walking on

This cruise, or even this trip, was picked by Xiaoyu, my husband. I never thought I would go to see the dam or even Changjiang. It is just so familiar to me and then it has never become one choice of mine. But this trip shows that it is not bad to have a try.

We got the chance to see Wuhan. This is completely different city from Chengdu where we come from. We were all impressed by the weather first off when we stepped out the train. It was hot, just like summer. But Chengdu was raining by that time. We were told when we came back from the cruise that it kept raining for the whole holiday.

There are some old buildings from colony time and the first Changjiang Bridge. I was so curious to see so many people playing majiang or poker just next to the security area of the Changjiang Bridge. Nobody cared about if there was any soldier standing so close to them.

We even found out a little beach by the river. A few people were playing there, with weaves and sand. Some couples were sitting on the bank in the sunset, just like us.

There is also one shopping street as the one in Chengdu. It is obviously very popular and modern, because most were young people. I only saw less than 10 persons around mid-ages that day when we were there.

I like to see those ferries to get people moving about in such a giant city. That is really cool.

It was just a short stay in Wuhan for one and half days. And then we went to Yichang to get aboard.

The cruise was nice and cozy. Everyone was kind and friendly. Of course, we met some interesting people too.

She is the only and first one I did not ask for cell phone number while I meeting some new friends from the trips. But I regret now.

She is the tour guide, young and mild. At least I did not see her bad temper. She took all the complaining from her group and still did her best to offer them better and cozy service. She complaint too, but only when we had meals together. She asked us for a picture and I am so glad we did. She is in my memory anyway. I guess she will try to learn English well, because she witnessed how different people treat their guides.

The other one is him. He is able to speak very fluent Germany and this let both of us, me and my husband, jealous of him. That is a so complicated language, but he does. I tried to learn Germany for one year, but gave up eventually because of too much grammar. I even wonder how Germany could organize their sentences before speaking out.

Most of people think Chinese is difficult, like my husband. However, except four tones we don’t have any complicated grammar at all. At this point, Chinese is even easier than English. English has tenses, but Chinese doesn’t have. You may just add one more word to change its time. Does it sound easier?

The other him is the guide from the cruise. He is the guide for everyone. He impressed us by his so-strong American accent. I was almost puffed off by his accent. But he is nice guy and works very hard. He is the guide in suit in daytime and is the host of the shows at nights. It is hard to believe what his trick is to keep so energetic.

The other thing about the cruise is I wanted to know how local people lived after the dam built up. And it is not so difficult. Just looking at the both sides of the boat, there are still some bricked small cottages set along the hill, but there are more new apartment buildings.

The guide told us in his American accent that for the old, who did not want to move out, they would still stay there, but they got help to move higher than now and the younger, they move to those new buildings and start their new lives.

It is still hard to believe that those old cities were just under our feet, in the water.

We stepped onto the bank of Chongqing 3 days later. I want to have this cruise again, but need to remember to bring more summer clothes.

