When we arrived in Chongqing, our group consisted of only of 4 persons; besides Norma and me, there were Bonnie and Jeremy, who were from Baja, Mexico. But in the “Yangtze Gold 8” cruise ship we were joined by some 300 other tourists, all of them thrown together from various regions of the world as members of tours from Sinorama, a Canadian tour company specializing in tours in China.  Our ship had apparently been chartered for (almost) exclusive use for them. There was a French-speaking group, a Dutch-speaking group, a German-speaking group, a Spanish-speaking group, a number of English-speaking groups, and I believe even a Chinese-speaking group, who sounded as if they had been included by mistake. These groups averaged some 30 tourists each. Since the four of us were designated orphans, we were assigned to join a Canadian group. It was a most enjoyable choice.

left: This is the nice dining room of the “Yangtze Gold 8”  cruise ship. From the paunch of the gentleman in the yellow shirt, it appears he must have enjoyed the meal.

    A surprising observation we made was that 4 of the 5 ladies (Norma, Jodi, Gwen, and Sylvia) were born under the dragon sign in the Chinese zodiac. What are the chances that 4 women at our table of 10 have this distinction. Seems at first that the chances are extremely small.

    The chance that a person would be a dragon lady is 1 : 24 (1:2 for the sex, and 1:12 because there are 12 signs in the Zodiac.) In a table of 10, the chances are therefore 10 : 24. For the second person to be a dragon lady, the chances are 9 : 24 (there are 9 unchosen persons left). For the third person the chance is 8 : 24 and for the fourth this becomes 7 : 24. So the chance of having a coven of 4 dragon ladies around a table of 10 is hence 10 x 9 x 8 x 7/(24 x 24 x 24 x 24) = 1 : 65.8, which is not that very small.   The chance that 4 out of 5 ladies in a group belong to this august group is 5/12 x 4/12 x 3/12 x 2/12 = 1 : 120.

    The cycle of the Chinese zodiac is 12 years. The difference in age between two dragon ladies is either 0, or a multiple of 12. What makes this group extra interesting is that these 4 ladies are all born in different years.

    There are more nice and humorous pictures of this cruise in the blog of Jeff, which you can access at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwuTfEAIOJkXRkc1VUtDSThJXzQ/view?usp=sharing

     In Chongqing our vessel left her berth on the south shore of the river at dusk, so we could enjoy the city lights as we sailed east downstream. The electricity for this lighting probably came from the generators in the Three Gorges Dam.

right: Passing one of the many lighted bridges over the Yangtze river. It is a country emanating the scent of prosperity.

    A map of the route of the Yangtze Cruise is shown here. The distance between Chongqing and Wuhan is about 660 kms.

(a) Gorge 1 on the Yangtze , the Qutang Gorge.

    1985

    On our first trip, in 1985, the Three Gorges were not yet very developed as tourist sights, and so our ship didn’t adjust its sailing schedule, resulting our passing both the first and second gorge right at about midnight each time. There was an announcement each time, but after looking out of the porthole in the dark, I went back to sleep again.

    1995

    In 1995, the cruise ship had at least the foresight to adjust their schedule so we would go through the three gorges in full daylight. Our ship left Wanxian at 5:45 a.m. and after breakfast we entered the first of the Three Gorges, the Qutang gorge at around 9:00 a.m. The air and soil were highly polluted because there was a lot of industry and stacks were belching dirty smoke on the riverbanks, just prior to the entrance to the gorge. This gorge was about 8 km long. Nice, but really not that impressive.

    The Qutang Gorge is quite short, about 8 kms long, so a cruise ship can traverse this distance in about 20 minutes. The second gorge, the Wu Gorge is substantially longer, being about 45 km in length, while the third gorge, the Xiling Gorge, is about 66 km long. The Three Gorges Dam has been built at the downstream end of this third gorge.

    2015

left: Entrance to the Qutang Gorge in 2015.

