We entered the shortest – at 5 miles – but arguably the most stunning of the Three Gorges after lunch. By now the sun had disappeared and the heavy sky coupled with the ever present mist only added to the drama of our sail through the narrowest – only 500ft wide in places – of the gorges.
As we entered we were past by a fast jet hydrofoil which looked like a large red water beetle scampering across the water on its way up the Yangtze, probably making for Chongqing – the huge industrial city – and our ultimate destination in 3 days time.
The jet foil was a distraction from a famous Chalk Wall - a white cliff face on the southern bank of the river at the entrance to the Qutang Gorge (Kuimen Gate). The Chalk Wall has numerous red Chinese characters carved into the rock, many of which were done by famous Chinese calligraphers. According to Wikipedia nearly 1,000 characters in all are carved into the rock wall, with the oldest dating to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The wall has characters carved in many different styles of calligraphy and in various sizes. The largest characters are approximately 6 ft wide.
The gorge ends at Baidecheng, an ancient temple complex on a hill on the northern shore of the Yangtze. The name literally means City of the White Emperor. It is said that the area was once surrounded with a white mist, giving it a rather mysterious yet serene look. The temple is now an island due to the rise in water levels since the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Much of the old structures were submerged and new buildings have been built higher up. The island is linked to the north bank of the Yangtze by a new bridge with a pagoda style covered walkway leading to the entrance of the temple.
Although you may not be able to see it the temple sits on the island in the centre of the enigmatic picture above – shrouded in white mist! This scene is considered to be so characteristic of Chon that it appears on the back of the 10-Yuan note!
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