Up the Yangtze

Other than Tibet (which of course didn't happen), the three day cruise up the Yangtze was the second big highlight on our itinerary. We were a little apprehensive about a cruise since neither of us thought we would like being confined to a boat for three days. We also weren't sure if we would like all of the group activities and timed meals. As it turned out, we had a great time. The scenery from the boat was mesmerizing. We sat for hours on the balcony (beer in hand) watching the cliffs and ships go by (perhaps not on this particular day because of the fog/smog).





I had in my mind that this Yangtze trip would be the last time the Three Gorges would be in their natural state before the largest hydro project in the world, the Three Gorges Dam, closed its gates to change it forever. In actual fact, the river was already transformed by a 250ft rise from its original level. There is still another 60 feet to go, for a total of 175 meters (approx. 525ft).




The river was no less stunning and might even be prettier because the water wasn't as stirred up with mud. But the river has changed the lives of 1.5-2 million people who were displaced by the flooding, mostly farmers and fishermen. The exact number depends on which source you believe. Many of the farmers have either moved to higher ground or moved to the cities along the river. There are many pros and cons to this project but when you see the pollution caused by the number of factories along the river, there is no question that they need a better alternative to coal.






The Three Gorge Project, once completed, will supply 22,500 megawatts of power. In comparison, the largest MB hydro station is about 1,300 MW.


We stopped to see a few cultural highlights along the way including Fengdu or Ghost City.







You see a lot of temples in China but never ones for the afterlife. It had a whole new look to it (black) and focused on what happened to bad spirits such as these ones:









Good incentive to behave I would say. Ouch.


We also visited an area known for their "hanging coffins". The ancient people would somehow find a way to bury their ancestors in the crevices of sheer cliffs hundreds of feet from either the top of the cliff or from the river. Some of the coffins were removed due to the rising water, but some coffins still exist.

(look for the little wooden coffin and sticks to hold it up)












And for the final stage of the trip we passed through the locks of the grand project - the dam itself. It takes 3 1/2 hours to pass through 4 of the 5 locks. The 5th lock will be in use once the project has been completed. They pass through the locks at night, since it takes so long. It is a bit freaky to be locked into a concrete cell with five other boats and dropped 20meters, with a wall of water above you.




We went to sleep after the first lock probably due to the high co2 levels in the lock from all of the boats churning out exhaust.




The next morning we had a look around the dam. Once again, it is hard to see because of the smog but you can tell it is pretty big. I really don't know how people get blue sky pictures for the dam (as seen in many of their promotional material). It seemed to me that we were always in a "haze".









It is 2.3 km long and 40 metres wide at the top. I hope they got a good price on concrete because 27.2 million cubic metres of concrete was used. Pretty amazing piece of human effort. China can do some amazing things.

Last stop...Beijing and the Great Wall.