Places:

China

Note: I plan to expand this section considerably

Chinese travel policy is still strict, when compared to the Western world. I had to fill out special forms everywhere I stayed, in order to notify the local authorities where I was, what my passport number was, and things like that. Note that these forms are on really low-quality paper, almost onionskin. So use a ballpoint or you'll tear through the page (like I did).

Beijing

The air quality in Beijing was miserable, but it was definitely easier on the lungs than Los Angeles, where it hurt to breathe. The main problem with Beijing air is solid particles; dust. Dust fell from the sky, making everything greyish. The dust was probably a mix of sand from the Gobi, construction dust, and industrial exhaust.

In Beijing I stayed at the Palace Hotel (owned by the military at that time), and due to a shortage of rooms, I got upgraded to an "executive" room. Fabulous, and insanely expensive (I didn't have to pay it, but I estimate that my upgraded room cost on the order of $400 per night).

• The Forbidden City: this was pretty neat, and I liked it. I also liked the fact that most of the tourists were either Chinese or Taiwanese. In the streets outside the Forbidden City you'll probably run across street-side barbers, bicycle repairment, people doing Tai Chi (or some variant thereof) et cetera. Definitely visit in the morning.
• The Summer Palace: this is much less interesting than the Forbidden City, and the park outside is stunningly dull. However, the monastery above the Palace makes a nice photo, and the covered walkway on the Palace grounds is nice -- each roofbeam is painted with a different historical/legendary scene.
• The Great Wall: you'll pretty much have to forget about finding a section of unrepaired wall -- the authorities recognize the tourist potential, and are busy reconstructing as much wall as they can. Nevertheless, the Wall is still impressive, and you should probably go. I mean, it is the Great Wall, after all.
• The Ming Tombs: again, fairly touristy, but probably worth it. The approach to the tombs is guarded by nicely-done statues, and the treasures on display inside are interesting (no photographs inside). At the top of the tower building I had my picture taken by a Chinese family from the western area of China; apparently they thought I was freakishly tall (I'm 6'4") and had a grand old time taking turns standing next to me and pantomiming their amazement.

Changsha

I got stuck here by accident, since it was raining and my plane had to land (apparently the pilot didn't think he'd make it to my destination -- Wuhan). The only thing I saw of Changsha was the airport (just a big warehouse), and the hotel (I kept my luggage sealed for fear of becoming host to the gigantic roaches).

Wuhan

Wuhan is an industrial city, and the temperature tends to be unreasonably hot. By the time I got to Wuhan, I'd already missed the boat I was supposed to catch, so I spent half the day here before hopping a minibus headed cross-country (the plan was to catch the boat as it went through the Ghezouba (sp?) locks on the Yangtze. If you ever plan to buy an "oriental" rug, I recommend thinking about visiting Wuhan. The rugs here are silk, with outrageously high thread counts, and reasonably priced relative to the US. Mind you, the rugs are made by poor peasant girls who probably go blind, so consider that before you decide to buy (I should point out that the factory people were very up-front about that).

Yichang

I got to Yichang after riding cross-country, attempting to catch up to the boat I'd missed earlier. Yichang is, frankly, in the middle of nowhere. However, they had a brand-new hotel to stay in, and it was late, so I appreciated it. This brings me to a point about the modernization of China -- they seem to try quite hard to build new hotels in the "Western way", but they get all the details wrong. For example, in the Yichang hotel, all of the fancy woodwork was plywood, and the caulk in the bathrooms looked like it had been slathered on with a masonry trowel. The hotel restaurant was hidden away down a dark and dingy corridor, on a floor that the elevator didn't even normally stop at! Keep in mind that this hotel was top-quality; they had a piano in the lobby, and had a pretty decent pianist.

Sandouping

This is where we caught up with the boat; actually, we arrived at Sandouping several hours before the boat would get through the locks at the dam below us, so we toured the Three Gorges Dam project.

The dam project is immense -- practically the size of a small city. If the dam breaks after filling up, the locals say the wave will be over a hundred feet high when it hits Wuhan (which is downstream). If the dam breaks, I think millions will die. Fortunately, the authorities are aware of this, and seem to be over-engineering the project in order to make sure it can't break. After visiting the dam, we sat around on a dock for a while waiting for the boat. I bought cheap cold drinks from a vendor who was brave enough to approach, while a half-dozen local residents watched me from the road behind. I dunno; I didn't think watching me could be that exciting, but maybe anything is exciting after you've been in Sandouping long enough.

