Three Gorges, Yantze River [Yichang]

"One of Top Ten Most Beautiful Gorges (Canyons) in China"
Ranked by China National Geography Magazine

The Yangtze River (Changjiang), over 6,300 kilometers long, is the largest and longest river in China, and the third-longest in the world, next only to the Nile in northeast Africa and the Amazon in South America. The source of the Yangtze River lies to the west of Geladandong Mountain, the principal peak of the Tanggula Mountain chain in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, southwest of China. The river flows from west to east through provinces of Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu as well as the city of Shanghai, finally emptying into the East China Sea. With plenty of rainfall all year round, the Yangtze River is named the golden watercourse.

The most impressive section of the river is the three Yangtze River gorges: Qutang Gorge, Wuxia Gorge and Xiling Gorge, collectively known as Sanxia, or the Three Gorges.

The Three Yangtze Gorges stretch from Baidicheng in Fengjie County, Chongqing Municipality eastward for 192 kilometers to Nanjinguan in Yichang City, Hubei Province. However, it is not a single entity and most sections are separated by broad valleys. The aggregate length of the gorge sections: the Qutang, Wuxia and Xiling gorges, is 90 kilometers.

The westernmost of these, the Qutang Gorge, extends for about 8 kilometers between Baidicheng and Daxi. Though the shortest, it is the most spectacular of the three. The Chijia and Baiyan mountains face each other from opposite sides of the Yangtze. At its narrowest point, the riverbed is just a few dozen meters wide, but the valley is over 1,000 meters deep. These land features make the Kuimen Gate, the upstream entrance to the Three Gorges, like the 'throat' of Sichuan Province.

The middle gorge----the Wuxia Gorge, is 45 kilometers in length from the Daning River in the west to Guangdukou in the east. This is the longest and most complete of the three, and is often called the 'Great Gorge.' It is renowned for its remote and peaceful landscape beauty and for its changing clouds and rain. The 12 peaks of the Wushan Mountains that flank the Yangtze stand like a continuous screen, a landscape to stir the spirit.

Strictly speaking, the easternmost Xiling Gorge consists of two sections. The easterly one stretches 15 kilometers from the Bingshubaojian (Mulitary Books and Precious Sword) Gorge at Xiangxi (Fragrant Stream), via the Niuganmafei (Ox Liver and Horse Lungs) Gorge, and ends in the Kongling Gorge at the Miaohe River; the easterly one extends 20 kilometers from the Dengying (Lantern Shadow) Gorge at Nantuo to the Huangmao (Yellow Cat) Gorge at Nanjinguan. Between the two lies the Miaonan Wide Valley, the longest valley in the Three Gorges area. The world-famous Three Gorges Dam stands at Sandouping, at the point in this valley where Yangtze is at its widest.

The Three Gorges came about as the result of China’s physical geography. Thousands of streams and rivers on the Sichuan Basin seek to empty into the ocean in the east, but between the second and third steps of China’s geological staircase the Qiyao and the Xuefeng mountains impede them. However, this threshold of undulating, folding mountains cannot resist the tender toughness of the river, the tender toughness of the river, ultimately the Yangtze fights its way through, out to the ocean and the world beyond.

Best time to go
Anytime especially Spring, Summer and Autumn
An average annual temperature is 65.12F, with the lowest average temperature of 44.78F in January and the hottest average temperature of 84.74F in July. An average annual rainfall is 1000 mm to 1400 mm and is centered in July and August.

Distance
Beijing (2087 km) Chongqing City (460 km) Fengjie County
Beijing (1432 km) Yichang City
Beijing (1225 km) Wuhan City (400 km)Yichang City