I am Mrs. Cluck Jr. and I plan to travel the Yangtze river. I am decieding to only stop at four different towns along the way. I am starting my journey in Shanghai.  The Treaty Of Nanjing has just been signed allowing the British to come into the city. I am a Brit myself and I am very excited to be in this city so far from home but I really can afford to chip a nail because I don’t think they have mani pedi’s here. Anyways I will be spending my time here in Shanghai with a Chinese soldier and his family. Autumn is just beginning and a typhon may hit! I don’t know what a typhoon is but it sounds bad so I need to find this house. Do you think they have maps here? Found it! I walk closer to the house  and smell something very unusual. I don’t think it smells very good. Liver maybe?  I smile and knock on the door. The door that falls over when I knock. A fume of dust comes up from the floor. I scream that then turns into a cough. There goes my perfect pink nail! Inside A family of four is staring at me. Then a one armed man comes up to me and starts yelling at me in some unknown language! The wife then comes over and tells me in perfect english that it happens all the time. I smile in relief. I pass on dinner and get to bed early so that the man can show me what he does in the morning. I am sleeping on a log with termites in it but it’s better than that ship I was on. Don’t ask! I next morning am I woken up at 5! A girl needs her beauty rest! I reach in my bag for a hair brush…… Ahhhhhhh I scream my bag is gone! I stumble downstair my hair looking worse than the donkey outside! Without  a word I am lead outside by the man. Apparently he was in a rush so he marched behind the house and I followed. He raised a gun with his good arm and shot a bullet right through a barn door. I jumped back surprised. Then he marches back inside a shuts the door. I take it my time here is over. I slowly walk over to a man that look like he is selling noodles. I must look homeless because he just hands them to me and then I walk away. Songhu railway looms above me. I walk in it’s shadow. I get on the train and let it take me where it wants to go. I end up not to far from where I was before. I find myself on the banks of the Yangkingpang creek. There is one building for miles. As I get closer to it joy overcomes me. It’s a hotel! I am so happy! I ran to it squealing with joy! I wonder if the have a spa! A big sign said Astor House Hotel and above that we another sign but it was in chinese. I stepped inside and walked up to a desk. I very young man that looked no older than 16 eyed me suspiciously. Then he walked away without a backward glance. Then another man hurried over to me. He was much older than the last and his shirt said Peter Felix Richards on it. Through troubled english he told his name was peter and that this was the grand opening of his hotel. He was also proud to tell me that it is the first Western hotel in all of china. I told him my situation and he told me I could stay one night and have one meal here but then I had to go because he was not very happy when I handed him my british dollars. I was hungry but I was also very tired so I went to my room and instantly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. I was still sound asleep when I heard a knock on my door. Groggily I got out of bed and tried to wake up a little as I walked towards the door. I was told that I had to leave in two hours so I wandered over to the closet to find some clothes to put on. Then I remembered that I did not have my bag so I wrote myself a mental note to get some clothes. When I made my way to the lobby I was brought some tea and some soup filled with an unknown substance. The tea was delicious! It was so much better than in England! I learned that the soup was called Wonton soup and that it was really good. Eventually two hours passed and I had to go. I got back on the train and set my route to Meijiawu tea village. This village is known for making fabulous teas.  The railroad has to stop for the night at a small village near Meijiawu so I have to spend the night there to. I watch the beautiful scenery as we pass by.  Eventually I doze off to the gently swaying of the train. I wake up to the sound of the train coming to the stop. Looking out the window I see maybe ten buildings, twelve tops. I sigh, no spas here. Tonight I am staying with a large family of eight. Loun, the housewife's husband left the family a few years back so Loun has raise money for the family and take care of her seven children all by herself. I don’t think she needs any more mouths to feed but she insisted. Dinner had already been served when I got the their house so I sat do and looked at the great array of food, Mapo Tofu, Sweet and Sour Pork, Dumplings, and Spring Rolls. I tried lots of new foods at dinner most of which were delicious! Eventually night fell and we all went to bed. I woke up to the sound of a train approaching. Ohhh my I said jumping of from bed. In the process I chipped another nail. Grrr I said frustrated. I hurried out the door and ran towards the train. The train was delayed so I took a walk down to the banks of the river. I peered into the water and saw my reflection in the ripples. All of a sudden I was pushed. I fell forward, my hands reaching for something to grab on to. I fell into the deep river. My vision started getting darker and then all blackness. That was my last breath.