I had been there before.

I travelled Three Gorges in 1995.

Three Gorges of the Yangtze River

Qutang Gorge  
the 8-kilometre-long Qutang is the shortest but  grandest one.

Wuxia Gorge   
Wuxia Gorge  is 45-kilometre-long , is famed for its deep valley.

Xiling Gorge   
Xiling Gorge, about 66-kilometre-long, is the longest of the Three Gorges and is entirely within Hubei.

The Three Gorges is truly one of the most unique wonders on earth. It is a mosaic of inspiring visitors and landscape of unparalleled beauty. A masterpiece carved by winds and waters of time as well as the Orogenesis Movement, this the Great Three Gorges of the Yangtze, one of the nature's finest achievements. In his poem "The Three Gorges", Chen Yi, a general of new China, writes: "How grand and magnificent the Three Gorges are! Only on board a ship can you really appreciate the beauty!" He outlined the features of the Three Gorges with one word "magnificent" and gave encouragement and impetus to the people to tour the amazing gorges.

The Three Gorges pass through the boundary between Chongqing and Yichang with a total length of 193 km long. The Three Gorges include: the Qutang Gorge which features magnificence, the Wu Gorge which features serenity and beauty, and the Xiling Gorge which features numerous shoals and rapids

Qutang Gorge in Three Gorges

The first gorge is very much like a weir and thus came the name "Qutang Gorge". It extends 8 km, starting from Baidicheng in the west and ending at Daixi Town in the east. The old construction complex on the mountain on the northern hilltop is Baidicheng, Immediately below it is Kui Men, the entrance to the first of the three gorges of the Yangtze River-the Qutang Gorge (also known by early Western travelers as the Wind Box Gorge). The shortest but grandest of them all, the gorge's widest point is only 150 meters (500 feet). Mists frequently swirl around the mysterious limestone peaks, some nearly 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) high, and the river rushes swift as an arrow through the narrow entrance, pounding the perpendicular cliff faces on either side of the gorge. It is the upper mouth of the Qutang section and is difficult for access. This gorge was a particularly dangerous stretch during high-water seasons and has been known to rise to 50 meters (165 feet).

Mount Baiyan is partly made of a huge white rock, which is a few dozen meters high and more than a thousand meters long. On its cliff face there are a number of inscriptions carved in styles of cursive, regular,   official and seal scripts. The largest characters carved on this wall, known as Chalk Wall, are the inscriptions of verse originally penned by Sun Yuanliang and Li Haoduan. Sun's inscription goes like this: "Kuimen Pass is the most perilous passage in the world, but our boat lightly passed through." Li wrote in seal script: "Grand Kuimen Pass". Each character is three  meters long.

Close to the Chalk Wall, one can clamber a flight of a few dozen steps to see a huge stalactite rock structure some twenty meters long with a height of six meters. It resembles  a phoenix with its head lifted. A small stream flows down from where the neck would be called the Phoenix Drinking Fountain or  Intermittent Fountain, as there is such a fountain  near the Chalk Wall. Beside this fountain, there is a platform named Phoenix Platform. Standing on this platform, one can see the Baidi Temple, Fengxiang Gorge and an ancient plank road built along the edge of a cliff wall.

Many renowned people have been officials in the Kuizhou area. DuFu (712-770), a great Tang Dynasty poet, lived here nearly two years. During this period, he wrote many poems portraying the landscapes of Kuizhou, the local people and their life and customs. Now there is only a stone tablet remained in his former residence.

When your boat gets to the county seat of Wushan wedged between Qutang Gorge and Wuxia Gorge, you may get off there and take a side trip upstream on the Daning River, the chief tributary of the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area, and find the Lesser Three Gorges. The Daning River is 300 kilometers long. The 50-kilometres-long stretch from Longmen Gorge in the south to Tujiaba in the north is  even narrower than the narrowest part of the Three Gorges. The Longmen Gorge, the first of the Lesser Three Gorges, also has a little Kuimen. After passing through this gorge,  one can reach Bawu Gorge and Dicui Gorge.

