Museum, Graffiti, and riding with the Chinese Sandra Bullock

Yesterday i work up ready to go to the People's Square and Three Gorges Museum. Because it was cold the day before, I wore my sweater and leather jacket. Of course, it turned out to be a sunny, warm day and I was hot and carrying my jacket. The hostel doesn't offer maps, but it does offer tiny pieces of paper that tell people how to get there. So I took one of the slips of paper and went to the metro, and got off at the stop for the people's park and the museum. I walked through a long tunnel linking the metro and the park, and people we're practicing group dance routines in the tunnel. First i went to the Great Hall of the People, which I paid 10 yuan for, roughly $1.50. A lot of people paid to go in, and it is -just an auditorium, which nice but looks like any other auditorium.

After looking around for a little bit, I walked on out, had a quick breakfast of some cake, some coffee-like beverage and warm soy milk, I walked across the square the Three Gorges Museum, which is pretty big. Interestingly the museum was free. I learned that the huge damn on the river was constructed by relocating 1,000,000 people, and according to the government, many of these people we're now wealthy, because the government trained them in new fields after relocating them. Some exhibits we're in Chinese only and some had subtitles. One exhibit showing how much of the country was overtaken by the Japanese, with Chongqing became the temporary capital, was just about all in Japanese. This I would have found interesting. Another exhibit of ancient vases and other precious works, which I have no interest in, had English translations.

At one point, I followed an tour guide with two American customers around the museum, which was somewhat helpful. I don't think the Americans (an older couple), noticed me-which is probably wrong, since I believe the three of us we're the only three Caucasians in the museum.

I saw a 3d presentation on the Gorges, which is near the city, and than left the museum to take the metro again to Graffiti street. This entailed taking the metro to a bus, and riding the bus almost to the end of the line. At that stop, the bus driver told me to get off (I think-I didn't understand what he said), and i was on a street with graffiti on cool apartment buildings wrapped in graffiti. Supposedly this is one of the largest graffiti streets in the world, but I'm not sure. I asked someone if I was on the right street-and they weren't sure either. (in China, I learned to always ask young people in I had questions or needed directions-as they we're more apt to speak English). I walked around, saw people playing card games. The graffiti was cool on the buildings, and multi-colored..

After walking around for an hour or so-I took the bus back to the metro. The bus was mobbed and I was standing near the front. The bus driver was a young looking woman with a sweet face-sort of reminding me of Sandra Bullock in the movie Speed. She wore gloves, and seemed like a sweet person-much like Sandra. A woman near the front had her toddler with her, who was acting up a little-i think the driver smiled at the woman. I could picture the driver waiting to meet her Chinese Keanu Reeves.

I rode the bus for the approximately 1/2 hour ride back, and at the end, near the metro station, all of the passengers got off the bus. More people wanted to get on the bus, but i heard a shrill screaming in Chinese-like nails on a chalkboard-it was Sandra Bullock-she wasn't as sweet as I imagined.

I then went to a place called "Fantasy Land"-basically a mall for kids, which like many malls in the US was empty. I took the metro further, and then walked along the riverfront. I had trouble getting back to the hostel once again, and found a metro station.