Music sounded through the PA system indicating that it was time for us to wake up. The music continued playing and the tour guide would knock from door to door to inform us about the time and venue to have our breakfast. Breakfast was a wide spread but it just don’t look appetizing to me. As I am not used to having breakfast in the morning, I ate only something light. We head back to our room to wait for further instruction after breakfast. We decided to make use of the time to continue to write our journal.

At around 10am, the PA system called for us to gather and get ready to board another smaller ferry to tour shen nong xi. Everyone gathered at the front door, pushing and fighting to be the first. An announcement to the passenger to take care of their belongings and to line up to alight was made. Once the door is opened, everyone made a beeline towards the smaller ferry. We board the ferry and climbed up to the second storey to get a seat. Once the ferry start moving, we hurried towards the back of the ferry to take more pictures. At this point, Sebastian realized that his camera was spoilt; it does not seem to be able to take pictures. We went through the different smaller gorges, looked at the different sceneries. Believe it or not, every one of them looked different. Took lots and lots of pictures; each from different angle. As it was low tide when we were there, we could clearly see that the bottom of the hills is white in colour. Even the rocks are white. The whole journey took quite long. When the ferry stopped, we could clearly see small boats waiting for us at the side. I did not know that we are taking the small boats to tour shen nong xi till there was an announcement telling us which small boat to take. Carefully, we alight from the ferry and make our way towards the small boat. The people rowing the boat helped us into the small boat. I could see the water from the gaps in between the planks of the boat. A life jacket was passed down for us to put it on and our boat seems to be heavier towards the right side. The tour guide explained that the people rowing the boat are actually separated as three parts. As we move on, the tour guide said that there are actually coffins being left high up in the rocks since long long ago. The wood they used is so durable that it did not decompose even after so many years. When we reached a small stream, the people rowing the boat will jump down the boat to the rocks nearby. The tour guide explained that the people are wearing shoes that are weaved from leaves. When the current of the water starts to be fast, the people that jump off the boat will pull the boat with a rope and cloth to prevent them from getting rope burn. They are actually called the qian fu. They used to be naked last time but because it is now a tourist attraction, they have to put on cloths but with shorts. On the way back to the ferry, the tour guide sang a few tu jia zu ‘s songs in promotion to their CDs. Tujia zu’s song are mostly love songs being sang by a guy and a girl. I bought their CDs as I find that their song is very nice. Upon alighting, a young girl approached me to buy potato from her. As we are rushing for time, I refused her and hurried back to the ferry. The ferry took the same path back to our cruise. We had lunch shortly after boarding our cruise.

After lunch, I decided to have a quick bath as there is no water in the morning for me to take a bath. While bathing, the PA system sounded. It made an announcement for us to make our way to the forth storey’s dock as we are approaching another gorge. I quickly put on my clothes but did not go out. I looked out from the window of my bunk; this gorge seems to be very neatly spread out with equal space in between them. I decided to carry on with my journal so that I would have enough time to revise my APPG the evening when I return to school. Shortly, there was another announcement for us to go to the dock again. We were approaching the last gorge. This gorge is less narrow and the side seems to be very near to our cruise. I took a few pictures and return back to my buck as it was freezing cold at the dock. At around 7pm, we heard an announcement for us to get ready to alight as we are going to have a tour to bai di chen. Once again, everyone rushed to stand at the door. We were asked to follow the red flag from the cruise into bai di chen. After getting our tickets, we walked into the area and board a bus to drive to bai di chen. We followed the red flag closely as instructed. When we walk through the temple, the tour guide lost more than half of her group. We tried to help her by asking the rest to follow up. The walk to bai di chen was not easy, we had to climb a fleet of stairs in order to reach it. Though it was hard work but I think it is all worth it. We stopped at the entrance of bai di chen, as it was pitch dark when we arrive we were not able to see the words at the side clearly. The first stop that approach us was the tuo gu ta. It was Liu Bei lying sickly on the bed with Zhu Ge Liang standing at the side and the other ministers forming two rows. Liu Bei’s two sons were kneeing down facing Zhu Ge Liang. It was a story of the sickly Liu Bei entrusting his kingdom, his family to Zhu Ge Liang. Liu Bei’s favourite son was not in the scene as being the next to take over the throne; he was not allowed to leave the palace. We moved on to the next station. There is a coffin in the middle; it was made from digging away the content of the tree’s bark. It was found high up in between the rocks. On the walls were all the guesses of how the Tu Jia people manage to place the coffin so high up.

We were introduced to a special kind of wood which was believed to be able to cure many illnesses due to its medical effect. It was made into a comb which was sold to tourist. Price of the comb depends on the parts of the tree that it is made up of. Combs made from the branches are sold at 10-15 yuan while those that were made from the trunk are sold at 50 yuan onwards. I bought one of the 50 yuan comb, it has a Chinese character carved on it. The Chinese character on it means love. We had to make our way down the hill by walking down the stairs again. As it was very late already, the stairs was so dark that we could hardly see the steps in front. We manage to reach the bottom of the hill safety. The sky above was filled with stars; they were all very bright. When we were walking back, Zhi Hui and gang bought fried fish and crabs to the cruise. Had a late dinner and continue with my journal of the day. I went to bed early as we have to wake up super early the next morning.

I enjoyed myself at shen nong xi the best. The feeling when I placed my hands inside was the best. The water was so clear and we were told that the water could be drink straight from the river. I learnt that we should learn to take care of our water so that the generation after us could get to enjoy clean water. After today’s event, I learn that there is no boundary to our knowledge. We should never stop learning each day as there is so much more for us to learn.