It is easier to pass the gates of hell than to pass the Three Gorges.
--Chinese proverb
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| The Qutang, Wu, and Xiling Gorges are shown in yellow. |
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| 3X Relief View of Wu Gorge and Shennong Stream |
This 200 km stretch along the Yangtze River is one of the more beautiful places on our planet. A delightful aspect about China is that if you parachuted in at random wherever you found yourself on landing would be interesting. A well-written brief description of the Qutang, Wu, and Xilang gorges, the towns along this stretch of the river, and the impact the Three Gorges Dam at Sandouping has had on them, is in this online Rough Guides, so I will let that link, the photographs I took, and their captions, speak for themselves. A few comments and the links below are worth note.
Qutang Gorge
We were travelers in the night from Fengdu to Baidicheng. I rearranged my bed so I was facing the river and shore. I awoke to find our boat docked parallel to the shore at Baidicheng and found myself staring into the cabins of another boat that had docked parallel to us. I was not prepared for the actuality of the beauty of this gorge.
At Baidicheng there was an opportunity for a 3-hour excursion to White Emperor City. It was
only 365 almost vertical steps from the bottom of the hill, but by this time I had seen enough
temples to believe there were more of them than restaurants in San Francisco. I passed.
Nonetheless it was an important city in the history of China and the above link is worth clicking on.
Wu Gorge
At Wushan we enetered the gorge as we passed under one of two fine bridges, the other being at the end of the gorge at Badong. The two links just below describe the building of these bridges that are among the largest river spanning bridges in the world.
Some of the more spectacular scenery along this gorge is to be found in the narrow side streams. At Badong we had to transfer to a smaller two-deck open-air motorized boat so that we could navigate up one of them, Shennong Stream. Today the word "stream" is a misnomer for since the building of Three Gorges Dam the upstream reservoir between Chongquin is 155 meters above the river and stream beds. Though now very deep, the "streams" are still narrow.
Wushan
The Bridge at Wushan
Badong
The Bridge at Badong
The Shennong Stream
Before the Three Gorges Dam was built, navigating upstream was at times so difficult
that groups, sometimes a hundred strong, of men called "trackers" would have to attach
ropes to the boats and pull them upstream from either shore. It was backbreaking hard
work. During our trip upstream on the sampans how this was done was demonstrated
for us.Our sampan, including the three rowers, had twelve people. Going against the
current was still hard work. The rowers were not young men. There was not a
decigram of flab on them. This was their job all day. The trip up and back took an hour.
The suspension bridge far above the gorge is interesting. At both ends it is anchored to
the cliffs, and further supported by a few thin cables attached along its length. The bridge
is so remote, and so difficult to reach, I had to wonder who ever uses it. But it must be
used or it would never have been built and maintained.
that groups, sometimes a hundred strong, of men called "trackers" would have to attach
ropes to the boats and pull them upstream from either shore. It was backbreaking hard
work. During our trip upstream on the sampans how this was done was demonstrated
for us.Our sampan, including the three rowers, had twelve people. Going against the
current was still hard work. The rowers were not young men. There was not a
decigram of flab on them. This was their job all day. The trip up and back took an hour.
The suspension bridge far above the gorge is interesting. At both ends it is anchored to
the cliffs, and further supported by a few thin cables attached along its length. The bridge
is so remote, and so difficult to reach, I had to wonder who ever uses it. But it must be
used or it would never have been built and maintained.
Dinner on the Victoria Jenna
Our cruise ship had a capacity of 378 persons. But with five decks it was not crowded.
Most of the passengers were Chinese. In fact there were only 45 Westerners on board.
There were two dining rooms, both large, one on the reception deck, the other on the 5th
In the first, the food was an Asian/Chinese buffet; in the other, for westerners, the food
was American/Italian/Chinese buffet. All of it was good. All tables sat eight persons.
Seating was assigned. Our small group, now five, was complemented by an interesting
Swedish-Malaysian family with two teenagers, a young man and woman. They had been
in China the past five years and were now returning to Sweden.
Following a table service dinner (thank you Vincent) the Jenna crew performed a cabaret
of various traditional Chinese dances in authentic dress. Outstanding that such a
generally young crew (some our servers at dinner) performed in top form.
Most of the passengers were Chinese. In fact there were only 45 Westerners on board.
There were two dining rooms, both large, one on the reception deck, the other on the 5th
In the first, the food was an Asian/Chinese buffet; in the other, for westerners, the food
was American/Italian/Chinese buffet. All of it was good. All tables sat eight persons.