Wu Gorge in Three Gorges

Below Wushan the river approaches the entrance to the 40-kilometre (25-mile) long Wu Gorge, the middle Yangtze gorge that straddles Chongqing municipality and Hubei Province. So sheer are the cliffs that it is said the sun rarely penetrates. The boat passes, on the south side, the Golden Helmet and Silver Armour Gorge (JinKuang Yinjia Xia) shaped, it is said, like an ancient warrior's silver coat of arms crowned by a round golden helmet. Ahead are the 12 peaks of Wu Gorge, famed for their dark and somber grace. Poets have made many attempts to evoke both their bleakness and beauty. The Goddess Peak is the most famous one with different versions of stories. More often than not these green-clad peaks are hidden by swirls of cloud and mist , and are difficult to distinguish, though each has its own characteristics and posture. Whitewashed villages cling to the mountain terraces that produce grain crops and fruits - oranges, apples, apricots, and chestnuts.
It takes twenty minutes to go from the county seat of Wushan to Lu You Cave by boat. Lu You (1125-1210), a well-known poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, once served as an official at Kuizhou. The stalactite cave is named after this poet who passed through the Three Gorges twice and wrote 37 pomes. Tourists can stand on a platform in front of the cave to enjoy the scene below.

Zigui

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month ), the people of Zigui gather along the riverside early in the morning to watch the boat races, one way to commemorate the poet Qu Yuan who, as the story  goes, threw himself into the river in order to protest against injustice. The mourning local people hoping to find his body beat drums to scare away fish and console the soul of the dead and dropped zongzi, glutinous rice dumplings, into the water in the wish that fish would feast on the zongzi rather than on  Qu. Over the years, this has gradually evolved into the Dragon Boat Festival with people eating zongzi on that day. What is fascinating about this particular race is that at the bow of each boat, there is a man singing for the purpose of calling back the soul of the deceased.

Zigui County in Hubei, situated in the Xiangxi Valley, was once the home of Qu Yuan, the great poet of the State of  Chu in the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C). To memorialize him, a museum has been built outside the east end of the county seat. This structure was built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The stone figure of the poet is displayed here

Baoping Village of Xingshan County at the upper reaches of Xiangxi River is the home of Wang Zhaojun of the Western Han Dynasty who was married to a Hun ruler in order to establish peace. If you set off from QuYuan's birthplace, Sanlu Village, by car, you will reach Baoping in two hours. Though well off the beaten track, Wang Zhaojun's home is frequented by admiring visitors. Nearby, there are many places commemorating her. A few years ago, a beautiful statue of Wang Zhaojun was also dedicated.

There are two villages inhabited by Tujia people standing by the Shennong River. Together called Longchuanhe, the villages, 7.5 kilometers apart, have a population of 300 people. Though rather scattered, the villagers gather to dance all night on the  occasion of a funeral whether they were closely acquainted or not.

Xiling Gorge in Yangtse River

Xiling Gorge starts at Xiangxi and zigzags for 76 kilometers (47 miles) down to the Nanjing Pass and then sharply checked by Gezhou Dam in Yichang. It is the longest and historically the most dangerous of the Yangtze gorges. Before the passage was made safe in the 1950s, 'the whole surface of the water was a swirling mass of whirlpools sucking the froth they created into their centers.' Xiling comprises seven small gorges and two of the fiercest rapids in the stretch of the Yangtze between Chongqing and Yichang.

When the three gorges dam is concluded in the middle of the Xiling Gorge and the reservoir is impounded in 2009, the Three Gorges will take on a new look. Chairman Mao once blueprinted it in his poem 'if Goddess still be there, she is sure to marvel at the great changes ever taken place'茫����

The Gezhouba Dam project was completed in 1989. The dam has several sluice-gates. Some sluice-gates are used for accumulating water for irrigation during draught seasons; some function for generating electricity. But what is most interesting is how boats are lowered or raised by making use of locks. When a boat from the lower level enters a sluice-gate, the gate is closed and the boat is "locked in" between two gates. Then the water level rises gradually until it reaches a higher level. When the other gate opens, the boat has already climbed up to a higher level. Likewise, boats from a higher level could also easily get to the lower level. This scene has now become an added attraction for visitors.

