sports centre to practice our snooker again after that.
Worthwhile. The fee for playing snooker one hour is only $5.

We played UNO this night. Everyone who has scores over 1000 will have to be
punished by happy corner. No one can get rid of it. We didn't stop until all of us have scores over 1000.

I talk with UY until 1200am, tired.

Day 10 (12-7-2000)

Only slept for four hours last night. Talked with Mr. Chau the whole morning.

This afternoon, we went to the site of the artificial marine traffic route.
Excellent! I have seen many things that are talked about during the lectures.
We began from the first room of the route. Though I have heard of the crane since
last semester. It is the first time I look at the crane so closely. To link up each rooms of the route, several ladders have been constructed with wooden pieces. The height difference between every consecutive two rooms is about 20m. Stepping on the ladder, I felt a little bit afraid. On the paths in the site, there is much soft mud.  Wondering along the dark cave formed by artificial explosion, it seems to be quite dangerous.
Sleep early tonight to prepare for the courses tomorrow.

Day 11 (13-7-2000)

The voice of the lectures presenting this morning is rather low. Fortunately, I slept early last night. Putonghua is not my mother tongue that I still can't get
some of the words even though I listened to him carefully and intentionally.  

The owner of the sports centre, who wants to earn more money from us, refused to sell the month ticket of playing snooker to us. So mean.

After lunch, I try to go to WongLing Temple locating on the south coast of the
Yangtze. The temple is worshipping a cow who, in the myth, helped to construct
the Yangtze for TaiYu. Under the sun, the temperature is over 40 degree. We
searched and searched for the pier. Only after one hour that we at last managed to find it. Yet the time was in such a hurry that we decided to postpone the
trip.

I have won a set of army's fight. Hehe.

Day 12 (14-7-2000)

Mr. Lee, one of our teachers, seems to be very interested in Hong Kong's life.
He asks us many things about our lives in Hong Kong during the break.
He pays special attention to the small fan and multi-purpose knife which Jordy
brings along with him. Mr. Lee gave us a two-hour lesson, yet he spent one hour
to talk with us.

In the afternoon, Jordy and Frankie played inside the police office so excited
and Mr. Lee was scolded by his senior colleague. So sorry for that.

I played badminton with Uncle Yip tonight. The court was so...
sigh~ BAD!!!
The net is lower than normal, no air-conditioner, leaking water, dim lighting
system... We played for half an hour and the feeling is like enjoying the
stream bath. Terrible.

At 800pm, we were back to the training centre. All at a sudden, the electricity
supply was cut. The whole centre became dark and it was in a mess. All are
because of the thunderstorm...

Nok and Fanny are sick today. We have to take care of ourselves sin duc.

Day 13 (15-7-2000)

I have a holiday today and plan to go to YiChong(宜昌) this afternoon.

I wake up late this morning at 900am. After having my breakfast, I get online and find that I can't receive offline message and authorization with the 'Eddie in Sanxia' account, so I register a new one, namely 'Three Gorges ESze'. This morning, I have spent two hours to type the diary for two days. Maybe they are really too long.

We travel by bus to YiChong this afternoon. We first go to BaiMa cave (White
horse cave)(白馬洞).   At the entrance of BaiMa Cave is a route for small BOATS... The temperature outside the cave is as high as 34 degree. However, as we gradually move into the cave on the boat, it becomes more cool.

In the myth's world, the White horse cave is formed from the body of a white horse from the paradise. This is why many spots inside the cave are named after the horse. There are many 'bell-milk rocks' inside the cave, they are formed because of the precipitation of minerals in the underground water flows along the path for thousands of years. We can see much underground water flowing from outside to inside parts of the cave through the wall. On the walls of the cave, there are many illumining devices. The lightings are in so many colours, together with the 'bell-milk rocks'(鐘乳石) with various shapes. The scene is extremely fascinating.
Unfortunately, we find, later, that all the photos we took there are of
insufficient lights and with bad quality... >_<

Then we go to LungTsuen Cave (Dragon-fountain cave) (龍泉洞), it is also a cave full of 'bell-milk rocks'. The spots there are larger in scale ,yet there are only five 景點.  
At night, we go to the department store in YiChong and have dinner there. I eat a
lot, yet it only costs me less than 10 dollars. I hope that I can get the special
version of the three gorges stamps there. (The package of stamps is very
beautiful, it is made by electroplating gold on the stamps.) i.e. 鍍金郵票

I have to make some comments on the people in Mainland China here. First, some of them are used to make money from Hong Kong people in dishonest ways as they think that we are rich. Second, as we buy things in China, we have to bargain for a lower price as it always works; also, checking of the quality of the goods you buy is important. Some shops tend to give you flawed goods.

