qutang gorge(qutang xia)

right below the whiteemperorcity, you will enter qutang gorge, the first of the three gorges of the yangtze river. in this section, the yangtze carves its way through the gorge between the sheer precipices on both sides. the gorge's widest point is only 150 meters (500 feet) and the narrowest only several dozen meters. two mountains - the redpassagemountain (chijia shan) to the north and the whitesaltmountain (baiyan shan) to the south - form the kui men entrance (kui gate). the steep precipices wing a giant door guarding the tumultuous waters where rolling and roaring water bursts through. this gorge gains its fame for the sheer and spectacle precipices.

on the precipice of whitesaltmountain is meng liang stairway - a series of holes nearly a meter (3 feet) apart and about one-third of a meter (1 foot) deep, forming a 'z' shape. it is the typical modal of ancient plank road in qutang gorge. right below it is a human-like rock known as hanging monk rock ( daodiao heshangshi). above the top of this rock, one can see armourcave (kuijia dong) where a legend has it that a song-dynasty woman general hid weapons. the excavation in 1958 bore out three 2,000-year old wooden coffins from the ancient kingdom of ba. it proves that the yangtze river region is one of the former sites where the earlier human activities appeared.

near the meng liang stairway, one can clamber a flight of steps to see a huge stalactite rock resembling a phoenix with its head lifted. a small stream flows down from it gains a beautiful name drinking phoenix spring. right nearby on a grandeur rock face were 900 characters, dating from the song dynasty carved by famous calligraphers on. on the north side of the river, opposite meng liang stairway, is a coffee-colored precipice called bellows gorge (fengxiang xia). east of armour cave (on the south side), on the top of a black rock is rhinoceros looking at the moon.

below rhinoceros looking at the moon, at the eastern end of qutang gorge, the town of daxi is a best place for those archeological lovers to explore the daxi culture - one of china's primitive cultures originated over 5000 years ago, from the later period of matriarchal clan community to patrilineal community along the river.

below daxi the river widens out. about 5 kilometers downstream, on the south bank, are two sharp, black peaks, which form the unlocked gates gorge (cuokai xia). on the east side is a thick, round stone pillar, called binding dragon pillar ( suolong zhu). it has a beautiful legend behind.

other scenic spots in this section include "chalk wall", "ironlockpass" and "water stealing hole", etc.