Wushan

Not to be confused with Wuhan, Wushan is a city on the Yangtze. Located at the mouth of the "Lesser Three Gorges", which is a tributary to the Yangtze. I believe the population was several hundred thousand at the time; the city is going to be flooded by the dam project.

Wushan is fairly interesting; lots of narrow streets and steep hills (the whole city is on the side of a steep hill, so the streets get a litle crazy). The "wharf" was basically a sandbar, with huge steel cables draped down from the hillside to hold the floating docks in place. Sort of surreal, actually.

The Lesser Three Gorges was a nice sidetrip that occupied most of a day, travelling up the river in a motorized sampan. The cliff walls are marked with the anchor holes for an ancient wooden walkway that headed up the tributary and eventually beyond the mountains that ring this section of the Yangtze. Unfortunately the walkway was washed out years (decades? centuries?) ago. At one point my sampan lost power, and started drifting backwards through the rapids. That was sort of amusing. Had to switch boats in midstream -- but the crew was quite adept at handling things. I got the impression that it happens often.

Interestingly, the shoreline had occasional lifeguard posts -- apparently the lifeguards get posted to a location for a couple weeks at a time, and just camp on the shore. Several of these outposts weren't accessible by land, so being a lifeguard seems like it would be a fairly boring profession.

Chengdu

A good-sized city on the Yangtze, and mostly doomed. Some of the city won't be flooded, but most of it will. I understand that the army will demolish the taller buildings after the city has been evacuated, in order to avoid creating navigational hazards.

The main attraction in Chengdu is the "City of Ghosts", which is basically a giant temple complex designed for tourists (both local & overseas). Big colorful statues of demons, stuff like that. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon though, and it's on a hill so you can get a nice view of the city and the river. If you go, I recommend taking the chairlift partway to the top -- walking the whole way would be aggravating. The chairlift looked quite decrepit, but it worked well and was built in West Germany, so it's safe.

Chongqing

Gigantic city, and flaming hot when I was there. This was the upper end of my Yangtze trip; my flight to Xi'an left from here, so I wasn't in town long. Briefly visited an artists' compound, which had some nice shade trees if nothing else.

Much was made of the fact that the Flying Tigers were once based here; I suspect this is just because people knew/guessed I was American. I could be wrong though. Certainly, given the pre-WWII behavior of the Japanese in China, anybody that helped fight them deserves their place in history.

Xi'an

First off, the Terracotta Warriors is touristy like you wouldn't believe. Second, they're worth it. Third, leave your camera behind -- if you look like you've taken an unauthorized photo, they'll confiscate your film.

The warriors are nifty, and worth seeing. Heck, they're probably one of the Wonders of the World, so you may as well go.

• If you can, get to the Three Gorges before the dam project destroys it.
• The Forbidden City is worth going to; the Ming Tombs is a bit touristy.
• The Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an is worth a short visit; when I was there a group of 50 three-year old Chinese kids were visiting. They thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Had a great time. Might have been boring without the kids though.
• If possible, do some cross-country driving. Don't fly everywhere. I ended up seeing Changsha, Sandouping & Yichang by accident, and I'm very pleased I did.
• Avoid flying in a Tupolev; I had part of an emergency door fall off & hit me in the head during takeoff! Go with an internal airline that uses Boeing & Airbus.
• Be prepared for flight delays in mainland China; the authorities tend to stop planes from taking off or landing in any sort of rain. Even a mild drizzle can leave you sitting in the airport for a few hours. On the other hand, given my experience with the Tupolev (above), you should probably be glad they don't fly in the rain.
• Buy from vendors; they need the money, and your cash won't be going directly to the government.
• There are some very good bakers in Hong Kong; they make cheap & tasty rolls, with things like chives & ham rolled in. This was surprising to me, since baking isn't very common in mainland China -- the closest I got to real bread there was a steamed bun. Take it from me, steamed dough isn't very pleasing. In Hong Kong, however, the rolls are one of the best & least expensive ways to eat.
• In Hong Kong, Victoria Peak is worth going to, although it's pretty darn touristy. But the view is nice, and you can just ignore the touristy stuff.

• Gorges: a section of the Three Gorges.
• Pagoda: Wild Flying Goose Pagoda in Xi'an.
• Devil: a Buddhist demon in Chengdu.
• Temple: the Temple of Heaven outside Beijing.
• Wushan: a street in Wushan, a hill town on the Yangtze.