    Soon after we exited the Qutang Gorge, we arrived at Wushan, 492 km downstream from Chongqing, a large city built at the confluence of the Yangtze and the Daning River going north.

below: Wushan, at the confluence of the Yangtze and the Daning River in 2015. This section of Wushan, on the north bank of the river, is fairly new; almost all the buildings are skyscrapers built in the last decade or two.

    Close to a large city, it was not unusual to find a lot of pollution on and in the water. It was that way 1995; it is still that way in 2015.

left: This is a motorized sampan trying to remove the floating garbage from the river. Considering the size of the river and the area of pollution, this boat will not make much of an impact. This picture was taken in 2015.

b: The Three Little Gorges.

    The Three Little Gorges, also called the Three Lesser Gorges, are on the Daning river, a tributary of the Yangtze at Wushan. (see map above) Most cruise ships offer a tour into these gorges. These gorges are much narrower than along the Yangtze river, and the scenery is therefore also more spectacular. As you go up the Daning River, the three “little” gorges you will pass are the Lungmen (Dragon-Gate) gorge, about 3 kms long, with a bridge suspended high in the air over it, then, after a few miles, the Bawu (Misty) Gorge and, at the end, the Dicui (Emerald) Gorge.

    1995

     In 1995 the day trip to the Three Little Gorges was in a shallow wooden motorized boat carrying about 30 passengers each, closely packed to each other with little space to walk.  I remember the boat had a sliding roof, which seriously obstructed the view.

A hundred feet into the tributary and the water is clean and blue, but if you sat in a middle seat, there is really not very much you can see.

    In the Misty Gorge, we saw this “hanging” coffin, high up in a crack of the steep wall of the canyon.

right: This is a coffin, more than 2000 year old, stuck in a crack of the canyon wall. This coffin was not there anymore in 2015; the water of the stream has risen to cover the crack; the coffin has been removed to some museum.

  

    At that time the currents were stronger, and the small sightseeing vessels needed 3 hour to go upstream to get to the Double Dragon restaurant, located just at the beginning of the Emerald Gorge. Lunch was served there. After lunch, we motored another half an hour upstream to stop at a sandbank at a bend in the middle of the Emerald Gorge. There we were able to get out to enjoy and marvel at the steep cliffs around. And as everywhere in China where tourists are visiting, there are the ubiquitous tourist stalls waiting for you. You can also see the small sightseeing vessels parked at the sandbar.

left:  In 1995 we stopped at this sandbar in the Emerald Gorge. Standing on the sandbar the towering cliffs around you takes your breath away. But by 2015, the level of the stream had risen so much that the sandbar had disappeared and replaced by a placid lake. You can see that lake in the top picture of this page. The narrow Daning river on the left has been transformed into a placid pool of water, and the steep walls have become less towering.

    Going downstream we needed only one hour to get back to our cruise ships. In our journey there were quite a number of rapids to shoot. The walls of these gorges and the formations on them have been a fertile source for the imagination of poets and local guides, with names such as Panda Cave, Suspended Coffins, Goddess of Mercy sitting on Lotus Platform, etc.

    2015

   In 2015, the tour was substantially different. This time we all transferred into a large sightseeing vessel with a capacity of around 200 passengers.  You can see one of these vessels in the top picture of this page.

right: As we entered the Daning River and just before the Lungmen Gorge, we see this newly constructed highway bridge over the river.

    Going on the new highway, it is now possible to drive between Chongqing and Wuhan in less than a day once the highway system is completed.  In the old days the river was the fastest surface route between these two cities.

left: A typical view of the scenery along the Three Little Gorges today. Before the dam was finished the scenery was much wilder; the river narrower, the mountains higher.

    In 2015 the water was much higher than in 1995, the river was wider, and larger tour boats can hence be put in service. There were two of these to accommodate all passengers of the “Gold 8”.  Because the river is now larger, flow velocities are diminished so it took much less time to get up and back. The Double Dragon Restaurant was not there anymore, probably submerged by the rising stream. So was the sandbank, as well as many other sights of interest on the river banks.      

right: Entering the Diciu (Emerald) Gorge. The water is clear and bluish green, but the pristine beauty is marred by people and ships just tossing garbage overboard. Note the plastic bottle floating in the stream.