This night, the drivers want to cheat us by offering us a journey of extremely
high price. Luckily, we are smart enough to refuse it and travel by taxi, which is only a little bit more expensive.  

Day 14 (15-7-2000)

Today, we book a bus for the whole day since we have planned to play in DongYang(當陽).

We set off at 8 o'clock, and arrived at the KwanLing(關陵) two hours later. I have bought a bracelet here. The 'Green-Dragon-Flying-around-the-Moon Knife' (仿製的青龍偃月刀) is very heavy and we try to carry it.

Then we go to the 'Long-board slope'(長板坡).  We go to the 長板坡公園 and play the motorship there. The ship there moves very slowly.  Uncle Yip drives the ship with a very interesting look. Along the way, the scene is quite good.  The thing that impress us most is a cow bathing in the river... Nightmares come at the lunchtime!!  We search for a restaurant with highly hygenic environment.  Yet, we are not able to do so.  At last, we go to the 'DongYang "Gand" Hotel'<I just spell it out according to those written there.> .  How come! No air-conditioner, smelly, dirty, crowded and bad services!!   We scream, we shout and we argue about that.  That's why we don't stay there for long, but finish our lunch as soon as possible. In the training centre, all the things are much better than here~  We all agree that we have to value the facilities provided by the centre. After lunch we go to the 'YukChiu Shan', and this makes us very angry.  We have to pay a per person charge's entrance fee of $16.  All what we can see are just some sites under heavy constructions.  On the hill, all the spots are charging us extra fee before we have a look to them.  Even one dried corpse which is extremely disgusting, can only expose to us after we have paid $2 per person!  We all agree that this tourist spot is the cheapest and the most worthless among all in China or even all around the world. Fortunately, we find a very comfortable and 'high' restaurant during the dinning hour.  All of us pay only about $19, and the service and the food quality are excellent. Take, for example, Calvin accidentially dropped some food into the cup full of tea, a waiter IMMEDIATELY changes the cup for him.


Day 14 (16-7-2000)

Today I go to DouYang. We depart at 800am and arrive the Grave of KwanYu at
1000am. I have bought a 'handlet'. The weapon carried by KwanYu is very heavy,
every one of us tries to lift it.

After that, we go to the 'Long-piece slope' park and play the motor ship there.
The ship there moves very slowly. Uncle Yip drives the ship with a very
interesting look. Along the way, the scene is quite good. The thing that impress
us most is a cow bathing in the river...

Nightmares come at the lunchtime!! We search for a restaurant with highly hygenic environment. Yet, we are not able to do so. At last, we go to the 'DongYang "Gand" Hotel' . How come!
No air-conditioner, smelly, dirty, crowded and bad services!! We scream, we
shout and we argue about that. That's why we don't stay there for long, but
finish our lunch as soon as possible.

In the training centre, all the things are much better than here~ We all agree
that we have to value the facilities provided by the centre.

After lunch we go to the 'YukChiu Shan', and this makes us very angry. We have to pay a per person charge's entrance fee of $16. All what we can see are just some sites under heavy constructions. On the hill, all the spots are charging us extra fee before we have a look to them. Even one dried corpse which is extremely disgusting, can only expose to us after we have paid $2 per person! We all agree that this tourist spot is the cheapest and the most worthless among all in China or even all around the world.

Fortunately, we find a very comfortable and 'high' restaurant during the dinning
hour. All of us pay only about $19, and the service and the food quality are
excellent. Take, for example, Calvin accidentally dropped some food into the cup
full of tea, a waiter IMMEDIATELY changes the cup for him.


