BLOG POST!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi my name is Alex and I am traveling to the Yangtze River. I am going to head down to the library and tell you a lot about the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. The Yangtze is also one of the biggest rivers by discharge volume in the world. The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely in one country. In recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural runoff, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some parts of the river are now protected as nature reserves. The Yangtze River is a big part in the history, culture and economy of China. The Yangtze River is very important to all the people in  China.  The Yangtze River flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is itself habitat to several endemic and endangered species including the Chinese alligator, the finless porpoise, the Chinese paddlefish, and way more.  It flows for 6,300 kilometers from the glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. Shanghai is the largest Chinese city by population and the largest city proper by population in the world. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the People's Republic of China gross domestic product. I guess thats enough for today.   

the last day, finally home

1. It is the last day of my journey, and I have just left the beach.  I don’t know what time I will be at the three gorges dam, but I know I will be there soon.  I can guess there are a few more obstacles I will have to go through, but I’m ready for them.  I get to another small bend, but it is a little bit challenging to get around.  When I finally get around the bend, I see some dolphins (I think), but I stay clear incase they are not dolphins.  As I go farther, it seems like the dolphins (as I thought) were following me, and I started getting worried.  I went farther and farther, but it still looked like they were following me.  I tried making loud noises, but that didn’t work, so then I spooked them off by throwing rocks into the water.  When the dolphins finally leave, I go back to my journey.  It is noon by now and I know I’m almost to my destination.  There are trees everywhere along the mountain going around the river.  The mountains are getting smaller, but it is still foggy.  I can see some rice plants, so I suspect there is a village, but I don’t see one.  There might be a village farther into the mountain, but I don’t stop to look.  I can hear more birds, so I think that I must be getting closer to the three gorges.  In fact I can see the main village, and I can barely wait to land.  I am just arriving at the docking beach, when my family greets me, and I am finally at the three gorges dam.

the third day of travel

1. I have just encountered the rocks that I was not looking forward to getting to, and the ride is getting a little risky.  I am almost in the crossing way between Yichang and the three gorges.  I am almost around the rocks, and I see another village, and they might have some more food that I can buy.  I am just getting around the rocks when I see the village up ahead, and it looks as if they have some cloth, as well as food.  When I get there, they welcome me and I buy some food and I also buy some cloth for warmth.  When I leave, I eat a little, and I have a few more days worth of food.  I am just turning around a little bend when I see some fishermen, and it looks like they have caught many pounds of fish.  I go past them as they are still catching fish.  Some of the fish they have caught I recognise.  When I finally go past them I can see some fish swimming in the water.  It is getting a little dark so I find a little beach to land on and sleep.  In the morning, it is a little bit foggy, but there are a lot of bird chirping in the trees.  I know that I am now getting very close to my destination, at the three gorges.  I think that I might have passed the cave, but that is ok, and I think I might have also passed the tall rock.  There is another beach that I land on and I stay there for the day to rest.

The Last Place Ever

I arrived at my final and most exciting destination, Nanjing. As I got closer to Nanjing I could hear the shouts and songs of the large city, Nanjing. As I pulled up to one of the large docks of the Nanjing harbor I jumped off and immediately began to explore my last destination. There is tons of temples all lit up by candles and lanterns. I arrived just in Time for one of their festivals the Lantern Festival. Hundreds of the city’s residents were letting lanterns go lighting up the city even more. The by far has been my favorite place in my journey. The city has many snaking rivers through it so it’s easy to travel on water. It’s amazing how active this city is even in the night. This is so busy during this awesome celebration. As I walk down the small stone walkways. I see many small houses and tea stores. I love the peace of the city and how so many people are nice and welcoming. As I walk people wave and smile as I walk past their shop or house. This is my last night here and I’m a little sad to leave this beautiful place. I found a nice little place to sleep when one of the residents invited me to sleep with them since I didn’t have a place to sleep. As I get back on my boat toward Shanghai where my original home is I get a little sad and will miss this place.

The Village

I landed on one of their wood docks and stepped off the rocking boat. I knock on the wood door leading to the village. The wall looked very old and was covered in green vines. The village seemed isolated from the growing world around it. A lady came to the door and opened it she was very nice and invited me to come and see her house. She said I could stay a night and a day and show me their way of life in the village. The house was not very big it had two bedrooms and one kitchen and a dining room. All of the doors had a wood frame and were coated in white blurry skins. Since the family was using the bedrooms I slept on a rug with blankets over me. The next morning I had to use the bathroom which was outside in a little shack. It had a wood plank with a hole to sit on. After I went to the bathroom the nice lady took me straight to what work was like. It began with easy stuff in the morning such as milking the cow and picking up eggs from chickens. Later we were working in the vineyard to find tea to drink. After a long hard working day it was time for me to arrive at my final destination, Nanjing. So I set out on my little sail boat once again the on the river hurling toward Nanjing. Nanjing was not very far from where the village was so it wouldn’t take to long.

a second day a second adventure

Today I went to some of the rice fields and bought a big bowl of rice from the people for 3 yuan.  I have brought some more food, and by the time I get to the three gorges dam, it will probably be all gone.  The other food that I have is some seaweed, fish and some meat.  Some of the animals that I have seen are weird fish that I can’t put a name on, and some other deer looking (probably) animals.  There are also some birds that have been  flying and chirping.  Some places on the river have been bumpy or very shallow but most of the way so far has been easy.  I am still in Yichang and estimate that I will be at the three gorges dam in about two days at the rate I am going at.  I have heard that the river gets wider at the three gorges.  I am looking forward to seeing the three gorges and I am sure that I will be getting to more rough waters soon.  I heard from the people that there are some more villages up ahead where I can restock on food.  I am seeing some rocks up ahead, so I feel that that is where there are going to be some problems.  I am just getting up to the side of the river where there is another small beach, and I will try to find some edible plants for maybe the rest of my journey to the gorges.

Shanghai in the Rear View Mirror

I’ve just left shanghai and it has gotten a little colder but the sun is coming up which will heat up the area. I can see the few glimmering lights of shanghai officially disappear into the black trees. It was dark out so you could only see the silhouettes of objects. There was just enough wind to carry us gently down the river. The reason there was no one living along this beautiful river was that most of it was sheer cliff face. There were green vines across all the cliffs. Every hour I would see a small raft carrying items float past us. The river was muddy from all the rock and mud that slips off these cliffs. It’s amazing how tall these cliffs are. The river is narrow and winding through the massive cliffs. The only vegetation is at the top of the hills. It’s latter in the morning the light of the sun makes it easy to see all the amazing facts about this river. It’s about 11:00 A.M. according to the position of the sun and we have just came across our first village. It’s a small village with a few families. The houses have screened doors and have beautiful tiled roofs. It’s on a flat piece of land surrounded by huge cliffs. They have a small vineyard and a livestock pe behind the village. So I decide to go say hi and ask them what they do for a living in their village.