    Our sightseeing vessel soon turned around to go back after passing the Emerald Gorge.  Looking at the map, we had gone left at the junction after the second gorge. Going right would have taken us to the larger stream of the Daning River and the Three Mini Gorges.

    An interesting sight at the Diciu Gorge are the “Hanging” coffins. These are wooden coffins dating back some 2000 years ago. They contained once important personages;  the coffins have been inserted in cracks in the steep walls of the canyon hundreds of feet above the surface of the stream. A number of coffins which would have been submerged by the rising waters have been removed to museums, but many of the higher ones were left in place for posterity. For the really wealthy persons, the coffins were inserted in caves specially cut out in the steep stone wall; the less wealthy used the existing cracks and caves in the wall.

    How did the ancient people, more than 2,000 thousand years ago, manage to transport these coffins into these inaccessible places, hundreds of feet above the water level and hundreds of feet below the top surface of the peaks above. It seems more practical to find a way from the top of the mountain, instead of from the surface of the river way below. A clue is what is observed is in the Parrot Gully within the Yingwu Gorge along the Shennong Stream. In this region there are numerous large horizontal incisions carved high in the limestone, suggesting that these are vestiges of an earlier aerial plank road; it is possible that the coffin sites were accessed using a path on a network of planks stuck in the walls. The coffins were probably lowered with ropes from above.

c: The Mini Three Gorges

    These are different from the Three Little Gorges. If you look at the cruise map above, you will note that, if you go upstream, the Daning river splits in two at the Diciu Gorge. Had you turned to the right, you would have entered the area of the Mini Three Gorges. Here, if you travel upstream, you will pass the Sancheng Gorge, the Qinwang Gorge, and the Changtan Gorge. Not too many people visit these gorges in the past because, as mentioned earlier, it will take three hours from Wushan on the Yangtze just to get to the entrance of the Mini Three Gorges.

    1900

        You may have seen brochures of the Three Little Gorges showing trackers, completely naked, pulling the sightseeing boats over the water. This actually only occurs in the Mini Three Gorges and not in the Three Little Gorges.  In the Mini Three Gorges area, the trackers have to go in and out of the water often, and the water would make clothing heavy and very uncomfortable to wear. With clothing on they they are more susceptible to catch a cold. In addition, the trackers are too poor to have their clothing on, because the ropes will cut and damage the fabric.

left: Naked trackers pulling a boat in one of the three Mini Gorges. This is heavy work.

    These trackers come from the farming communities nearby, who are very poor; every able-bodied person is expected to work and share in the myriad tasks for having a good existence; so they will happily do something to earn extra money. But they do ask you not to take pictures of them.

    A closer look at the picture shows that the third tracker from the right is a woman. She is pulling her weight. Here it was not unusual to see a nude female tracker at work.

    With the building of the dam, the water level has increased so much that these  trackers have became obsolete. What used to be a raging narrow stream is now a wider, slower moving river. So nowadays you will not be able to ogle these naked tracers anymore. But local officials, always on the lookout for making some money, have recently reinstated the practice, starting at the end of 2015, of using naked trackers as “eye candy” to boost the tourist economy of the area. However, for the sake of “decency”, they are still required to wear one item of clothing. This item is a shirt; no pants. This is ridiculous, of course, because a shirt has a lot of drawbacks, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, but the naked buttocks are sufficiently salacious to draw attention. And I suppose there will be no female trackers. I suppose these trackers don’t mind their pictures to be taken. Just give them a good tip.

right: The picture of these half-naked trackers was published in China News.

    The story states that they are from the poor rural villages, who don’t mind this work, as long as they are paid well.

c: Gorge 2 of the Yangtze; the Wu Gorge

    2015  

Back to 2015 again. After our side trip to the Three Little Gorges, we sailed further downstream to the Wu Gorge. We passed a pretty little place, which looks like a temple, but it could be a place where you could find lodgings, food, and exploratory walks around the canyon walls and around. This place seems to be only accessible from the river, surrounded by towering walls of rock. I actually remember seeing this place when we passed it in 1995.

left: This looks like an interesting place to explore. But, of course, we didn’t stop here.