Day 15 (17-7-2000)

This morning, we go to the concrete mixing tower, the steel bar factory and the
cement factory. Today is the last day for this session of training. training is divided into three sessions>

The cooling water of the tower makes us feel very cool, great! We, once again,
are managed to see the rainbow today. Oh, it's not that difficult to see a
rainbow here. By contrast, it is not easy to see one in Hong Kong. This reminds
me of an old saying in Chinese,' Every event seems to be normal at that very
moment when it is taking place'. The people living here, never know how we
treasure the chance of seeing rainbows.

Panda, Uncle Yip and I play table-tennis this afternoon. Quite interesting.

I don't really like those two part 2 who always talk about things indecent.


Day 16 (18-7-2000)

How strange it is, I only slept for four hours last night, yet I can still
concentrate on the lesson today. Is it that I have learnt the super power of
'late sleep early wake up'? The policeman giving lessons today is quite kind.
Only that he didn't prepare for the lecture and his voice is rather low.

This afternoon, I play Chinese Chess with panda. Due to my luck, I won him at
last. All the HKU students in Sanxia play a mass game tonite. This mass game
is a game like the mix of orienteering and the Monopoly. Among the five groups,
I get the third, that's okay la.

Tomorrow is the date for changing the training session and will be a bit free.
I continue with my 'good' habit of going to sleep late.


Day 17 (19-7-2000)

I insist to wake up early. At 900am, I have bought some Poly students to the
place where I originally work at during my first session of training here. It is
difficult to hide up something, well.

We go to the WongLing Temple(黃陵廟) this afternoon with all the Part 1 except Panda, Kelvin and Sandy. It is the period when the water level in the Yangtze has the greatest potential to be high. We can't catch up any boat to carry us across the
river and finally we decide to go there by vehicle, travelling through the bridge near the dams.

Inside the temple, the model for TaiWu(大禹) is very large. There is also some so called ' Chu Kou Leung's writing'(諸葛亮的真跡). I doubt if it is really this very great enlightened man's writing.

I keep on requesting Uncle Yip to teach me how to become skilful in playing
badminton.

When I try to get online tonight. I find that the room is occupied by many
Mainland China people, opening our icq's , smoking and talking loudly. Terrible.
I left the cyber room as soon as possible.

Today, I go to the shoe shop to pick up my broken shoe . The owner of the shop promised to repair the shoes for me with a charge of only four dollars. Yet, when he has finished repairing, he insists that I have to pay him 10 dollars to get back the shoes. I am very angry with that. However, I go to take the shoes alone and dare not argue with that many people inside the shops.

As I leave the shop unhappily, the owner said,' You Hong Kong people are rich and should be able to pay me that amount la.' I am angered even further.

This is not the first time that I discover that Hong Kong people are always the
targets for cheating in China. I have to pay more attentions to this next time.


Day 18 (20-7-2000)

I have had enough sleeping last night, yet I still can't concentrate on the lesson given by the writer who talks about the cultures of the Three Gorges. He is very good in spoken Chinese. He begins at 830am and does not stop until 1200noon. I make use of the time effectively, and have read through the first 50 pages of
Uncle Yip's book 'the circle and the square' and also the very famous 'scream'. I have also finished the article for the bulletin of chess soc, that's great.

In this afternoon, we have a new schedule for our training. At three o'clock, we
entered the 'headquarters of the inert and lazy people', the testing centre.
As I expect!!! I go to work at 300 and am allowed to leave at 315!

Then I continue to practice my side spinning in the table-tennis with Panda. The
progress is too little.

After dinner, the universities have a friendship competition in basketball. I
don't go to watch the match. The results of the matches are: PolyU>HKU by 1
score, HKU>Transport U by 6 scores.

While I decide to go sleeping at 1130pm, Nok, Frankie and Dick rush into my room, and Dick is carrying a guitar. Consequently, we sing the 'owl hour K' with the help of the guitar. We stop at 1:00am.

Some of us wish to buy some musical instruments here. Most of us prefer to buy a
'mouth piano', which is relatively cheap here.  

序                                                武漢篇                                        三斗坪篇(一)   

三峽篇                                        三斗坪篇(二)                              三斗坪篇(三) 

神農架篇                                   最後的歌

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