Gorgeous Gorges in Wushan

Entrance to Lesser Gorges

Saturday, March 24
Gorgeous Gorges in Wushan        

Early to rise, quick shower and up for tai chi with Dr. Liu. It does seem to get easier the second time. The flow is the same but coordinating the hands and the feet is complicated.

After breakfast, we transferred to a second boat and begin to see some lesser gorges. It is hard to imagine how deep these would have been if they had 200 feet less water in them. They are towering and covered with dense vegetation. The absence of people, animals and birds is striking though habitation has to be tough. The three smaller gorges we saw today were Dragon Gate, Misty and Emerald. They are collectively called the Three Lesser Gorges. To reach them we had to sail up the Daning River.

In this area, the river used to be 3-5 meters wide and fairly shallow. Since the dam was constructed, the river is 250 feet deep and, therefore, open to larger boat traffic. Alice, our local guide, told us that there are some isolated villages at the top and over the mountains. To reach the water taxi in the river’s edge, the people have to walk three or four hours ,traverse a slippery and impossibly steep slope  and  catch the ratty little diesel water boat. We saw one group of three people waiting for such a boat and several faster speedboat taxis plus a few boats like ours ferrying tourists. The simple taxis cost 10 yuan to ride downstream.

We floated along through one gorge which opened onto a wide spot that did have some relocation high rises and some farmers’ houses. The terraced land was mostly covered in blazing yellow canola plants. As we travelled on, the river became narrower and finally we transferred yet again to a motorized sampan holding about thirty people for the trip up yet a narrower gorge. 


 Much to our surprise, suddenly we heard flute music and spied a man playing his instrument high up on a ledge and a bit further we were serenaded by a trio singing a traditional folk song from their precarious perch on the river bank. Evidently, these people are paid by the government to perform for tourists. Charming but a bit strange.

Guide to Lesser Gorges

On our way back downstream, we spotted a couple of groups of monkeys playing along the river's edge and a large bird we thought might be an eagle. The country is conspicuously void of birds and the story is that Mao felt birds were bourgeois and encouraged all the birds to be eradicated. Whether that is true or not, one doesn't see birds except for the magpies we saw in Beijing. The other story we heard later is that Mao ordered many of the trees cut which destroyed the habitat for the birds. Maybe I’ll Google this upon returning home.

After the double transfer, we arrived back at the ship and were greeted with warm towels and hot tea...both appreciated after the cold boat trip.

Lunch followed, a few hands of bridge and then time for the silk embroidery demonstration, a lecture on fresh water pearls and their care and a Chinese lesson -all before dinner. The motto of this trip might be something about idle hands and feet.

The pearl lesson included the fact that there are four natural colors of fresh water pearls...white, pink, purple and black. The color does not really affect the value as the value is based on the shape with round being the top quality. Although the irregular ones and the smaller “rice” pearls are also attractive, I think. Pearls should be a tiny bit irregular. If they are too perfect, they are probably not authentic!

Evidently, it is not possible to tell if pearls are real just by appearance or weight. Instead, they can be tested by one of three methods: rub one against your teeth to see if they have a gritty feel...they should; rub one against a mirror and look for the pearl powder...it won't harm them as they are the same all the way through or rub one against another and they will feel rough. Genuine pearls can be washed in gentle, soapy water and left to dry naturally on a towel. Then one should slip them back into a velvet pouch for safe keeping. They should not be kept with other jewelry that may scratch them.

The cruise upstream today toward Chungking ( Chongqing) , the largest city in China, was magnificent as there were incredible amounts of peach and plum trees in bloom. The towering hills were absolutely covered in the trees! 

Unbelievably beautiful trees

Sprinkled in, as well, one could see orange trees laden with fruit. Following these magnificent vistas, we passed through the last of the three gorges which, to me, was the most beautiful.


After dinner, the crew performed their version of cabaret complete with Robin, the bartender, as a magician and Steven, ship manager, as the man with many faces. There were several dance numbers with the young girls doing a good job. Mostly it was ethnic music and dance and so interesting.

We went back to the cabin by 10:30 to wash out a few things and prepare for the next day. There just weren’t many late nights with the pace of the tour!

Note: The drink of the day was Shanghai Sunrise...vodka, triple sec and lime juice...suspiciously like Vodka Gimlet and really tasty at 28RMB. The drinks on the boat were certainly much more reasonable than the hotels.