After lunch we entered the Wu Gorge, 45 kms in length and much less spectacular than the first Gorge.

right: This is at the exit of the Wu Gorge; there were two other large cruise ships around.

left: A barge loading coal from a shallow mine nearby.

    Soon after we exited the Wu Gorge, we saw this barge on the North bank of the river loading coal, which was delivered through pipes from a location higher up, where we saw large open-air containers filled with this mineral.  The product, which looks like a high-quality anthracite coal must have come from a shallow mine nearby, because we did not see any heavy equipment around. And if it was a large deep mine further away, then there would be more than the few barges around.

d: The Shennong River cruise.

  

    1995

    Halfway the Wu gorge, we passed the entrance to the Xiangxi river, a tributary of the Yangtze. Going upstream on this river you enter Shennong Stream, (also known as the Fiery Peasant Brook)   We were lucky enough to enjoy the Shennong River when we were there in 1995, before the beauty of of the stream was negatively impacted by the rising waters of the Yangtze. The Shennong River cruise was unfortunately not on the itinerary of the 2015 tour.

    The Shennong Stream is often not shown on the Yangtze River cruise map. It is located on the north shore opposite Badong. It is not the Shennu Stream shown on some maps, which is on the south of the Yangtze. The Shennong Stream flows through three gorges with different scenery. The three gorges are Mianzhu Gorge, Parrot Gorge and Longcangdong Gorge.

    In 1995 we arrived in Badong, a small city with a population of 30,000, located on the north shore of the Yangtze just before the entrance into the Xiling Gorge. It was in the late afternoon when we disembarked. There were steep steps to climb to get to the quay, where the buses were waiting; in the falling dusk we were driven through narrow streets to Badong newest hotel. It was large and forlorn looking; we had to walk up two flights of stairs because there was no elevator. Porters + our bus driver had to carry our luggage up these flights by hand. There was no hot water after 8 p.m. So we had a fast shower before dinner in the hotel, and early to bed.

    The next day we woke up early at 5:00 a.m. to be ready to leave the hotel at 6:30 a.m. with the tour bus.   Tour bus crossed the Yangtze by ferry to the North bank, then we drove through the Da Ba San mountains and many passes for about 1 1/2 hours to a place called the Mian Zhu (Bamboo Gorge) of the Shennong river. The bus stop was high in the hills and to get down to the river one had to walk many steep steps down. An easier option was to be carried down in a sedan chair by two porters, who can actually do this faster than the average unencumbered person walking downhill. The ride did not look too comfortable, but it is surely less taxing on your knees.

     At the bottom of the footpath was a small village graced with the usual complement of tourist stalls. The Tujia minority nationality people live in this area. 

right: At the bottom of the footpath is the river with the sampans waiting for us.

    As you can see from the picture, the wooden sampan boats are about 1.5 meters wide and 12 meters long, with a capacity of 10 passengers, manned by 6 persons rowing.

      We had a wooden boat all to ourselves, manned by 6 persons rowing, pulling, and pushing us through the stream. In the boat were also two of their wives. The Shennong stream is a beautiful stream reminiscent of the Sierras with high mountains, karst caves, deep gorges, high cliffs, lots of sedimentary stratification, and wonderful vistas. The water was clear and bright, transparent to the bottom, which was only a few feet deep. The brook was not wide, in many places it was anywhere from 10 - 30 feet only. The average flow was stated to be 20 cu meters/sec. The weather was extremely pleasant that day; they said it can be very cold in the winter.

   The stream is narrow, and the water is crystal clear. The vegetation on the banks are green and there are many colorful flowers, steep slopes, and even stalactites on the journey downstream. It is an amazingly beautiful journey.

 

left: The majestic scenery around the Shennong stream in 1995.

 

    After drifting down for some time, we stopped in Longchuanhe, a little village on the banks of the river.  Lunch was served there in a hotel. After lunch we were treated to a demonstration of lion dances by the local troupe. It was hot under the blazing sunshine. The Tujia minority nationality people live in this area.  Somewhere in our house we still have a batik depicting minority women and some straw sandals used by the boatmen.

right: The awning has now been set up on the boats as protection against the fierce sun.

