The Dams and Three Gorges.

We passed two dams: the smaller Gezhouba and the huge Three Gorges dam. The ship crossed through locks, according to the schedule prescribed by the River authority. Then we cruised the Three Gorges and after that boarded a smaller boat for a trip to some minor gorges.

The locks have two lanes, one for rising the boats and one for lowering them, each lane in five stages. Each stage is a basin, with gates at both ends. When enough boats fit in the basin, they are moored to rods in the walls, the entrance gate closes, and the water flows in or out, adjusting to the next level. The rods in the wall move correspondingly, to keep the boats at rest. Finally, the exit gate opens, the boats are freed and they sail to the next stage.

The pictures are all bad, because of the lighting and backlight processing. All you can get is a feeling for the size of the construction, and the boats maneuvering inside.

What we saw was much more impressive. The locks are well lighted at night, so you can read the signs and see around, although you cannot photograph.

The ship, moored near the lock wall, and passing by the open gate. The distances are just a few meters, probably less than 10 feet.

The gates almost closed.

The water is rising behind closed gates. You can see two ships side by side.         Fully open gate.

There were two boats side by side, each attached to its wall; we, the tourists, are on the left.

A rather ridiculous dragon, the company's logo, on our ship passing by the wall.

The river level; it may go to 165m above sea level. Does not sound much, especially as the upper course of the Yangtze is in Tibet, but is enough to flood 30% of China's population, or, conversely, produce 15% of China's electricity. It is also high enough to make one of the former tributaries run backwards, supplying water to drier North China.

The dams are, obviously, under military control. Here we see valiant guards at the entrance to the construction zone, and power central.

Our boat shows behind us, you can read "Victoria Cruises" . They should pay us for endorsement.

The hanging coffin In prehistoric times, there lived in the region a people the Chinese called Ba, which used to bury their dead as near as possible to heaven. So there are coffins found, in caves high in the cliffs. Here is the one that may be seen from cruising : a squarish thing in the bigger cave.

The rocks are mostly chalk, and rich in typical formations: crags, caves and stalactites at water level.

I shot myself in the window.

Here one can see the difference between high water and low water on the river.

A big cave above the shore.

Power lines to the rest of China. See also: electrification.

Mountain shark. The cave is its open mouth, the sharp peak its snout.

Two monkeys, two! We really saw monkeys, not in the trees as expected, but sunning themselves on the exposed rocks between high and low water. Now, can  you see them in the miserable picture? With a lot of goodwill: a brownish one under the bushes and a grey one, with a long tail, on reddish ground.

The same monkeys, with much more greenery and a red spot – thrash everywhere, the planet is polluted!

A brownish mokey in front of white rocks, near the bottom.