6. Trip to Lushan


Tea is grown on the steep slopes of remote peaks at Lushan

Day 6

Every morning at 7:00 AM there was coffee and tea for the early risers in the lounge. From 7:30 'til 8:00 AM, our river guide and Tai Ji instructor, held class. Then breakfast was served in the dining room.

By 9:00 AM everyone was in the lobby waiting to disembark for Lushan. We were docked at JiuJiang. LuShan was 36 km away and took about 90 minutes by bus. We were warned that the road to Lushan had about 400 sharp bends and they were so right. Our bus driver for this trip wasn't as wild as the one we had Monday, thank goodness.

The scenery going up the mountain was sensational. There were strange rock shapes, sheer peaks - the highest was 5,060 feet, steep cliffs, caves and a variety of beautiful trees. Mt. Lushan has always been a haven from the intense humid heat of the Yangtze valley summers.

Beautiful apartments below the exit road from LuShan 

Near the mountain, we saw many rice fields. Our guide told us there are two rice seasons - April-July and August-November. This area is also known for brick and porcelain manufacturing. 

We also passed a graveyard where the graves were decorated with paper flowers. A tomb here could cost as much as 7,000 RMB ($875 US). April 5th is the day to commemorate the dead. Relatives bring paper flowers of all colors, other colorful decorations and rice. Some of the paper is yellow which denotes play money. They also set off firecrackers to awake their relative to receive these gifts.

Chinese tradition plays a significant role in burial traditions

Water buffalo are common in the rice fields. The farmers build mud houses with straw roofs for the water buffalo. Each year the roofs have to be replaced because the buffalo eat them in the winter.

Several types of tea are grown on steep mountain slopes in this area. 

Our guide was as cute as a little China doll. She sang Chinese songs and told amusing stories. She had the sweetest voice, but like many Chinese, had a little difficulty with some English words. When she said "may-loo wheeler", we hadn't the foggiest idea what she meant. We learned later that she was saying MeiLu Villa. 

MeiLu Villa, summer home of General and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek in the '30s and '40s

Song Meiling bought MeiLu Villa in 1933. She and her husband, Chiang Kai-Shek used it as their summer home in the 1930's and 40's. On the second floor of a hotel on the MeiLu Villa grounds is an excellent restaurant. We had an elegant lunch there. 

An excellent restaurant is on the second floor of the MeiLu Villa Hotel

The scenery there was breathtaking. The lake in the park provided a serene setting, where one might become quite philosophical.

Serene lake in LuShan

We had heard that China has 25 million people in uniform. We expected to see evidence of this at every turn. That was not the case. Except for customs and local police, the only military we saw were a company of young men in fatigues, jogging down the road from LuShan. Even with the U.S. spy plane incident still unsettled, we never felt the least bit threatened at any time.

After dinner, we were invited to a fashion show in the Yangtze Club. Many members of our crew participated in modeling a variety of Chinese costumes from the Han (206 BC-220 BC), Tang (618-907 AD), Ming (1368-1644 AD), Qing (1644-1912 AD) Dynasties to the present day. Our Tai Ji master and river guide displayed more of his talents by narrating the show in his excellent English. Bill took up a post on the side of the dance floor to photograph as much as possible of the event. 

Colorful period costumes were modeled by attractive members of our ship's crew

It had been a long day and there was still laundry ahead. If all went well, we anticipated that our errant luggage would be rejoining us tomorrow. It was expected to be flown in from BeiJing.

A tea and towel refreshment awaited us on our return from LuShan

More to come.

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