Nanjin Pass, considered the dividing point of the middle reaches and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, is located at the Xialao Stream on the northern bank of the entrance to the Xiling Gorge. It is the east gate of the Three Gorges, just like Kuimen is at the west end. Roaring water rushes out of this bottle-neck and flows into the 2,200-metre-wide part of the river. The landscape is now very different. A new statue of Zhang Fei beating a drum has been erected at Nanjin Pass. It is said that Zhang Fei was appointed governor of Yidu after Liu Bei's  and Sun Quan's armies had defeated Cao Cao's troops at the famous battle of Chibi. He was posted there in order to stop invaders from Sichuan to make sure that Liu Bei could smoothly take Yizhou. Here in Nanjin Pass, a drum tower was built, and during a battle, the drum was beaten to encourage to troops to go forward. It was also used for daily drills.

One of the important historical sights, Huangling Temple, formerly known as Yellow  Ox Temple, sits on a piece of flat land on the southern  bank of the Yellow Ox Gorge within the Xiling Gorge. Legend has it that Yu the Great, when harnessing the raging waters  in the Three Gorges, got help from a yellow ox, the incarnation of God of  the Earth. People offered sacrifices to the yellow ox in thanks and, to memorialize this event, built a temple called Yellow Ox Temple. The main structure in this temple is the Hall of  Yu the Great.

Going further down the Yangtze past the Yellow Ox Gorge, you come to the Bright Moon Gorge, also known as Lantern Shadow Gorge, still within the Xiling Gorge. There are many beautiful scenes along this gorge. The best-known is the Heavenly Pillar Peak, just opposite of Maya Mountain.

Legend has it that one day the Monkey King arrived here. Knowing that  he would soon become a god, he threw his golden cudgel into the river which grew into a peak, hence the name Heavenly Pillar Peak. The cliff of this mountain is so steep that it seems to have been cut by a knife. Only a few trees grow on the edge of the mountain top.

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Wu Gorge

Wu Gorge is the most beautiful section of the Yangtze River, flanked by high peaks that are often capped by fog or clouds. The steep slopes of the gorge are green with trees and bushes. The gorge was long known to be as dangerous as it is beautiful. It was a dangerous place for boat navigators, who faced dangers including whirlpools, quicksand, and currents that varied from hour to hour. As the river cuts its way through the Wushan mountains, its roaring currents change their directions constantly.

Wu Gorge is 45 kilometers (28 miles) long, extending from the mouth of the Daning River in the west to the north-bank town of Guangukou, in Badong County, in the east. The small trading town of Peishi marks the provincial border, where the river crosses from Sichuan Province into Hubei Province.

The gorge is divided into two main sections, the Golden Helmet and Silver Armour Gorge and the aptly-named Iron Coffin Gorge. Wushan, a town that is well known for its extraordinarily beautiful setting, looks both down the Wu Gorge and up the Daning River into the Three Little Gorges. The Three Little Gorges are flanked by continuous rows of strange peaks, many of them also rising into the clouds.

Looking down the Yangtze River, Wushan sees 12 high peaks, which are described by legend as being 12 fairy spirits. The best known is Shennu Feng (Goddess) Peak, which is topped by a large rock that resembles a sculpture of a girl looking down upon the boats in the river. The rock is about ten meters high and six meters in girth, and stands atop a 1,020 meter on the north side of the Yangtze. It is said that this rock resembling the figure of a beautiful maiden is actually the embodiment of Yao Ji, the youngest daughter of the Heavenly Mother. Yao Ji became a protector of the people, guiding sailing boats through the gorge and easing the Yangtze's infamous floods.

Later, Wushan became Yao Ji's favorite place. She built a small palace there, which she shared with her 11 fairy handmaidens. Eventually, these 12 maidens became the 12 peaks of the Wu Gorge. At dawn and dusk, Goddess Peak is often immersed in glowing clouds, giving it a heavenly appearance. For the other 11 enchanting peaks, visit Wu Gorge (Witches Gorge).