从武汉宜昌到重庆，我们乘平湖号一路逆流而上。
平湖号的最后一个晚上，船长送别宴会上，我在餐桌上摆放的卡片里读到了我们餐桌服务员的名字，余会清。卡片是自己做的，她用汉语和英语写了满满的表示感谢的话。
每个餐桌都有固定的一位服务员服务。从第一天早餐开始，她的笑容就在我们的左右。
对她印象的加深源自第一场秀的舞蹈。即使灯光不停地闪，我们还是将她从一群舞者中认了出来，激动地喊道“那是我们的服务员”。
第二天早餐，我们迫不及待地向她求证。
“是我，跳的是藏族舞蹈，”她一边为我们加满果汁一边说，脸上的红晕遮不住舞动的光彩。
只在上船后的第一顿早餐和中餐，她分别询问了我们每个人需要什么样的饮料，之后便记住了大家各自的需要。一落座，她便迎上来，斟满每个杯子。
每次抬头看她时，她总是满脸的笑容。
广东团的导游，在送别晚宴上我也得到了她的名字。她一个字一个字地解释给我们听，吴丽珍。很广东味儿的名字。
“我们拍张照片吧？”她握着杯子看着我们忽然问道，“效果可能不怎么好，我拍照不好看，”边说她边举起了手机。
“靠近点儿”，她用汉语告诉小鱼，左手做着靠拢的手势。我们三个人的头像就印在了她的手机上。
“我有空的时候可以看看照片，想想你们，”她盯着手机的小小屏幕说。
她用广东味的普通话告诉我们说：“真想马上下船，送那批客人走，但又舍不得你们，”眼睛沁在了手里紫红的酒中。
我们和她见面的机会基本都只是吃饭时间。可每到吃饭时，她不是第一个吃完，就是珊珊来迟。看着身旁空碗筷，我四处寻找，她原来在餐厅门口站着，等待她的客人到齐。
何磊，Leo，随船导游，他的美语发音印象最深。除英语外，他还说一些德语和很好的广东话。也许还有其他语言，只是这次我们没有机会听到。
他是船上说话最多的人。
每天六点过，他便用汉语、英语还有德语分别告诉大家早餐已经准备好，请到餐厅就餐；上岸游览前，他用三种语言提醒大家到大厅集合；午餐和晚餐也是由他发布通知，并且亲自在餐厅门口迎接客人；晚上九点开始的表演他是主持，每句话都有三个不同的语言版本，他也表演，跳舞或者唱歌。
白天船上的游览由他负责召集和解说，先汉语，再英语，最后的德语还好有德语翻译，他可以忙里偷闲一阵。
惊讶的是，即使用了三种语言解说，也没有任何人错过任何风景。看看大家拍照的劲儿就清楚，手里的长枪大炮忽前忽后、又上又下，快门响个不停。
他完全没有温度的概念，因为不管热得超过30多度，他还是一套西装、一条领带，一样不少。
他很瘦，吃饭却从不积极，迟到半小时以上或几口搞定他最拿手。 “为什么不多吃点呢？”我还是忍不住地问。
“有什么胃口，一年三百天吃的都是这些，”他盯着面前的盘子里，双手玩着筷子。说完，他扭头看看四周，又站起身来，向其他桌子走去。
他双手撑在客人的椅背后，边说边咧嘴笑。即使我们，也可以听到他讲的笑话，还有他的行程安排解说。
美国团旁，坐的是德国团。他们的全陪是位只讲德语、不会英语的小伙子。我也是在最后一天才知道他的名字，叶闽。
我们从一开始就惊讶于叶闽的德语，流畅的让我嫉妒。
“他肯定在德国待过一段时间，”根据他的翻译反应时间，我们猜测道。
找到了释疑的机会。他端了盘子从他的德国朋友桌上撤下来，坐到了我们桌上。
“还是这桌好，有加菜，”他高兴地提醒我们享受着特殊待遇。
他解答了我们的好奇，“没有啊，我就在老家学的，”“和他们说的都是经常用到的，时间一长，也就不需要考虑语法呀什么的，”他边吃边说，“但遇到新话题时，还是要组织句子，说之前要想想，”他还是没放下筷子。等筷子放下时，他又端了盘子回到他的德国桌上。
“船上的每个人都可以说英语，”广东团年轻的全陪支着头在一旁喃喃道，她把德语翻译也算上了。
除了上岸游览外，平湖号在下午安排了各种讲座和介绍。
书画表演。一个女孩为书画大师做翻译，面前是德国人、美国人还有英国人。
刺绣讲座，还是这个女孩，为自己的技艺和作品翻译，一针一线讲给大家听。
瓶内画讲座，大师自己讲解，并当场演示。
每个讲座大家都很认真，仔细听，小心看，提问题。主讲人也很认真，为大家展示不可思议的技艺。
每次离船上岸游览时，前台的服务员都会站立在门口，微笑着递给每个人印有“平湖号”字样和图片的登船凭证。
“早上好，玩的愉快，”“Good morning，have a good time，”她们微笑着招呼经过身边的每位客人。
除了早餐外，何磊还有他的同事都会站在餐厅门外迎接大家用餐。他们或是说中午好，或者说good evening。
船上最后一个晚上表演，时间交给了客人们。何磊提前一天通知大家准备节目。
英国团出了游戏，说是为了迎接2008年的中国奥运会，我们也蹦了上台参加几十个人的一个游戏。
美国团为大家讲了一个情景小故事。中国人模样的老太太在前讲，后面的背景人群一会儿叹气，一会儿惊讶，一会儿唱歌。故事的结尾是男孩儿和女孩儿到了中国，一群人围成圈，跳了起来。
德国团表演集体舞。领舞者是一对老夫妇，一个75岁，一个73岁。主持人特别介绍他们用了一下午的时间排练。
音乐从他们身体摆动中流出来，船外的江水也安静下来听着。这晚我们已经到了重庆。