Who wins the Crown Jewels

Saturday, May 05, 2018
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Smoggy 28C Wuhan
We arrived in Wuhan after motoring hard all night. This meant we had a very noisy night as our cabin is at the rear of the ship above the engine. At around 4 a.m we woke to a round of fireworks being let off on the river bank. We have been told they celebrate with fireworks for births, marriages and death. So we suspect either someone was born or someone died as we expect there aren't too many marriages being performed at 4:00 a.m..
We arrived and docked  in Wuhan at 7 a.m and are now here for 24 hours. Following breakfast, the first shore excursion is to the Hubei Provincial Museum. In 430 BC Marquis Yi was bur­ied in an area that was discovered in 1977.  
His coffin was found in the burial chamber with the coffins of 8 young women and his dog in its own coffin. Another chamber contained the coffins of 13 concubines and/or musicians who were also sacrificed to entertain him in his after-life­­­. The contents of his tomb were on display along with some amazing pots and wine vessels.
There were also a 65 gold-inlaid bronze bells buried with him. These ranged in diameter from 8 inches to 5 feet. Together with a collection of chimes, they made up 5 and a half octaves of musical notes. This is quite amazing when you find out they are 2500 old. The museum has reconstructed the original instrument as the wood frame used to hold the bells had disintegrated with time. They were able to find how the instrument was played as instructions were written inside the largest bell that is not actually used for music (it was the instruction manual).
A replica of the bells has been created and we began our tour of the museum with a concert by bell ringers.
The Museum is on 4 floors and has some of China’s most treasured historical artifacts. On the top floor is a section on Mao and his reign, however it was completely in Chinese so we were only able to view the pictures.
There are displays of porcelain bowls and beautifully decorated and painted utensils but our time was limited there and we were quickly escorted back to our bus and to the boat for lunch.
Angie had pointed out the park that runs along the river bank, it stretches for 2.4 km and we decide to forgo lunch and walk through the park instead. The park leads down to the rivers’ edge and there are hundreds of families out flying kites this afternoon. There are stalls selling a wide variety of kites. There are exercise machines scattered throughout the park and lots of Chinese using them.  Also some dancers in the park. Piped music comes from small artificial rocks, mushrooms and panda bears that are strategically placed along the paths. It was a very pleasant afternoon walk but the clouds were dark and looming so we headed for the boat and returned to get packed and ready for the Captains Farewell Cocktail Party.
They were selling tickets for a raffle so when we checked out Dad purchased some with the proceeds going towards the School in Jingzhou  that Viking Cruises China sponsors.
We attended the farewell cocktail party and Dad won 1st Prize in the raffle! How exciting. Oh by the way 5th and 4th prize, drawn 1st were 2 calligraphy pens, very nice with Chinese characters engraved on them. 3rd and 2nd prize were 2 Panda Bear toys – ho hum?? Then 1st prize was jewellery - a pearl, jade and crystal necklace, with matching earrings and bracelet. A really beautiful prize.
Dad has been very popular on this tour, everyone knows him because they all envy his stamina, his fitness and his personality. He was the most popular winner and was given a standing ovation when he won.
We enjoyed dinner and sat with 4 British folks who were entertaining and our friend Alan who is travelling alone. After finishing packing and getting the bags outside our door by 10.30 p.m, we walked around the retail area of central Wuhan which Angie had recommended. Unfortunately, most of the shops had closed at 10:30, so it was a little quiet,  but good to get out and stretch our legs after dinner. 
Tomorrow morning is an early start for Shanghai: 5.45 a.m. on the bus....
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