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Yangtze River - 1995

Yangtze River - 1995

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-06-18 21:30:25

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/>Three sunsets-and we go so slowly.
Three dawns----again three sunset-
And we do not notice that our hair is white as silk.

Huangling Temple, said to have been first built during the Spring and Autumn period (770--476 BC), is dedicated to the great Dayu who, with his yellow ox, controlled the flood waters and dug the gorges . The present hall was built in the Ming dynasty (l368--l644) and houses a statue of Da Yu, as well as stone inscriptions. Zhuge Liang is also said to have dug the Yellow Ox Spring (or Toad Rock, as it is sometimes called) nearby. Its clear water, according to the Tang-dynasty Book of Teas, was excellent for the brewing of tea, and Yellow Ox was classified as the Fourth Spring under Heaven.

After one passes below Huangling Temple, the Bright Moon Gorge (Mingyue Xia) and the Lantern Shadow Gorge (Dengying Xia) loom ahead. The latter is overlooked on the south. Side by peaks in the shape of four figures from the l6th-century Chinese novel, Pilgrimage to the West (also known as Monkey). When the evcningsun's rays fall upon these peaks, the figures do appear lifelike--Xuan Zang standingon the precipice edge; Monkey (Sun Wukong) peering into the distance; Sandy (ShaHeshang) carting the luggage, and Pigsty (Zhu Bajie) riding a horse, all silhouetted against the fading light like characters in a shadow play.

The last of the smaller gorges is Yellow Cat Gorge (Huangmao Xia), so named from the yellow cat-shaped rock on the riverside. Qi Taigong Fishing is the name gfyen to a rock beside a cave on the south face, because of its fancied resemblance to a bearded old man wearing yellow trousers. The vast construction site of the world's largest hydro-electric project, the Three Gorges Dam, offers the possibility of side trips to view the lock and ship lift mechanisms and an exhibition about the dam. Smaller ships descend via the single stage lift, and larger ones via a series of locks--a total of five when the waters have risen the full 110 metres (351 feet) above their previous levels.

Now the boat reaches the strategic So them Crossing Pass (Nanjin Guan), with Three Travellers' Cave above , marking the end of Xiling Gorge and the three great Yangtze gorges. The river widens dramatically and ahead lies Gezhou Demand Yichang.

The Gezhou Dam, impressive if first seen coming up-river, is now an anticlimax for those coming down. Nevertheless, it was China's largest before the construction of the Three Gorges Dam and a similar project on the Yellow River, and still produces 2.7l5 million kilowatts of electricity per hour. A single stage lock allows ships to descend to the level of Yichang.