    Then we were back in the boat. The sun was hot, so the awning was put up as we further floated further down the river. At some places the river becomes shallower and it becomes harder to jockey the boats through the raids in the stream. But fear not; on the banks are people with ropes, called trackers, to help maneuver the boats through these rapids. It is a very hard life for them.

left: Trackers help in maneuvering the boats through the rapids. They are not pulling the boat upstream. They are all clothed..

    You may have seen brochures of the area showing trackers, completely naked pulling the boats over the riffles. This is in the Three Mini Gorges, not here. The trackers who pulled our boat in 1995 are dressed regularly, as seen above.

right: These are the homemade sandals the trackers use; sturdy creations from rope useful for walking over stones and in water and giving enough traction for pulling heavy loads.

    After these rapids, there were more very imposing deep gorges and canyons, caves in the walls, deep and dark blue colored pools. At one point there were ancient tombs in the high cliffs. We passed the Yingwu (Parrot) and the Longohuan Gorges. We all bought some signed picture postcards from a Mr. Song Wen Gang, one off the trackers who hitchhiked into the boat and helped the crew maneuver the craft through the rapids. He wanted to earn a little money by selling us some postcards and colorful stones from the river. The people there were so poor that he spent all that day just for the chance of making some money selling some postcards to us

    About one mile before the intersection with the Yangtze river, we  transferred to a large boat, who took us downstream back to Badong and into a waiting high-speed Hydrofoil.

    There is a reason for this madness. In 1995 the Shennong Stream is not only narrow, but the drop is also quite steep. There are many dangerous shoals on the route to the confluence of the river with the Yangtze. As you float downstream you find how skillful these boatmen are to pilot the wooden boat along these dangerous areas. On some places the current is so strong that trackers are there to help steer the boat safely downstream. The brook is not wide, anywhere from 10 - 30 feet only.

     Once these boats have reached their destination downstream and disgorged their passengers, the empty boats have to be pulled upstream by the crew with towropes walking along the steep riverbank. There are sections where a path has been chiseled in the steep vertical rocks along the river bank. So it is practically impossible to go upstream as passengers, it would be too heavy to pull the boats up. Tourists only go downstream.

    The Shennong Stream originally was a wild river traversing a tortuous path flanked by almost vertical limestone cliffs. However, because of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, by 2006 the water level has risen approximately 155 m at the mouth of the stream. The lower reaches of the Shennong Stream are presently just a sleepily flowing river, and most of the previously scenic vertical gorges are now partially submerged. The stream is now so tame, that it is now possible to paddle upstream from the Yangtze intersection in one of these longboats.

    Yes, we were lucky to have traversed the river before it was so thoroughly emasculated.

    About one mile before the intersection with the Yangtze river, we transferred to a large boat, who took us downstream back to Badong and into a waiting high-speed Hydrofoil.

    In the jet-propelled Hydrofoil, in air-conditioned comfort and in nice padded seats, we went downstream at speeds between 50-60 km/hr. At 40 km before Yichang we passed Wuzhetian, the place where the new dam was going to be built. There were frantic activities on both banks of the river with lots of huge earth-moving equipment visible. Li Po, one of the most famous poets in Chinese history, used to live here close by for several years, writing poems of the moon and its reflection in the Yangtze river. He would have turned in his grave if he knew what the current generation hath wrought.

e:  The Xiling Gorge and the Three Gorges Dam.

    There has been a lot of discussions on the water levels in the river and in the tributaries because of the construction of the new Three Gorges Dam.   Since water levels will vary, it is customary to indicate the level as related to sea level.  The magic number quoted everywhere is 175 m, because the top of the Dam is 185 meters above sea level, and as soon as the water level rises to 175 meter, the sluices are opened to release more water downstream. The level in the river will rise to a maximum of 110  meters above the level of the river downstream.

