The Yangtze River is located in the section of the Yangtze River from Jiangjin in Chongqing to Yichang in Hubei, commonly known as the "Sichuan River", which is the only water passage from Bayu to the eastern part of the mainland, and the famous Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is located in it. The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, which stretches from Fengjie White Emperor City in Chongqing in the west to Nanjin Pass in Yichang, Hubei Province in the east, is 193 kilometers long, and is composed of Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge (located in Hubei Province, the city belongs to Yichang City, Hubei Province). Not only was it the ancient battlefield of the Three Kingdoms, but also the beautiful landscape scenery is dizzying, Li Bai's "Imperial Speech White Emperor Caiyun, thousands of miles of Jiangling in one day", Mengjiao "Bajiang Gorge repeats the heavy, balcony blue cliff twelve peaks" and other popular poems were born here. In 2016, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River was selected into the list of "Top Ten Cultural Symbols of Chongqing" issued by the Chongqing Cultural Symbols Research Group. Because the nearest Qutang Gorge from downtown Chongqing is also about 400 kilometers away, and the whole Three Gorges has even reached Hubei Province, so we will put the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River as a secondary must-visit scenic spot, and it is recommended that tourists make sufficient planning before going to see it.
Qutang Gorge:
The Yangtze River runs from west to east, and Qutang Gorge is the first canyon in the Three Gorges. Although the Qutang Gorge with a total length of 8 kilometers is the shortest one of the Three Gorges, it is the most majestic and precipitous, and has always had the reputation of "dangerous and unpretentious, majestic and precipitous". At the beginning of the canyon is the famous Kuimen, the narrowest part of the river is not more than 100 meters, but its water flow reaches 50,000 m³/s, and the water potential is turbulent. The rock layer in the south of the river bank adheres to a lot of calcium in the aqueous solution, and the color resembles white salt, which is named Baiyan Mountain; The surface of the rock layer of the northern peak contains a large amount of iron oxide, and the stone is red in color, which gives it the name Chijia Mountain. The two mountains are limestone, which has been eroded by wind and rain for a long time, and rises up like the gate of the town, forming the scenic spots such as "Red Armor Sunny Sunshine", "White Salt Dawn" and "Autumn Moon in Kuimen" with the morning light, sunset, and bright moon. Guo Moruo expressed his heartfelt admiration for Qutang Gorge in "Crossing Qutang Gorge" with "If the scenery is different, the Three Gorges is the best". It is worth mentioning that the landscape pattern on the back of the fifth set of RMB 10 yuan banknotes issued in 1999 is Kuimen, and I believe that readers have a general impression of the scenery of Kuimen.
Under the broken wall of Baiyan Mountain on the south bank, there is a stone wall of more than 1,000 meters and pink, which is called the pink wall. The stone wall is carved with various famous carvings that began in the Song Dynasty and ended in the Republic of China. Tourists pass by on a cruise ship, and what can be clearly seen is the "Qutang" written by Zhang Boxiang in the Qing Dynasty, and the "Kuimen" written by Liu Xinyuan at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. With high documentary value is the Southern Song Dynasty calligrapher Zhao Gongshuo's "Song Zhongxing Shengde Tablet", the full text of which is more than 980 words, mainly praising the achievements of Song Gaozong and Song Xiaozong. The powdered wall wall where seal, li, regular and line fonts gather together not only shows the artistic charm of Chinese calligraphy and stone carving skills, but also integrates with the beautiful scenery of Qutang Gorge.
The north bank of the Yangtze River at the mouth of Qutang Gorge is the White Emperor City, which is the best place to watch "Kuimen Tianxiong". The White Emperor City was originally known as Ziyang City, which was built in the late Western Han Dynasty according to the Gongsun Shu of Shu. Because a well in Ziyang City often emits white gas, like a white dragon, Gongsun Shu called himself the White Emperor, and the name of the city also changed. Of course, the most well-known thing about White Emperor City is that Liu Bei was alone in Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period. The real history is true, but it is worth noting that today's White Emperor City refers to the White Emperor Temple in a broad sense, among which the buildings such as Tuogu Hall, Mingliang Palace, Wuhou Temple, and Stargazing Pavilion were all built in the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, the location where Liu Bei died of illness was actually Yong'an Palace, which had already been destroyed, and now the ruins are in Fengjie County Normal School, which is about two kilometers away from the White Emperor City Scenic Area.
