From Beijing to the Yangtse Gorges

The Three Gorges of the Yangtse River stretch a total of 193kms from the Nanjing Pass at Yichang in Hubei Province to the White King Shrine at Fengjie in Sichuan Province. According to geologists and archaeologists this area was, about 70 million years ago, a vast expanse of water and the Yanshan Crustal Movement resulted in the gradual rising of the earth’s crust and after years of water erosion the gorges gradually appeared. Today sheer cliffs and steep rugged mountains rise on either side of the turbulent, misty river, creating one of nature’s most marvellous sights. The river scenes are enlivened by stories and legends and encapsulated by poets and painters, immortalised in particular by the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai who wrote “…day dawns and we leave White Emperor City towering in the mist, one whole day to reach Yichang, the monkeys chatter ceaselessly on the river banks, as my frail craft scuds past soaring mountains…”