Yue Yang is the second largest city in the Hunan Province. It was Chairman Mao-Zedong's (sometimes referred to in the States as Mao-Tse-Tung) home province and is located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River and the source end of Dong Ting Lake which is the largest fresh water lake in China.
The Yue Yang Tower is 66 feet high and is one of three renowned towers in this region. It became famous when a poet named Fan Zhongyan wrote a poem in 1045 A.D. which was entitled "On Yue Yang Tower". It describes the beauty of the structure and his concern about the country and it's people.
Unfortunately it's a little misty outside, so the humidity is WAY up there and the visibility could be better. I didn't really expect to see much of anything but was I ever wrong! Because of the big festival that's coming here tomorrow everything was spotlessly clean and everyone was getting ready for the celebration. 
They will be celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of the Hunan Province (I can't even imaging thinking back that far!) 
There will be world-wide television coverage with over 180 International TV stations filming.
There will also be over 1000 boats on the lake which will be decorated for the event and red flags and sails will be flying everywhere. 
As Viking Passengers, we were given special T-shirts, badges and hats for the big event along with VIP passes. We will be included at this Gala event as honored guests!
Viking always gives so much to the community that the local officials wanted to give back, so we were very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Nothing like this will happen again for another 100 years. When Viking received the invitation for us to attend, they changed our itinerary in order for us to be at this special event. I was to be a once in a lifetime experience for all of us!I took lots of shots of the preparation for this event. We toured the gardens and the tower which were both outstanding.
They had made small bronze pagodas that stood about 12-15 feet tall all over the gardens that have been made especially for this celebration. They are exact replicas of the original tower and were amazing. 
After we toured, we went to a Tea Garden and enjoyed "Dancing Tea". It didn't have much flavor but it was fun to watch. You had to wait until all the leaves settled in the bottom before you could drink it. They would bob up and down, hence the name, "Dancing Tea". We drank it from a glass rather than a cup and it was very hot.
They had made small bronze pagodas that stood about 12-15 feet tall all over the gardens that have been made especially for this celebration. They are exact replicas of the original tower and were amazing. After we toured, we went to a Tea Garden and enjoyed "Dancing Tea". It didn't have much flavor but it was fun to watch. You had to wait until all the leaves settled in the bottom before you could drink it. They would bob up and down, hence the name, "Dancing Tea". We drank it from a glass rather than a cup and it was very hot.After out visit to the Lake and Tower, we returned to the boat and had a Bloody Mary to take the taste of the "Dancing Tea" out of our mouths ;-) and then ate a bite of lunch.
While we were at the Gardens, I purchased a beautiful silk fan.
It is hand painted and has an image of the Yew Yang Tower on it. I don't usually buy many things when we travel at this point in our lives, but this fan didn't weigh much, so I succumbed. If you remember, we're very limited where the weight of our luggage is concerned.
It is hand painted and has an image of the Yew Yang Tower on it. I don't usually buy many things when we travel at this point in our lives, but this fan didn't weigh much, so I succumbed. If you remember, we're very limited where the weight of our luggage is concerned.Mid-afternoon we went to the Culture Show which was presented by the Yue Yang Singing and Dancing Ensemble. When I arrived they were just about to start the performance.
It was by far the BEST production that we have seen so far. 
The costuming was exquisite ( as were the girls) and it was a beautiful production.
They played ancient Chinese instruments for part of the performance and I couldn't believe the amount of music that came out of two small instruments. 
I was fortunate enough, thanks to our waiters in the bar, to have a seat on the front row, so I took a LOT of photographs.
Our little bar servers take very good care of us.
Of course Papa always wants to get into the act when there are pretty girls around, but then, can you blame him?
It was by far the BEST production that we have seen so far. The costuming was exquisite ( as were the girls) and it was a beautiful production. They played ancient Chinese instruments for part of the performance and I couldn't believe the amount of music that came out of two small instruments. I was fortunate enough, thanks to our waiters in the bar, to have a seat on the front row, so I took a LOT of photographs. Our little bar servers take very good care of us. Of course Papa always wants to get into the act when there are pretty girls around, but then, can you blame him?Tonight we will dock on Dong Ting Lake. Tomorrow is the big day ... the Festival! I promise you many surprises. We can hardly wait.
Pcasso
Viking River Cruises initiated a project to support one of the local primary schools in Guanyindang Town which is a suburb of the Jingzhou City. From the the time the school was started in 1974, almost 2200 students have graduated from this school. There is an enrollment of more than 800 students, 16 different classes and they have 50 teachers and staff.
We were told that a town of 1 million population was not considered large by Chinese standards. This rural farming community was a bustling place but was very poor. The people who haul things around on these pushcarts sit on them when they aren't busy waiting for work and sometimes they even sleep on them. You'll notice that even though it's a poor community, there's no litter to be found anywhere. 
The farmers mainly grow rice, cotton and sesame plants. You could see the rice spread out on the sides of the streets in the villages and along the roadsides. 
It was put there in order for it to dry. 
At times the workers would walk through the rice with their protective boots on and make rows so it would dry more quickly.
At night they would have to bag it all up in order to keep it safe, and then the next day they would put it back out provided it was a sunny day to dry some more. That's really hard work.
You had to be in very good shape to do this work, and most of the workers were women. Each bag had to weigh at least 40 pounds each and there were MANY bags.
The visit to the school was very special. They children were all lined up, ready to play some music for us and they were anxiously awaiting our arrival. 
Once we had said our hello-hello's (and NO ... we were not selling anything ;-) 
the children put on a darling performance of singing and dancing for us. They sang songs that we all know, but rather than the vocals being sung in English they were sung in Chinese.
The children who were waiting in the "wings" were both nervous as well as excited to perform for us. They had been practicing all week and wanted their turn in the limelight. 
Once this part of our visit had been completed and we had the opportunity to photograph them, I left the main group and went over to take some candid shots of the very little ones. They were in a special playground that was fenced in and they were so happy to have someone pay attention to them since they were not part of the planned activities. 
The Peace sign seems to be very popular with the young set. When they were at a loss for words, they would make this sign and it was an easy way for us to communicate.
I think that a special friendship between girlfriends is International as well. The young ones here in China are already bonding. It is interesting to watch the boys all rough-housing and horsing around doing "guy" things, while the little girls are much quieter and have already picked out a special friend to spend time with. There's something about girlfriends that the men will never understand. I think that's why there are so many "Chick Flicks" :-)
We then visited some of the classrooms and gave them the token gifts that we had brought for them from America.
The biggest hit was this plastic bubble stuff ... I don't remember what you call it, but I loved it when I was young. They apparently had never seen this before and they got SOOO excited. They were adorable, especially this little boy.
They described and explained all the different types of teas, how to prepare them and how they were to be served. 
There were little ceramic pieces on the tea table that were called Tea Babies. It seems that when you pour water of a certain temperature on it's head, then immerse it in hot water for about 3 minutes, something very strange would happen. Once you lifted him out of the water (it was a boy baby), and poured hot water on his head again, he would start to tinkle. I call him a Pee Baby and bought one for our daughter-in-law, Beth, who is an avid tea drinker.
Personally for me it is more of a guy thing, but this is truly an amazing fete of engineering. In the words of Sgt. Joe Friday, "If you are interested in the facts, Mam, just the facts", here we go. 
That's enough electricity to provide power for the United States, Canada, Japan and China combined.
We then decided to have a light lunch for a change, so we had soup and a Chinese sample plate with no dessert.
