This morning started early, around 6am as we approached the first gorge along the section of the Yangzi known as the “Three Gorges”. The morning was cool and a few low clouds hung around the entrance to the first gorge. The sunrise was nice through the clouds. The gorges reminded me of the a bit of Diablo Lake in the North Cascades, another large body of water surrounded by towering mountains. While the Yangzi lacks the impressive snowcapped peaks high above of Diablo Lake, the lower ramparts of wooded cliffs are more dramatic. Here are a cupla pics:

Around mid-morning, we pulled into the town of Wushan where we hopped onto a smaller boat and went up the Daling River through an area known as the Little Three Gorges. Three more gorges awaited us, though they were by no means little. I suppose the “little” comes from the smaller river.

The port of Wushan:

More scenery:

Even higher up stream, we boarded even smaller boats (holding about 20 people) and went up an even more narrow section of the river. Along the way we were able to see the “Hanging Coffins” – coffins that had been lowered in ancient times down the cliff faces and placed in shallow caves high on the cliffs.

There were singers and a strange hermit guy playing a primitive Chinese instrument that we passed by. I caught some video of it.

This section of river also had a few decent waterfalls. Being so accustomed to the Cascades where every valley has a raging creek pouring into another creek or river, the Yangzi was completely different. Whenever there was other creeks, they were tiny. But, this changed once we got higher up stream. Still, they were teeny falls compared to the Cascades, but seeing some of them emerging directly from the walls above was pretty neat.

See the falls to the right?

We also saw several wild monkeys. One section of the river was called something like “The Haunt of the Monkey Lords” Here’s a shot of the dramatic terrain nearby. Of course, having done so much hiking and climbing in the Cascades, as I looked up the steep brush-choked gullys, I couldn’t help wondering what it would be like trying to climb them. Anything like Johannesburg?

Here’s a shot showing the 175 meter mark that the Yangzi will rise to once the river is complete. Many things will be underwater:

Back on the main boat, we had lunch and then cruised through the second major gorge. Around this time we figured out how to get to the really good observation deck (probably weren’t supposed to be there since it belonged to the upgraded suites that no one was occupying this trip, thankfully), but I spent a good amount of time on the lounge chair reading and taking in the scenery. (I haven’t had too many vacations like this…so many years spent raving and suffering in the mountains.) A bit later, we started through the final gorge, the longest section. Before we could finish it, we came upon the huge Three Gorges Dam project. Scheduled to be completed in 2009, it will be the largest hydroelectric project in the world. We went through the lock system (5 locks in all) in about three hours (had dinner in the mean time). It was pretty cool watching the huge gates open and close. I made a small movie of it.

Here’s a shot of the locks (movie link is above):

One interesting thing about the “Three” Gorges is that the third gorge, the Xiling Gorge, is really in two sections. So why not call it the “Four Gorges”? ‘Cause it’s much better luck to say “Three Gorges” and say that the third gorge is divided into eastern and western sections. The word “Four” in Chinese is frowned upon because the sound of the word is very close to the word “death”. The word “four” is “si” tone 4, the word “death” is “si” tone 3. Not cool. NOT COOL.