Of the 12 peaks, six are on the north side of the Yangtze and six are along the south side. Along the north side, there are Climbing Dragon Peak (Denglong Feng), Sage Spring Peak (Shenquan Feng), Facing Clouds Peak (Chaoyun Feng), Goddess Peak (Shennu Feng), Fir Tree Cone Peak (Songluan Feng), and Congregated Immortals Peak (Jixian Feng).

Three peaks flank the south side of the gorge: Assembled Cranes Peak (Juhe Feng), Misty Screen Peak (Cuiping Feng), and Flying Phoenix Peak (Feifeng Feng). Behind these, one can see Clean Altar Peak (Jingtan Feng), Rising Cloud Peak (Qiyun Feng), and Mounting Aloft Peak (Shangsheng Feng).

Golden Helmet and Silver Armour Gorge (Jinkui Yinjia Xia) is located ten kilometers (six miles) downstream from Wushan. It received its name from a helmet-shaped cliff that resembles in both shape and color the golden helmet worn by soldiers. Nearby and just above the river, another precipice features off-white layered slate that shines in the sun just like an ancient warrior's silver armour.

In addition to the mountains, one finds smaller features, each of which has legends told about it. These include the Hengshi Brook, the Rat's Cave, the Mountain-Penetrating Arrow, the Arrow-Penetrated Hole, and the Dragon Back Rock.

Just beyond Golden Helmet and Silver Armour Gorge, the gorge curves to the left. The river looks up at a mountain in front of it. This is Congregated Immortals Peak. There is an inscription that one can barely make out on the face of this peak. This is the Kongming Bei, which legend attributes to the great third-century politician and military Strategist Zhuge Liang. The town of Guandukou marks the end of Wu Gorge. Prior to the 1950s, this was the location of the Flint Rapid (Huoyan Shi), which was very violent at high water. There were limestone rocks jutting into the river like huge stone gates beckoning helpless craft. The Yangtze that you see in the gorge today is not the Yangtze of earlier Chinese history. During the 1950s, Flint Rapid and all of the other dangerous rocks in the shipping channel were blown up to make the river safer for shipping. 

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The Three-Gorge Project

With the project's going on, December, 2002 will witness the second cut-flow in the Yangtze River, and water will be stored there, in October, the Three- Gorges dam will generate electricity.

More and more people are worrying about the loss of the natural landscapes and human culture created by working-people of thousands of years if  the rise of the water line should do damage to them, and they are eager to know  if the navigation of ships would be changed. In response to these worries,  CITS Head Office organize this article wish could answer your some questions.

2003 will be the key year for the second stage of the Three-Gorge Project. The water is to be stored there in 2003, and the storage of water will not have any side effect on the tourism of the Three Gorges.

1. The change of the water line will be as follows:
The water line won't change until the first of June. The dam will store water from June the 1st to June the 15th, and on the average it will have riser 5 meters per day. However it will have risen 12-15meters during the flood period in the nomal years. Therefore, the height of the rise during the period of storage is much lower than the height during the flood, which has little influence on the ships for tourism. In the 15 days of storage, the water line will have risen from 60 meters (when it's dry)75 meters (when in flood) to 135 meters. It's based on the horizon of the sea on Wusongkou harbor, Shanghai. The water line of the dam will keep 135 meters high until 2006 after the 15th of June. As to the cliffs that are hundreds nearly thousands of meters high, they will still confront each other precipitously. The splendid landscapes will be steeper, grander, prettier, stranger, and serener. As the water line reaches 135 meters, the stops for ships in Fengdu (the Ghost City), Baidicheng(the white Emperor City), Zhongxian (Shibaozhai-pagoda), will remain safe and sound. The Lesser Three-Gorges in Wushan, the Shennong Lesser Gorges (Shennongxi Stream) will not be affected.