    Fast forward to 2015. After exiting the Wu Gorge, we soon entered the last of the three gorges on the Yangtze,  the Xiling Gorge. The new dam has been built at the end of the gorge, so there was not much visible left indicating that this was a big gorge in ancient times. In the evening we came to the dam and entered the locks to take us upstream. There were two sets of locks parallel to each other. Each passage consisted of five consecutive locks, 140 meters wide and 280 meters long each. The maximum water level difference between the river upstream and downstream of the dam is 113 meters, so each lock can handle a level difference of up to 22.6 meters.

left: Two huge barges, one of which loaded with new cars from Chongqing in one of the locks of the Three Gorges Dam.

    It took about 4 hours to traverse the five locks. It was evening when we entered the locks, we were peacefully berthed the next morning at the village of Sandouping.

    The dam was completed in 2006. Somewhere along the dam is also a lift, which can hoist a ship from the lower to the higher level and v.v., but this section had not been completed.

f: The Three Gorges Dam

    The complex is accessible to visitors. There is actually a large system to handle thousands of tourists efficiently and safely. We were loaded in buses at the wharf close to where our ship was berthed and driven to the Visitor complex. Our first stop was to view the maquette of the dam to understand the relative locations of the various parts of the complex.

   

right: Maquette of the Three Gorges Dam Complex. The dam is in front of the gentleman in the red shirt. In the front is the large Xiling bridge spanning gthe Yangtze river.

  

    The whole area is quite visitor-friendly with elevators taking you from one lower level to the next higher up.  From the top of the viewing hill we had a good view of the hazy surroundings, as well as the Xiling bridge over the river.  There is of course also a nice view of the dam. You can also see the large area of the property around the dam accessible to tourists. I am not going into great detail on the dam, because you can get that information easily elsewhere. The only unusual thing is that there were no tourist stalls on the property; they were all on the outside. The visitor center does have shops where you can buy Dam-related souvenirs. You cannot completely get away from them.

left: There is a high hill on the premises, from where there is an extensive view of the Three Gorges Dam complex. The dam is in the background; you can see it at the red boxes holding the motors of the mechanical cranes in the distance. You can see Norma and Jodi in this picture.

    The tourist area is large, and it is adjacent to the living areas of dam personnel. There are no bicycles, scooters, taxis, stores, cinema, etc, quite a spartan surrounding for the people living there.

right: And this is the Dam as seen from upstream. The red-colored boxes contain the motors to move the gates of the locks and the sluices of the dam.

    A project of this magnitude would not have been possible in the USA or in most other places in the world; there would be just too many groups objecting to the costs, the environmental and ecological impact, the loss of tribal grounds and ancient relics along the river. But it easily passed the Chinese Congress, garnering 67 % of the yes votes from the delegates. Only 7 % opposed the project, 25 % abstained, and 1 % did not vote.  The costs have been immense. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydropower project. The massive project displaced more than 1.2 million people, and flooded 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1,350 villages. It destroyed many archeological, cultural, and historical sites and most recently it was noted that there is now an increased risk of landslides.

    The top of the dam is 185 meters above sea level, 10 meters above the magic number of 175 meter, the maximum allowable height of the water. The dam has 32 main turbines and and two smaller generators to achieve a capacity of 22,500 MW.  The annual production of electricity was 49,250 TWh in 2006 and had risen to 98,800  TWh in 2014. This level reduced the need for coal consumption by 31 million tons. This reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million tons, one million tons of dust, one million ton of sulfur dioxide, 370,000 tons of nitric oxide, 10,000 tons of CO, and significant amounts of Hg by not using the equivalent amount of coal.  

    The dam was projected to cover about 10 % of the nation’s need for electricity, but by now (2015) it is only sufficient to cover about 2 % of the country’s need, because of the sharp increase in energy demand.  Most of the electricity is distributed to the large cities of Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chongqing.

left: Well, there are no private tourist stalls allowed on the dam property, but just on the outskirts, as everywhere in China,  there are a lots of stalls to lure the visitors to spend money. You can see Christine and Jodi in this picture. picture by Jeff B.