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Yangtze River - 1995

Yangtze River - 1995

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-06-18 21:30:25

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(Shenglao Quan) in a rock crevice on the southern bank was, according to legend, created by an immortal grandmother from heaven for thirsty travellers. They had only to call out to the spring 'Worthy Grandmother, a drink!' and water would gush for a moment from the rock.

East of Armour Cave (on the south side), on the top of a black rock, is a huge stone which the Chinese say resembles the body of a rhinoceros looking westwards as if forever enjoying 'the autumn moon over the gorge gate'. They call this rock Rhinoceros Looking at the Moon.

From Baidi Cheng to Daixi through the whole length of Qutang Gorge, visitors may see, high up on the northern face, the old towpath, hand-hewn in 1889 by the local people. Prior to this there existed a smaller towpath which was often submerged at high water. Remnants of this path can still be seen below Bellows Gorge. Travellers had to abandon their boats and climb over the peaks, a dangerous and time-wasting detour. Boats going upstream had to wait for a favourable east wind, if the wind was in the wrong quarter, boats could be stranded in the water for ten days or more.

The sandstone walls of the gorges have become pitted by natural erosion, causing lines of holes, some of which are several metres deep. The town of Daixi, at the mouth of a stream bearing the same name, marks the eastern end of Qutang Gorge. Over 200 burial sites have been found here, and excavations have revealed a rich collection of bone, stone and jade artifacts and pottery, as well as various burial forms of the middle and late New Stone Age period.

Below Daixi the river widens out. About five kilometres (three miles) downstream, on the south bank, are two sharp, black peaks Which form the Unlocked Gates Gorge (Suokai Xia). On the west side of the gorge, midway up the mountain, is a semi- circular stone shaped roughly like a drum-this is the Beheading Dragon Platform (Zhanglong Tai). Facing this ...