2. Analyses in detail are as follows:
After June 15,2003, the water line (flood level) of the Qutang Gorge will have riser 9  meters; In Wuxia Gorge 6 meters; In Xiling Gorge 46 meters. The peaks on both sides of the River are 1,000 to 1,500 meters high, the imposing look of Kuimen Gate can be seen vividly as before, and the 12 peaks of Wuxia Gorge will look elegant.

The famous mountain in Fengdu_Mingshan is 288 meters high. The water line in Fengdu will stay steadily. The city itself will be submerged; but the temple will be there forever.

The gate of the stockade village of Shibaozhai is 173.5 meters above the water line, and the water line won't change in 2003.

In 2003, the parking lot in Baidicheng-the white king city is 150 meters high above the water line, Baidimiao (the white king's temple) 248 meters, the water line is Baidi town will have riser 10 meters, it won't affect the tour. On the contrary, the rise of the water line will make the dock closer to the parking lot, it will be more convenient to tourists, and then, the whole Baidi Mountain will become a peninsula. Standing at the top of the mountain, overlooking the mist-covered lake and Kuimen gate (the third gorge), you will be surprised by the natural beauty. The water line in Daning River, lesser Sanmen Gorge, Longmen Gorge will have risen 18-20 meters, the Lesser Sanmen Gorge will affected slightly, creating a tiny gorge.

The water line in Shennog Lesser Gorges (Shennong Stream) will have riser 34-35 meters. The backwater will lengthier the reach of driftage, the classical item that boat trackers in a natural state hauling boats will come back.

3. The running of ships
On account of the constructive time, the navigable time is divided into 3 phases: the temporary ship gate's navigation; stopping yachts at the dam, tourists climbing over it; the perpetual ship gate's navigation.

November, 2002-April 9, 2003(160 days)
Because of the construction of the dyke for leading water, all ships go through the temporary ship gate, Time needed 1.5 hours.

April 10,2003-June 15,2003(75 days)
From April 4th, 2003 to May 31st, 2003 the temporary ship gate will be clocked, all water will run through the 22 bottom holes of the dam, but the water lines between it won't change.

From June 1st, 2003 to June 15th, 2003
the ship gate will be put down to store water. during this period, all the ships stop upriver at Maoping harbor and the dock of Taipingxi.

June 15, 2003-September, 2006
Use of the perpetual ship gate will begin. All shipping will go through it. Time needed: 2.3 hours. As a new landscape, you will have more time to experience its majesty. At that time, all the run-through navigable lines will be more convenient and safe.

In general, the Three Gorges in 2003 will hold its magnificence and splendor to welcome you. Even some unique attractions are expected to be discovered by you, such as: the mysterious Wushan mountain, the still lake in the arduous gorge, the miraculous rain in Bashan mountain on nights, rosy clouds over Baidicheng city. All these mutual and man-made scenes await tourist's form home and abroad.

Scenic spots Flooding water line Water line after June 15, 2003 

Chongqing
170-178meter
0meter

Fengdu
140-146meter
0meter

Wanxian
115-125meter
10meter

Yunyang
98-110meter
25meter

Fengjie
90-105meter
30meter

Wushan
83-98meter
37meter

Badong
81-90meter
45meter

Dam
70-75meter
70-75meter

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The China Three Gorges Project

Introduction
Yangtze River	Hubei Province	Location of Three Gorges
The China Three Gorges Project (TGP) is of vital importance to the development and harnessing of the Yangtze River (Changjiang River). The dam site is situated at Sandouping of Yichang City, Hubei Province, about 40 km upstream from the existing Gezhouba Project in Yichang. This project has been discussed for over half a century. TGP is the largest water conservation project in the world. With the normal pool level (NPL) at 175m, the total storage capacity of the reservoir is 39.3 billion m3. The construction period of the whole project will be 17 years, from 1993 to 2009. This project will bring many benefits to China including flood control, power generation, navigation improvement, etc. The total static cost estimate of TGP is 90.09 billion RMB Yuan based on the price at the end of May 1993 while the dynamic cost of TGP will be 203.9 billion Yuan by rough estimate.

 

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