THE THREE GORGES
The Three Gorges (San Xia) scenic area on the Yangzi River includes some 200 km of rapids and dramatic, sharp bends set close between high limestone cliffs on either side, in the area between Baidicheng in Sichuan and Yichang in Hubei Province. The scheduled completion of the Three Gorges Dam project upstream from Yichang around 2008 will raise the water levels some 100 m, forever changing some of the most historically celebrated scenery in China. The area is reached via ferries or cruise ships running downstream from Chongqing to Yichang, or on to Wuhan or all the way to Shanghai.
In earlier times all the way down to the early 20th century navigating this stretch of the Yangzi River was dangerous and back-breaking work. Upstream vessels often needed the labor of hundreds of trackers on the riverbanks who hauled boats against the current using long ropes, sometimes taking weeks. By the 1950’s the most troublesome rocks and reefs had been removed, making the river navigable to ferry boats and cruise ships.
The first stop on the route downstream from Chongqing is the town of Fuling, overlooking the mouth of the Wu River that runs south into Guizhou. In the middle of the Yangzi River here is a huge rock known as Baihe Ridge, with three carvings known as “stone fish” on one side that may have served as watermarks for navigation since ancient times. The next major town is Fengdu, 193 km (120 miles) northeast of Chongqing, and known as the “city of devils.”
The first of the three Yangzi Gorges is known as the Qutang Gorge, which, at 8 kilometers long, is the smallest and shortest of the Three Gorges, but contains the fastest water. On the north bank are remains of Warring States Period peoples who buried their dead in coffins set in crevices in high caves along the riverside cliffs. Nine coffins discovered in such crevices include bronze swords and armor from the period. The cliff sides include square holes bored into the rock to hold support timbers for plank roads and scaffolds.
Wu Gorge (Wu Xia) is about 40 km long, with sheer, narrow cliffs on either side rising up to 900 m above the water and sometimes seeming to close over approaching boats. A nearby rock inscription is attributed to Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms period, and the Kong Ming tablet, a large inscribed rock slab at the foot of the Peak of the Immortals. A side trip leads to the Three Little Gorges (Xiao Sanxia) along the Daning River for 33 km, passing the Dragon Gate Gorge and remains of a Qing dynasty road cut into the cliffs.
Xiling Gorge is the longest and deepest of the three at 80 km, with cliffs that rise as high as 4,000 feet. It begins at the town of Zigui, known as the birthplace of the poet Qu Yuan of the late Warring States period (3rd century BC), whose suicide is commemorated by dragon-boat races throughout southern China. In former times this was the most dangerous gorge, negotiated only with arduous efforts by trackers on shore. At the end of the gorge is the site of the Three Gorges Dam at Sanduoping, known as the Gezhouba (Gezhou Dam), or sometimes as the Da Ba (Big Dam). When finished the dam will be 607 ft high and 2 km (1 1/2 mi) long. It is designed to furnish one-third of the entire country’s electrical power, to alleviate flooding problems, improve river navigation, and aid the economic development of rural areas along the river.
Yangtze En Route Pictures 
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