Seating was assigned. Our small group, now five, was complemented by an interesting
Swedish-Malaysian family with two teenagers, a young man and woman. They had been
in China the past five years and were now returning to Sweden.
Following a table service dinner (thank you Vincent) the Jenna crew performed a cabaret
of various traditional Chinese dances in authentic dress. Outstanding that such a
generally young crew (some our servers at dinner) performed in top form.
Passage through the night
The Victoria Jenna continued downstream 74 kilometers to the Three Gorges Dam.
We reached the first of the five-stages of the locks at the dam just after midnight. It took
another four hours to descend the to the downstream river level. We docked at
Sandouping,the
entrance to the third of the three gorges, Xiling Gorge.
The Three Gorges Dam
The scale of the dam is massive. One must descend five locks from the river upstream to
the river downstream, a distance of about 155 meters. This is the height of a 50 story
skyscraper. An elevator, nearing completion, will permit simply lifting ships the entire
distance without having to go through the locks. This will cut the time from four hours
to one.
. The smaller, but still large GezhouBa dam is 38 km downstream from the
Three Gorges dam. Multiple ships, of very different sizes and tonnage may be in the locks
at the same time. Scheduling all this to minimize transit time and operation costs,
maximize the flow of commercial value, and other constraints is an optimization theory
nightmare.
In Slide 11, from the observation deck one can see an illuminated suspension
bridge in the background. Our ship in the lock would be too high above the downstream
river level to pass under the bridge.
Xiling Gorge
The Xiling Gorge begins where the Xiangxi River flows into the Yantze River (see top map)
and ends just upstream from Yichang. It is the longest of the three gorges. The first
third of it is from the junction of the Xiangi and Yangtze Rivers. We passed this section of the
dam during the night as we went from Badong to the Three Gorges Dam. Prior to the
building of the dam, Xiling Gorge was a dangerous passage of whirlpools, rapids, and
submerged rocks. Now it is tamed both upstream and downstream. When we left the dam
mid-morning it was less than two hours to Yichang. The scenery was only of moderate
interest. A couple of photos are in the above slide show.
We docked just upstream of Yichang and the GezhouBa Dam. We were met by Nancy
who on the bus ride to the airport (from which we would fly to Shanghai) gave us a brief
rundown of the city and what it was like in today's China from a young persons viewpoint.
She was very open and intelligent, willing to talk about anything. The dock was nothing fancy
--just a small building right up against a cliff face.
Shanghai
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Our Adventure in Summary |
When I first arrived in Shanghai, the haze was so obscuring I thought back to my days as a graduate student in the 1960s in Pasadena, California where the smog was so thick it burned your eyes. Shanghai haze, at least on this day, did not burn my eyes or cause other reactions. Mostly from the river I think. Throughout China in addition to the quick-rise skyscraper apartment buildings to house the population, in the commercial downtown areas there were often buildings worth note for their architectural style. Both the haze and style are noted in the photos below.
Following breakfast, we went to the Shanghai Museum. It was a model of how museums should be. The collections were outstanding. Those which caught my fancy are in the video. My favorites, the Chinese woman on a horse, and the dog.
After the museum we spent an hour or so before lunch strolling the Bund. The Bund has developed from a muddy lane with tall reeds along the west bank of the Huangpu River into the global commercial center it is today stemming from a surge of European development following the British victory in the Opium Wars in 1842. It is also a social focus of the city and a good place to cool off on a hot day. The Wall Street Bull shows how far China has taken capitalism within its fold.
I had lunch with Howard, Yvonne, and Evelyn. --outstanding!-- in the French Concession, afterwards wandering its alleyways. Nearby I found a restful place to have a latte while waiting for the bus. I was the only westerner there. "Westerner" is almost an oxymoron now, since urban Chinese are so into "western" except for the language there might not be much difference.
That evening David had arranged for the six of us --myself, Michael, Howard, Yvonne, Evelyn, and David-- to have a farewell dinner with entertainment at a local restaurant. Following that all of us went to a theater to see a performance of acrobats. Both were enjoyable. One of the better parts of the latter was just observing how a Chinese audience behaved. Surprisingly like an audience at any venue here at home.
The next morning we left Shanghai. The United Airlines flight landed me in San Francico just as people were going to work..
We had covered a lot of ground in China on these adventures. I've attached a large scale version of the map at the top of this post, mainly to show the course of the Yangtze River from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea, but also as a sort of geographical finale to a trip that included not only interesting places, but splendid travel companions.
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