My mind flashed back to the SARS epidemic that began in late 2002. For years, I had hoped to visit China. The haunting beauty of the Three Gorges had called to me. Their sculpted limestone peaks with veils of mist had been depicted by Chinese artists and poets for centuries.

After many years of school and student debt, I had finally saved enough money and vacation time to travel. However, China's race into the modern world seemed to be working against me. A huge dam project had begun on the Yangtze River, and would soon inundate farms, tombs and shrines in the gorges and nearby valleys, and displace over a million people. Now, a corona virus epidemic closed the country.

However, China opened up eight months later. A friend and I were notified of space available on a river tour. In three weeks, we would be among the first tourists to visit after SARS.

Unfortunately, there were technical difficulties. When we arrived in Beijing and tried to see the sights, we were mobbed by street vendors who had missed months of sales to outsiders. Despite restricted and highly supervised travel, our two-day boat trip upriver from the Gorges became a bus ride. We did see the Three Gorges, but went off script again. Our river tour past the Three Gorges had a stop in Wuhan.

"Why Wuhan?" my brain whined. "Why are we staying here overnight?" The other tour group on our boat had just left for Shanghai, The Pearl of the Orient. We were stuck in a heavily industrialized river port. Soft coal was burned in the factories, creating the brown smog that colored the sky. Brown water flowed beneath us, carrying quite a lot of trash and the occasional dead animal. We left the boat, got onto a bus, and drove a short way along the docks. I wasn't ready for a factory tour.

When we stopped, a Chinese man came aboard. "Good morning, I will be your guide today. Wuhan is my hometown. We will visit my two favorite places. They are the "pearls" of the city.

We drove beyond the city sprawl to a large, empty parking lot surrounded by untrimmed bushes. Our guide announced that we had arrived at a museum which contained artifacts from the Warring States period, around 400 BCE — before the dynasties.

A pleasant surprise awaited us inside. The museum was spacious and displayed items from the tomb of Marquis Yi, including elaborate bronze food and wine storage and serving implements.

Human and horse mannequins wore armor, and the chariot wheel hubs were capped for city driving. His weapons and slicing chariot hubs were displayed nearby.

Even more amazing were the musical instruments. Four tiers of bronze bells were arrayed on a carved wooden scaffolding. The bottom bells were so big, they were played with strikers the size of short telephone poles. The top ones were played with chopstick-sized dowels. An instrument that looked like shards of metal hanging from lengths of twine, was actually an intricate set of stone chimes. There were also flutes and other mouth-blown pieces, and stringed instruments played with finger picks.

Even better, was our invitation to join a Chinese television crew in the performance hall. We were ushered inside, where we heard music and watched dancing recreated from sheet music and clothing found in the tomb.

After lunch, we visited Chairman Mao's summer house on the shore of East Lake, where freshwater pearls are grown. We opened oysters and found, gleaming inside, real Chinese pearls.

~ Marcia Ehinger