We were continuing to sail along the Yangtze River and today was absolutely my most favourite day in terms of the scenery! I know that photos can't really do it justice, but nonetheless I'm most certainly going to share a few (okay, more than a "few") with you.
The Three Gorges region of the Yangtze River has a total length of approximately 200 kilometres and The Three Gorges themselves occupy approximately 120 kilometres within this region. We sailed through the first of the Three Gorges yesterday - Xiling Gorge. It is the longest, 66 kms, and the deepest of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam project is located within Xiling Gorge, as is the tribal village we visited yesterday. Before the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, Xiling Gorge was known for being the most dangerous of the three gorges to travel through, with frightening whirlpools and strong rapids. Xiling Gorge, which forms nearly half the length of the entire Three Gorges region, is actually a series of four different gorges: Precious Sword; Horse Lung & Ox Liver; Soundless Bell; and Shadow Play Gorges. (So nearly all of the photos of the Yangtze River included in the previous post were taken in Xiling Gorge.)
This morning we entered into Wu Gorge, the second of the three gorges. Wu Gorge is sometimes called the Great Gorge and it is 45 kms long. The mountains on both sides of the Yangtze, through which the river cuts the Wu Gorge, are known as the Wu Mountains and they include the 12 famous peaks of which one is the "Goddess Peak". Wu Gorge is comprised of Golden Helmet, Silver Armor, and Iron Coffin Gorge. Magnificent peaks and unusual rock formations, as well as fog and clouds, surround this gorge, making it (for me anyway) the most memorable.
Because of the long and deep canyons here, the daily period of sunlight is short (and usually not at all) which impedes the dispersal of air borne moisture within the gorge and so clouds and fog is the norm within Wu Gorge. Although it looked like a rather foggy, overcast day to me when we were there, and I have to admit to being a bit disappointed, the staff onboard the ship were excited at how clear it actually was, and how good the visibility was.
Coal mining is still done along the Yangtze. It is mined a kilometre or two inland and then transported by truck to these huge holding containers along the river
and the off-loaded onto barges that carry it along the Yangtze to the South China Sea at Shanghai.
Along the Wu Gorge, there are twelve 'famous' peaks. The six peaks along the northern bank are Denglong (Climbing Dragon) Peak, Shengquan (Sage Spring) Peak, Zhaoyun (Facing Clouds) Peak, Shennu (Goddess) Peak, Songluan (Fir Tree Cone) Peak, and the Jixian (Congregated Immortals) Peak. The southern bank has Feifeng (Flying Phoenix) Peak, Cuiping (Misty Screen) Peak, Juhe (Assembled Cranes) Peak, Jingtan (Clean Altar) Peak, Qiyun (Rising Cloud) Peak, and Shangsheng (Rising) Peak; the last three are not at the riverside. There are many legends that relate to these twelve peaks and one of the cruise directors was always at the ready to tell us these stories as we were sailing through the gorge.
Among the twelve, the Goddess Peak is the highest and most notable. As it is the first peak to welcome the sun's glow and say farewell to its afterglow, it is also called Wangxia Peak (Looking at the Sunglow peak). The peak is topped by a large rock that (apparently) resembles a sculpture of a girl looking down upon the boats in the river.
This is Goddess Peak, and the little part jutting up in the middle is the large rock formation. And I guess this really proves just how good visibility actually was today as many of the crew who had been working for 2+ years had never seen Goddess Peak before - it is apparently almost always shrouded in fog and cloud.
Okay - I will include just a few more photos of Wu Gorge. As I said, it was a beautiful part of the world!
After a couple of hours sailing we docked at Wushan. Wushan is situated at the confluence of the Yangtze and Daning Rivers, and it was the starting point for a side trip I took through the Lesser Gorges on the Daning River and the Mini Gorges on the Madu River.
The Daning River winds its way for 33 kms through the Lesser Gorges - and the water is a deep, clear shade of green which forms a striking contrast to the muddy, turgid water of the Yangtze. The first Lesser Gorge is known as Dragon Gate Gorge - in places the river is only 30 metres wide while the cliffs on either side are an average of 800 to 1000 metres high. Misty Gorge and Emerald Green Gorge are the two other gorges that make up the Lesser Gorges but I have to be honest and say I don't have the foggiest idea when we moved from one to the other. All I know is that I loved the scenery and could have stayed there for hours!
Fishing in the river
and more fishing
A ferry boat that transports people between the various communities on the Daning River
This is a walkway/boardwalk that is currently being built. When it is completed it will be over 3 kms long, offering people a chance to walk along the river.
Lush, green, terraced fields where a variety of crops grow during all four seasons can also be found all through the Lesser Gorges.
When we were in the Emerald Green Gorge we disembarked from the Daning River ferry boat we were on and got into a motorized sampan to sail through some of the Mini Gorges of the Madu River.
Some people from a local village who came out to sing for us
Back on the Daning River again, heading back to Wushan where the Victoria Jenna is waiting.
This was where the Victoria Jenna was moored while we went on the excursion. Thankfully, because we got on another boat, we didn't have to walk up all those stairs to get into Wushan.
We resumed our cruising on the Yangtze again
and this afternoon we entered into the last of the Three Gorges, the Qutang Gorge.
Qutang Gorge is the shortest, and narrowest, of the Three Gorges; it is only 8 kms long and takes only about 20 minutes to pass through. The widest point measures only 150 metres wide and the mountains on either side reach as high as 1,200 metres. It really was quite spectacular!
The Chalk Wall is a white cliff face on the southern bank in Qutang Gorge which can be easily recognized by the numerous characters carved into the rock, many of which were done by famous Chinese calligraphers. Nearly 1,000 characters in all are carved into the rock wall, with the oldest dating to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The wall has characters carved in many different styles of calligraphy and in various sizes. The largest characters are approximately 1.7 metres wide. Unfortunately most of the characters have been submerged under water now as a result of the Three Gorges Dam project. Thankfully we were there when water levels were low so these characters were still visible:
At the end of Qutang Gorge the river passes through Chijia Mountain on the north and the Baiyan Mountain on the south. The point where the river passes between these mountains is called the Kuimen Gate and it was the exit from the Qutang Gorge. (And for anyone who happens to have any Chinese currency you'll find a picture of Kuimen Gate on the 10 yuan note.)
Fengjie is the name of the "little" community at the end of the Three Gorges and we stopped here for a little while.
A church - not a very common sight in China and certainly not common along the Yangtze
The entertainment this evening was another wonderful show put on by various members of the ship's crew - this time more of a cabaret showcasing the many talents of the crew. The evening started with a Lion Dance:
then we had several traditional dances:
a Face-Changer (more on this in an upcoming post):
and several crew members also played together in a band comprised of some lovely traditional instruments.
A yangqin
A guqin
A liuqin
The ending of a second wonderful day on the Yangtze River.
This sounds like the same cruise I went on in 2002 up the Yangtze River, except the dam was only under construction at the time.
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