Tributary Trips
The Lesser Three Gorges ($190)
A little way beyond Baidicheng, the Daning River joins the Yangzi, and there's a great five-hour trip to be enjoyed up the “Lesser Three Gorges" as this dramatic stretch of the Daning River is known. You'll transfer from your cruiser to smaller motor crafts and push farther upstream through some stunningly narrow gorges and, unless it's been raining heavily, you'll see the water color change from murky brown to emerald green as you progress. There's a hanging coffin to be spotted in the second gorge and you might even see monkeys if you're lucky. In days gone by you would be pulled up by men with ropes (see Shennong Stream, below), but as the water level has risen this is no longer the case.
Navigating the Lesser Three Gorges
Shennong Stream ($160)
There's another excellent upstream adventure to be enjoyed on the Shennong Stream, a little downstream of Wushan. This four-hour trip affords breathtaking gorge views from small wooden rowing boats, which are painstakingly pulled through the roughest parts by teams of men using ropes. The local people are famous for their singing and your trip might be accompanied by their dulcet tones. To get to the smaller boats you have to take a 40-minute ferry ride from your cruise ship. A little east of the Shennong Stream, Zigui is the hometown of famed minister and poet, Qu Yuan, whose river suicide is remembered by the Dragon Boat Festival (see Holidays & Festivals).
Three Gorges Dam Site ($135)
Whatever you think of the project, it's gone ahead and is being touted as the best thing to happen in China since boiled rice. I visited the dam site several times during its construction and every time was overwhelmed not only by its gargantuan scale, but also by its popularity with domestic tourists. At the site there's an exhibition detailing construction and with a grand model of the dam. You can ascend to a viewpoint where you can overlook the whole site. If you're lucky, your guide might be able to arrange for you to take a trip along the top of the dam itself (see picture below) – ask in advance and note that security is tight. You can also visit the dam site from Yichang by minibus or bus #8, which takes around an hour and costs $25.
Three Gorges Dam Project
Throughout history, China's great rivers and particularly the Yangzi, have been both a blessing, bearing fertile soils and transport, and a curse, bringing floods, destruction and death. Since the time of Yu, Tamer of Floods (see Xia Dynasty), the Chinese have been trying to reap the river's rewards, while minimizing its catastrophes, but the first serious talk of damming the river didn't come until the 20th century. Initially deemed impossible, plans were finally put into motion in 1994, and quickly provoked international condemnation on several fronts – namely damage to the environment, the human cost, the catastrophic risks if the dam fails, and the claim that the dam won't effectively serve its purpose of flood prevention throughout the region.
Fast Facts:
Cost: US$24 billion and counting
Number of workers: 40,000
Number of people re-located: 1.2 million
Length of dam: 1.4 miles
Height: 607 feet
Hydro-electric capacity: 19 gigawatts (10% of China's requirements)
Number of Locks: Five, plus the world's biggest ship-lift
Water-level rise: 400 feet across the Three Gorges
Many experts believe that the best way to address flooding along the Yangzi would be to build several smaller dams, but the energy needs and grand project mentality of the government has brushed these aside in favor of the biggest construction feat in China since the Great Wall. The dam is in a tectonic fault zone and, although it has been designed to withstand missile attack, the appearance of cracks along its walls has done little to reassure skeptics. Even if all these fears are unfounded there are further worries that the lake will silt up in a matter of decades – the river at Chongqing is already suffering from increased sedimentation and the government recognizes that it will need to address the problem. In spite of all these concerns, the coffer dam was demolished in 2006 and the project is now way past the point of no return. However, for all the negatives there are a few positive points. First, the dam should prevent the loss of thousands of lives to flooding; second, it provides a renewable source of energy which will reduce reliance on fossil fuels; and third, the dam allows the Yangzi to be safely navigable, even by large vessels, for the first time in human history.
Human & Cultural Costs
In order to construct the dam and create one of the world's biggest man-made lakes, over a million people have been forced to relocate – a gargantuan task in itself. Many of these people have lived in the same villages and towns all of their lives and are unsure how they will cope with relocation. One of the most heartbreaking things I've seen in my time in China is people demolishing their own homes along lowlying stretches of the river. The Yangzi valley is one of the cradles of civilization in China and there are also thousands of unearthed historic relics that will be lost forever. Only one percent of the dam project's budget is allocated for the protection of cultural relics, but 10,000 workers are frantically excavating 600 sites, racing against the rising water level to uncover as much as possible before it's too late. Artifacts are being found faster than they can be catalogued, but for every piece which makes its way to the new
Three Gorges Museum
in Chongqing, an untold number of treasures will be lost.
Environmental & Economic Costs
Beyond human and cultural effects, the dam will also irrevocably alter the ecosystem and affect the creatures living within it. Animals such as the Chinese alligator and Yangzi River dolphin (see Flora & Fauna) were already struggling for survival and the dam looks set to seal their fate. Furthermore, some of the area's inherent natural beauty will be lost and, although plans are afoot to develop designated tourist zones, there are fears that the lake will become a giant sludge-pool of polluted water. Over a million visitors traveled along the Three Gorges in 2004 and, despite government claims to the contrary, these numbers are expected to decline. If they do, the region will lose an important sector of its economy.
Yichang