Our Three Gorges cruise started at Yichang, travelling from
Xiling Gorge just before the
Three Gorges Dam.
We entered
Xiling Gorge in the early hours of the morning, disembarking for a short bus journey to see
a model of the Dam in the exhibition centre before seeing the
real thing. The boat entered
the first of six locks to travel upstream, passing
the last several hours later, and we were on our way to the next two gorges. In between was a rock formation, said by the imaginative to resemble the
Great Helmsman taking his ease.
The next morning, we sailed into the
Shen Nong Stream. The stream was originally flanked by vertical gorges and known for fast, treacherous currents, but since the Dam was built, the waters have become more
tranquil, and the cliffs rise more
gently from the higher water level. The Tujia people in the area still travel in
small boats pulled by men on the bank in shallow waters, though a sizeable number of these sampans are now used to
generate tourist income.
The
Wu Gorge is flanked by
numerous interesting
peaks, such as the
Jade Folding Screen, a
donkey, and a
frog questioning the sky.
Passing under a
bridge(confusingly called the Rainbow Bridge), we travelled towards the
Qutang Gorge, which entrance, the
Kui Gate, graces the
back of the 10 RMB note. The original inscriptions on the
Chalk Wall(粉壁墙) of the Qutang Gorge have been submerged by the Dam's construction, but the inscriptions along one of the mountains of the Kui Gate were *thoughtfully*
redone for the sake of tourists posterity.
The best views of the Kui Gate are from atop the
White Emperor City (白帝城), a strategic location for 2000 years, subject of a
famous Li Bai poem, and popular destination for day-trippers on
such boats. Rising waters from the Dam cut off the
castle from the mainland, necessitating the construction of a causeway. There were several dioramas of scenes from the city's history, including some immortalized in the Three Kingdoms, but what I found most interesting were the calligraphic plaques of
three Chinese leaders in the modern era.
We entered Chongqing after three days of sailing - not quite the 千里江陵一日还 that the poet envisaged, but good time nonetheless.