Wuxia:
Wuxia is also known as the Great Gorge, starting from the Daning River in the east of Wushan County in the west, and reaching the official ferry port of Badong County in the east, with a total length of 46 kilometers. The whole canyon twists and turns, and the smoke and clouds are swirling, like a fantasy gallery.
"Put the boat down to Wuxia, and the heart is in the twelve peaks." The most amazing thing about Wuxia is the 12 peaks of Wushan, which is located in the eastern section of Wushan County on the Yangtze River. The six peaks of Jiangbei are Denglong, Shengquan, Chaoyun, Wangxia (goddess), Songluan, Jixian, can be directly watched on the river, and the six peaks in the south of the Yangtze River are only Feifeng, Cuiping, Juhe can be seen, and the net altar, the clouds, and the rise are hidden behind the mountains on the shore. Lu You also wrote in "Song of the Three Gorges": "The twelve Wu Mountains see nine peaks, and the bow of the ship is full of green and green autumn sky." "The twelve peaks are dry in the sky, straight into the bottom of the river. There are thousands of gestures. Among them, the Goddess Peak is the most famous, and there is a stone pillar on the peak that resembles a slim girl, which is quite recognizable.
However, Wuxia "has more than 12 beautiful peaks, and there are more sporadic million peaks", and other dangerous peaks and ravines also have high ornamentality. The sunshine hours here are short, and the humidity in the gorge is not dispersed, and it is often in a state of clouds and mist. Tourists are in it, they may wish to enjoy the beautiful scenery while reminiscing about the beauty of ancient poems such as "Wushan is high in the sky, and the dangerous peak is twelve Ling purple smoke".
Xiling Gorge:
Xiling Gorge is under the jurisdiction of Hubei Province, named after Xiling Mountain in Yichang City, and is a full-length canyon in the Three Gorges, with a total length of 120 kilometers. Historically, it has been known for its rapid water and thrilling boating. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the waterway after years of management and the completion of the Gezhouba water conservancy hub, the water potential of Xiling Gorge has been relatively calm, and the beautiful scenery on the shore has been fortunately preserved.
The characteristic of Xiling Gorge is that it is a "big gorge and a small gorge", and there are famous small canyons such as the Treasure Sword Gorge of the Book of Soldiers, the Ox Liver Horse Lung Gorge, and the Yellow Cow Gorge. Between Xintan and Xiangxi, there is a book-like thing in the steep cliff stone crevice on the north bank of the Bingshu Baojian Gorge, which is said to be Zhuge Liang's "Book of War". There is a sword-like stone at the bottom of the scroll, which is said to be the sword of Zhuge Liang and is called the "Sword Stone". But in fact, the so-called "Book of War" is an ancient hanging coffin burial relic, and the "sword" is just a protruding rock block. Not far from the Warrior Book Treasure Sword Gorge is the Ox Liver Horse Lung Gorge, which is named after the two yellow stalactites on the rock wall that resemble the Ox Liver and Horse Lungs. The beef liver remains intact to this day, and the horse's lungs were half destroyed by British warships in 1900. In 2003, when the Three Gorges Project began to store water, the local government cut off the intact "beef liver" in a timely manner and transferred it to Fenghuang Mountain, where the original site has been submerged under water. The Bingshu Baojian Gorge was also submerged, but the cultural relics in the hanging coffin were rescued and are now displayed in the Zigui Qu Yuan Memorial Hall. Most of the small canyons such as Bingshu Baojian Gorge and Ox Liver and Horse Lung Gorge have not been able to show the amazing scenery of the year, which is a pity for tourists, but the canyons named after the mountains such as Huangniu Gorge still maintain their original flavor with their towering mountains and rough and changeable rock shapes.
Information Reference
Entrance fee to the Three Gorges: Free
Opening hours: All day
