Damming the Yangtze
20.07.2009
The famous Three Gorges is a ‘must see' for tourists in China.
In China the first week of May is known as ‘Golden Week' as workers in government jobs are given a week off. This includes universities.
Last year some of us foreign teachers decided to take the opportunity to go on a trip to the famous Three Gorges on the Yangtze River. This meant a four hour flight to Chongqing by air from Changchun. We arrived to a searing 36ºC.We were able to stay in the Foreign Teachers Residence thanks to the kindness of two teachers there.
Chongqing is a vast city carved out of Sichuan Province with a population of around 30 million in the metropolitan area. It's at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers and is known as one of the ‘furnaces' of China because of the intensity of its summer heat that is always over 40ºC. It's also famous for its steep hilly location so it is one of the few cities in China without a bicycle! It was the wartime capital of China under the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek.
The United States had General Joseph Stilwell based there during that period to help in the war against the Japanese. We visited a museum dedicated to his memory in his former wartime HQ. It is the only museum I've seen in China which acknowledges the wartime help given by the United States to China. It is balanced by another museum in a former prison called the United States-Chiang Kai-shek Criminal Acts Exhibition Hall!
Chongqing is also the starting port for down-river trips on the Yangtze River. We were booked on a boat called the Three Kingdoms. It comprised 90 cabins most of which were occupied by a group tour from Thailand. The double single bed cabins were very comfortable, each with shower and toilet. Our boat sailed at 10:00pm and we awoke next morning to a thunderstorm as we docked at Fengdu. Our first shore trip was to a hill containing many Buddhist temples known as ‘Ghost City' because of the sculptures of demons and devils.
No former Redemptorist missioner ever preached a sermon on Hell as fiery as the figures we saw. Punishments included people being sawn in half, boiled in oil and other gruesome torments. The sun came out as we climbed the 700 steps to the pagoda on the hilltop.We were back on board in time for lunch and set off after lunch to continue our journey downriver. At this stage we could see the markers for the 175m level the water will reach when the Yangtze dam comes fully into effect in 2009. The river level has already risen by 100 metres; close to three million people have had to be relocated to higher levels in newly built cities. The World Bank refused to help fund the project maintaining it was unwise from an engineering and ecological point of view. The Chinese regime went ahead regardless. They admit to a cost of $21 billion - but the true cost will probably never be known. They explain it will provide much needed electric power and control flooding in the lower reaches of the river.
The boat tied up for the night in the large town of Fenjie and we awoke next morning to thunder and rain. When booking we had specified to the agent that we wanted to see the Lesser Three Gorges on a tributary of the Yangtze but we were informed on board that our ship would not visit these; we were disappointed but in view of the rain perhaps it was just as well we did not go there.
We set off down river and entered the first gorge called Qutang Gorge, about 8km long with soaring mountains on either side. The rain eased as the day went on and after lunch we entered Wu Gorge, about 40km in length with sheer cliffs on either side towering over 1000m - the tallest were hidden by the swirling clouds which added a touch of mystery to the whole experience. After lunch we docked and boarded smaller boats to cruise up the Shennong River. The sun came out as we set off and it was a magnificent sight cruising up the narrow river past towering mountains with many small caves, some containing ancient coffins over 2000 years old that were placed there in the belief that the higher you were buried after death the closer to Heaven you would be!
We disembarked in groups of 20 at a small pier and transferred to small river boats rowed by local Tujia minority tribesmen who sprang into the water as the river became shallow and proceeded to aid the oarsmen by dragging the boat upriver against the strong current.
The water was pure and clear and we could touch the river bed and extract small stones as mementos! Along the banks the farmers were harvesting rice from tiered terraces carved out of the hillsides. Our local guide was from the minority tribe and spoke near perfect English learned in her local High School, she hopes to go to university next year.
We returned to the ship for dinner, and to out surprise set off down the third gorge in near darkness. This is 80km long and at its entrance the Yangtze Dam is nearing completion.
We arrived at the dam lock at about 9:00pm and by 10:00pm we were inching our way into the first lock-followed by five other ships. Finally after 11:00pm the first lock gate began to close, everybody was on deck to view the experience. Gradually the water was released and we sank slowly down to the second lock level- there are five altogether but most people retired to bed at midnight after we entered the second lock.
After breakfast next morning we disembarked in the rain to board buses that brought us to the Visitor Centre at the main dam. The Chinese told us proudly it is the longest and highest dam in the world - this compensates for the Yangtze being only the third longest river in the world! We could see the five locks we had passed through but fog prevented us from seeing the dam itself.
The sun came out as we sailed through the final section of Xiling Gorge, a perfect setting for a lasting memory of a special river experience. We disembarked at midday in Yichang city. Some ships continue to Wuhan and to Shanghai but we headed for the airport to begin our return trip to Changchun. We arrived in the rain to a temperature of 8ºC!
Fr Teddy Collins teaches in China.
