Three Gorges: The Yangtze Cruise and What Came After the Dam

The Three Gorges Dam reservoir raised the water level throughout the gorge section of the Yangtze by approximately 100 metres. More than 1.4 million people were relocated from towns and villages that were flooded. The dam, completed in 2012, is the largest hydroelectric facility in the world and generates enough power to replace multiple coal-fired plants. It is also a transformation of a landscape that inspired a thousand years of Chinese poetry and painting.

The Three Gorges that exist today are not the Three Gorges that Li Bai wrote about in the Tang dynasty. The water is much higher, the walls appear lower than historical accounts describe, and some of the most dramatic narrow sections are now submerged. The gorges are still impressive and worth seeing on their own terms. Just understand what changed.

The Cruise

The main way to see the Three Gorges is by boat between Chongqing and Yichang, a journey through the Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges. The downstream direction (Chongqing to Yichang) takes 3-4 days, is more popular, and has the current working with rather than against you. Upstream takes 4-5 days.

Qutang Gorge is the shortest (8 kilometres) and most dramatic section, with near-vertical walls. The entry to the gorge at Baidicheng (White Emperor City, now an island where it was previously a hilltop) is the most photographed moment.

Wu Gorge (45 kilometres) has the most consistent cliff scenery. The Twelve Peaks named in the 7th century are visible on the northern side.

Xiling Gorge (76 kilometres) is the longest and contains the dam. Most cruises stop at the dam visitor complex and then descend through the five-stage ship lock, a 3-4 hour process that drops vessels 113 metres to the lower river level.

The Shennong Stream tributary excursion by smaller boat gives the narrowest gorge scenery on the cruise – walls higher and closer than the main gorge, with some preserved traditional towing practices where locals pull boats upstream.

Prices vary considerably: domestic ferries at 500-1,500 RMB, mid-range Chinese cruise ships at 2,000-5,000 RMB, international-standard vessels considerably more. Book through agencies in Chongqing or through Yangtze cruise specialists online.

Chongqing

Chongqing is a city of 30 million people built across a peninsula where the Jialing and Yangtze rivers meet. The elevated metro station at Liziba – where the train passes through floors 6 and 8 of a residential building before continuing – has become famous specifically because it looks impossible. The city’s food culture is the spiciest in China and a genuine reason to spend a day there regardless of the gorge cruise.

Chongqing hot pot – numbingly spicy broth fed by Sichuan peppercorn and chilli, thin-sliced meats and vegetables cooked at the table – is the local speciality. The experience is both the food and the conversation it forces: how numb is too numb, where is the line between the pleasure of the heat and the pain of too much. Dezhuang Hotpot and Qiao Tou Hot Pot near Jiefangbei serve the authentic version.

The Dam

The Three Gorges Dam visitor area is accessible both by cruise and independently from Yichang. The structure – 2,335 metres wide, 185 metres high, 32 main generator units producing 22,500 megawatts – is a significant feat of civil engineering. The downstream water is now blue-green and clear, stripped of its silt load which sits in the reservoir above, which is visually strange for what was historically one of the world’s most sediment-laden rivers.

Yichang is accessible by high-speed rail from Wuhan (90 minutes) and from Chongqing (2.5 hours). The city serves as the natural endpoint for downstream cruises and the transfer point for trains west.