As a result of the dam today we sailed through the most scenic part of the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges.
The large size of the reservoir caused huge relocation upstream, it was considered justified by the flood protection it provides for communities downstream. As of June 2008, China relocated 1.24 million residents (ending with Gaoyangin Hubei Province) as 13 cities, 140 towns and 1350 villages either flooded or were partially flooded by the reservoir about 1.5% of the province's 60.3 million and ChongqingMunicipality's 31.44 million population. About 140,000 residents were relocated to other provinces.
After breakfast we transferred to a smaller boat to cruise through the Lesser Three Gorges. In these mountains we saw the hanging coffins of the Ba people. We then transferred onto a Sampan for a 40 minute ride and along the way traditional music and singing was on display for us – it was altogether magical although the Sampan was not the most comfortable means of transport
We sail further down stream then another stop to climb a hill and reach the place where we can see the real thing that is on the back of the 10 Yuan Note.
It was a long walk up the hill, well for most of us.
