Sky's day off: We go for a boat ride.

First of all let me say this. The above piece of paper is all I got concerning the boat ride, and, as you can see, it's all in Chinese. So, what I know is what I see and what Sky tells me. Who has proven to be very well informed, so that's something anyway.

The left fork is the Yangtze River, the right fork the Jia Ling (pronounced Geya Leeng). I have penciled in North, South, east, west as per Sky's direction. The black dot is where we started. We proceeded up the Jia Ling river first. Sky and Yue Li's apartment is located at the end of the first bridge on the Jia Ling, north or right side. We turned around not too far after that bridge, went back to the Yangtze and headed east. The current there was very strong and we didn't get too far before we turned back and headed to port. The return was swift.

The downtown and where Sky works is located in the fork of the two rivers.
As we were casting off, headed east. Note the stairs on shore. There's another set of these beyond the structures at the top of them. When we were descending, and descending, to get on the boat Guy kept up a muttered litany about the stairs. "There's a lot of stairs, there's a s---- load of stairs, there's a lot of ------ stairs," etc. Yue Li and Sky were ahead of us and weren't listening, I'm sure, as when we arrived at the bottom of them Yue Li looked back up and said cheerfully, "There's a little bit of stairs, I think."


The Cable Car. This is the south side of the Jia Ling, the buildings are part of the downtown.
This is the north side of the river. In the background is the new symphony hall to the right and the new natural history museum on the left. Both are nearly completed.
I'm not a boat person so I took most of these with Guy's instruction. You will have to figure out what is interesting about them.
Same here.
Above is the structure I referred to in an earlier blog as "The Cave." Apparently it is called "The Red Cave." Warning. If you haven't already figured it out, none of my facts are referenced, all is hastily and poorly edited, spellings and errors (as in, VistingStarStar) abound. Excuses? Um, I have to fight for computer time with Sky and sometimes Guy, lazy, just want to have fun and not work hard at it, I figure you can look up most stuff yourself if you want, it's a blog, not a news article, etc. I'm just happy that I get to share this stuff because, well, according to "Stuff White People Like," that's what white people do. Haha. Something else for you to google.
Looking north.
The middle structure below is notable only because on the roof is a nightclub called the Ci Ci park which Sky and Guy hung out at.
The two black high rises in the middle are the ones the kids live in. They're to the right. They live on the 25th floor, our little apartment is on the 17th.

Men at work.
More men at work.
Ok, note the ceramic barrels on the bottom level of this floating restaurant. That is Byjoe, the local brew. It is clear, like vodka, and Guy reports it tastes like turpentine with other stuff mixed in. Like all regional alcohol, I'm sure one has to develop a taste for it.
This lone fisherman was interesting because it brought up the fact that there are no private craft on the river, besides this inflatable. Apparently it is against the law to own your own boat, unless you are very rich and find a way around the law.
Sky points out the good feng shui on this group of buildings.
Here is a fisherman who is visible from our apartment building. Not that I had ever noticed him, but when we passed him Guy yelled and waved then turned to us and said, "There's my fishing buddy." I was amazed - it is his want to make friends wherever he goes, especially those men who share his interests, but when did he have time to make friends with this guy? No, he explained to me, he hadn't actually spoken to him, but he watches him every day during those early morning hours that I sleep and he paces the floor. It made me think. Do we begin the process of friendship before we even meet people? Of course, I suppose we do. I'd just never thought about it.
Coming back down the Jia Ling, getting ready to turn the corner and go up the Yangtze.

This is a front view of the opera house, which faces the junction of the two rivers.
Going up the Yangzee, this is the south side of the river.
South side of the river.
Coming back down the river, facing the north side of the river and the downtown. In the middle you can see the building with the steeple which is Sky's work building, the one that is built after the Sears building in New York.
This is a river cruise boat that takes a week to go up to the Three Gorges Dam. Guy and I will take this the next time we come out.

And we have arrived. P.S. Guy survived the stairs just fine. I was the one who got winded.