In the summer of 1987 my husband two teenage sons and I were in Chongquing awaiting a late afternoon departure on an overnight Yuanze River cruise to Wuhan. We wanted to see parts of rural China before the the building of the Three Gorges Dam flooded villages and necessitated the relocation of millions of villagers.. Little did I know that there was no hurry as it would take over two more decades to complete the dam.

We were in Chongquing just for the day and we hired private transportation and a guide to take us to the grottoes in Dazu several hours away. The journey through the countryside was amazing. It was as if we'd been transported to a pre-industrial world. At the grottoes I was unprepared for the number of statues. They were not painted as I see pictures of them today. There were few visitors that afternoon and we were the only Westerners. My blonde hair caused quite a stir. If we had not had the benefit of an English speaking guide my brain would have "shut down" as its an overwhelming site.Having said that if I can remember one afternoon 27 years ago it must have been an impressive experience.