Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Effects of the Three Gorges Dam
The dwarfing chasms of rock, sculpted over aeons by the irresistible volume of wa-
ter, are the Yangzi River's most fabled length. Yet the construction of the controver-
sial and record-breaking Three Gorges Dam ( Sanxia Daba) cloaked the gorges in
as much uncertainty as their famous mists: have the gorges been humbled or can
they somehow shrug off the rising waters? The peaks are not as towering as they
once were, nor are the flooded chasms through which boats travel as narrow and
pinched. The effect is more evident to seasoned boat hands or repeat visitors. For
first-timers the gorges still put together a dramatic show.
The Route
Apocryphally the handiwork of the Great Yu, a legendary architect of the river,
the gorges - Qutang, Wu and Xiling - commence just east of Fengjie in
Chongqing province and level out west of Yichang in Hubei province, a dis-
tance of around 200km.
The route can be travelled in either direction, but most passengers journey
downstream from Chongqing.
Chongqing to Wanzhou -
Passing the drowned town of Fuling , the first port of call is at Fengdu , 170km
from Chongqing city. Long nicknamed the City of Ghosts ( Guicheng), the
town is just that: inundated in 2009, its residents were moved across the river.
This is the stepping-off point for crowds to clamber up Ming Shan ( admission
¥60; cable car ¥20) , with its theme-park crop of ghost-focused temples.
Drifting through the county of Zhongzhou, the boat takes around three hours
to arrive at Shibaozhai ( Stone Treasure Stockade; admission ¥80;
8am-4pm) on the northern bank of the river. A 12-storey, 56m-high wooden pa-
goda built on a huge, river-water-encircled rock bluff, the structure originally
dates back to the reign of Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi (1662-1722).
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