Chongqing,
once called Chungking, is one of the Five National Central Cities in China. It
is traditionally associated with the State of Ba and the Ba who arrived in the
area in about 316 BC. As with Beijing, it underwent the same sort of wars and
name changes from the late 200s BC through the Ming Dynasty. The area was
eventually conquered by the Manchus during the Qing Dynasty with immigration to
Chongqing and Sichuan in support of Qing emperor. Foreigners were first allowed into the area
in 1890 when the British Consulate General was opened. The Japanese, French,
German, and US consulates were opened in Chongqing between 1896 and 1904. The
big excitement came during the Second
Sino-Japanese War when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek made Chongqing his
provisional capital. The mountainous environment was protection from bombs
leading factories and universities to relocate here. Coming into this area made
me realize why so many Chinese pieces of art show mountains shrouded in clouds.
Chongqing has over 100 days of fog per year with 68 of those days occurring during
the spring and autumn. Of course it’s not all fog. Chongqing is among one of
the ten most air-polluted cities in the world; the list includes Beijing,
Jinan, Lanzhou, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, and Urumqi.
One of the prettiest places on the Yangtze is Shibaozhai,
the ‘Precious Stone Fortress’. We arrived during a drizzle that washed the air,
at least. The town seemed to be just waking up,
but it looked like vendors
would be ready for us on our way back to the boat. Once we entered the gate,
the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac greeted us; these bronze heads all
look like they are smiling. The pavilion sits on a rather steep hill that you
get to by crossing a wobbling bridge. There’s nothing wrong with the bridge, it
is hinged so that it flexes as you walk across. I had a good time, but other
folks weren’t quite as happy with the passage. The red pavilion leans against
the side of the hill providing a series of levels leading to the large wooden Buddhist
temple at the top. As you climb the stairs, you get some great views of the
area and meet many historical figures. Guan Yu actually was a warrior fighting
in several of the many battles that plagued this area. He was deified and is
worshiped even today as the god who blesses people who observe the warrior’s code
of brotherhood and righteousness. On the next level are Vidrachaka who gave
order to all creatures, grew the root of human kindness and safeguarded Buddha
Dharma; and Dhritazastra who shows mercy and protects all creatures. They live
in the Sumeru Mountains. The cloud deities are on the next level; they protect
the people who are on the earth below. Within the temple are more deities and
information about the bridge to hell as well as the two that go to heaven. At
the bottom of the pavilion is a white wall that shows the history of the area
as it winds up to the entry level of the area; it’s quite a lovely place. For a
while there was a fear that the construction of the Three Gorges Dam would put
this place under water; thankfully that didn’t happen.
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| Top L to R: City gate, Wobbly bridge and island Bottom L to R: Vidrachaka and Dhritazastra, Red pavilion |
Sailing a bit further brought us to the spectacular scenery
of the Three
Gorges (two before the dam). The first, shortest and perhaps prettiest is
the Qutang Gorge. Lined with 4,000 ft. high mountains and only 500 ft. wide at
its widest point, it is the location of the Hanging Coffins. Placed in caves or
on jutting pieces of rocks the Ba people used this method to
preserve their
dead. The Wu Gorge has been known since at least the Three Kingdoms Period; on
both sides of the Yangtze are, of course, the Wu Mountains. Topping one of the
mountains is the Goddess Peak. It is named for Yao Ji, the youngest daughter of
the Heavenly Mother. This young goddess and her eleven sisters visited the
earth because she felt lonely in heaven. When they arrived at the Wu Gorge,
they met Yu the Great who was in the process of controlling the flood. Touched
by his spirit, Yao Ji wanted to help by sending him a sealed book that told
about the control of water. But before she could decode the book, she and her
sisters were captured by the soldiers from heaven and were to be taken back. To
help Yu the Great, the girls broke the chain that bound them and returned to
the earth. With the help of Yao Ji and her eleven sisters, Yu the Great overcame
the flood. Yao Ji was worshiped as a protector of the people who guided sailing
boats through the gorge and controlled the Yangtze's infamous floods. She
stands near the top of Goddess Peak looking down on the river. Beneath this
mountain is the point at which Goddess
Stream flows into the Yangtze. This is a narrow little waterway that runs
about 20 miles into the mountains. The primal natural landscape is home to a
number of folks displaced by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Many of
the people moved up the mountains and continued to farm while others work with
the tourist industry, and still others have been relocated in the cities and
towns that are around the Dam. We took small boats into this stream and had a
look at environment while our guide told us about the customs of the people who
live in the area. This was one of my favorite side trips.
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| Top L to R: Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge Bottom L to R: Goddess Peak, Goddess Stream |
Sun Yat-sen
originally envisioned a large dam across the Yangtze River in 1919. This dam
was to generate electricity and to control the floods on the river. In 1944
American engineer John
L. Savage surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal that included moving
ships
along using locks. With all the survey work done and the Chinese
engineers in place, work was disrupted by the Chinese Civil
War and then the Communist takeover, then was disrupted again by the Great
Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
The project was back on line by 1994 and fully operational by 2012 with a ‘ship lift’
completed in 2015. The Three
Gorges Dam reduces coal consumption by 31 million tons per year, avoiding
100 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, millions of tons of dust, one
million tons of sulfur dioxide, 370,000 tons of nitric oxide, 10,000 tons of
carbon monoxide, and a substantial amount of mercury. Unfortunately there are
some side effects: the dam sits on a seismic fault and 80% of the land in the
area is experiencing erosion, depositing about 40 million tons of sediment into
the Yangtze annually. Since this silt is staying upstream rather than being
washed down sediment buildup causes biological damage and reduces aquatic
biodiversity, downstream riverbanks are more vulnerable to flooding, and
Shanghai is more vulnerable inundation. There has also been an effect on people
living in the area. Relocation
of residents has displaced about 1.24 million people, flooding or partially
flooding 13 cities, 140 towns and 1350 villages. There are rumors that
Chongqing Municipality will urge another four million more people to leave the
dam area moving to the main urban area of Chongqing by 2020.
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| Top L to R: Lock, Block turned into fountain Bottom L to R: Book with workers' names, Three gorges Dam |
We went through the locks of the Three Gorges Dam in the
middle of the night. I woke up to some scraping noises and a view of a concrete
wall; I went back to bed. Up next is Jingzhou and Wuhan, Shanghai, and lastly
food, places to stay and cultural programs both on and off the ship.
来吧，我们走吧！
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| Chinese Zodiac Characters |
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