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After starting our day with Tai Chi, and breakfast, we arrived in Fengdu — the Ghost City. On leaving the ship we first had to walk the gauntlet of hucksters to reach the bus. The next thing to meet our eye was the rubble where buildings were being torn down. The area would soon be under water. After entering the main gate we took a chair lift to the stage where we began our walk. The first level found us in front of the Gods of Health and Wealth.

At the next level were the wishing bridges. There are three of these in a row at the entrance to Fengdu. On your way in, you have to walk over the central one in an odd (or even) number of steps, according to your sex. On the way back out, you have to choose either the left or right hand bridges for either "wealth" or "health" in the rest of your life.

The next level brought us picture taking time — Is this Disneyland? Each group got their turn. Surprise, surprise — the next level was a sales booth. They don't celebrate Halloween in China but here was an outlet for all those masks they produce for us.

Not sure what the strength test was all about. You had to balance the stone (400 kg?) on the point. We couldn't budge it. Then mysteriously a strong man who has perfected the rolling technique appeared (tips please) to demonstrate how it's done.

Can you run up these stairs to the level of the Emperor of Heaven with one breath? (Another test) And around the next corner another sales outlet. (Hush... We were told by the guide the product on the mystery tables was Chinese Viagra.)

As you proceed through the park, you choose one of two gateways (Sex Gateways) to come back as either a man (left) or woman (right) in your next life — just make sure you come back through the same gateway! On the way to the King of the Underworld's abode (also called the Palace of Heaven - very confusing) where Yama is surrounded by some mean looking critters you pass between many statues representing the rewards and punishments that will be handed out. There is also another test you must pass if you want a good long life or something like that. (I must confess that instead of trying to remember all this I was more interested in the architectural goodies.) You must balance on a round stone in the square for three seconds. From a viewpoint we could see our ship and reclamation area through the fog.

As you have observed, we were not spared a look at the punishments. If that wasn't enough a few morbid pictures and scary guys entertained us before leaving on the chair-lift. Along the way we got a good view of the area to be flattened and being prepared for the flooding. It was weird to realize that all the landscape below this point will soon be under water. It had been another interesting experience but it was now time to "run the gauntlet" and return to the ship.

Nowhere else along our route were the displacement problems the new dam is having so evident. As we got ready to leave I recorded more of the life soon to change.

As we continued upstream our cruise director, Gracie gave a talk Ancient Waters: The Timeless Yangtze, an informative lecture about the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Dam Project. Later, we were treated to another demonstration of Chinese Embroidery and the ship's chef demonstrated the making of dumplings.

Although the crew put on a fashion show later in the evening the day ended for us with the Captain's Farewell dinner. He went to each table to offer a toast — possibly to thank us for having the courage to eat the chicken feet.

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