cruise downstream the yangtze river

the yangtze river is the longest river in asia and the third longest one in the world, where the steepiest section--the three gorges has been china's biggest construction project since the great wall and has ever generated controversy at home and abroad. the three gorges project is supposed to be an important future source of energy for china's growing electrical consumption. it is also expected to improve the navigation and tame the fabled yangtze river.

nowadays cruising china's yangtze river (three gorges) has become a popular and booming vacation choice for incoming tourists from home and abroad.

on the day of june 5th, 2001, my fellow and i took 3 days to travel downstream the yangtze river from chongqing to yichang on a 5-star cruises vessel.

on the first day, we arrived at fengdu, also known as the "ghost city" or wanxian, it is an important port on the chang river at the beginning of the three gorges and also the administrative and commercial center.

we departed on the following morning and then boarded the ship and passed towards the fantastic three gorges. we first arrived at the qutang gorge, which is the shortest, narrowest, and most dramatic of the three gorges. the span of its narrowest surface is tens of meters, and the span of its widest reaches is less than 150 meters. we were all astonished at the grand scenery and unconsciously got over the breath-taking gorge.

we boarded the ship and sailed through wu gorge, the most beautiful gorge of the three gorges. this scenic zone extents from daning river of wu mountain in the west, to the badongguan ferry in the east, with total length of 42 km. the famous weathered twelve peaks in wu mountain lying there just like twelve fairies，which have shaped a deep zigzagging valley and forested mountains; the graceful goddess peak stands lovely and delicately, the 25-mile long wu gorge is famous for its lofty scenery, which is flanked by cliffs so sheer that the sun barely penetrates the precipices.

after lunch we disembarked the ship and boarded smaller vessels at wushan for an excursion of shennong stream. the shennong stream is tributary carrying clear, cool water into the yangtze. it is also the main transportation link for the farmers living in the area. even today, they use small wooden boats that are pulled upstream. there are many traditional tracker boats, which are powered by rowing, or by heaving long ropes from the shore to cope with shallow or fast flowing water. the shennong stream is also famous for its beautiful scenery. during the trip, we saw coffins suspended high on the cliff and wild monkeys running under the primitive bushes.

we continued to pass through xiling gorge which is the longest and historically the most dangerous of the three gorges. it starts from the western point, the outfall of xiangxi river in zigui county to nanjin pass in yichang, and the eastern point. xiliing gorge has got its name for being located in the west of yichang. it contains kongling gorge ，dengying gorge, qing beach, xie beach , the three gorges dam, etc. it’s known for strange rock formation, speed and alarming danger. passing xiling gorge is an adventure. we were getting closer to the hanging coffins and zhangfei shrine and all felt excited.

on the next day, after breakfast we started our last shore excursion and visited the massive three gorges dam. it is the largest hydro-power plant in the world. we had great experience of the falling of dozens of meters when passing gezhouba’s gate. we eventually arrived in yichang and disembarked around noon.

yichang city is located in the western part of hubei province, at the exit of the three gorges of the yangtze river. it has been confirmed by archeologists that there existed human traces at least 100,000 years ago. yichang is a tourist city with a variety of attractions rich in historical sites and cultural relics. yichang has also become a modern city with convenient transportation and communication facilities in recent years.

the yangtze river is rich in splendid chinese civilization, it has fed the chinese people generation after generation and created many scenic wonders. we witnessed its grand view and were proud of it as well as being a chinese.