The excursion to the Three Gorges Dam was indeed an eye-opener.
We didn't only went to the dams but we were also able to view the magnificent and majestic sceneries that lies along the Yangtze River.
The dam's name actually refers to the breathtaking limestone cliffs of Qutang, Wu and Xiling Gorges which are located along the Yangtze River.
That's where the name Three Gorges actually came about. (:
And our 3 days 2 nights excursion starts here..
day 11
This is a model of the entire Three Gorges Project.
Of course, the focus was on the dam itself but there is also the two-way five-step ship lock.
It is actually a facility for the 113 meter drop between the upstream and downstream that is separated by the huge dam.
Building the dam was definitely not an easy task.
The engineers had to solve a number of unprecedented technical difficulties that occurred not only at the dam but also at the ship locks.
They had to ensure that the ship locks are able to work as planned or else ships may just get stucked inside the ship locks. (:
A view of the entire stretch of the Three Gorges Dam.
In order to build the dam, many archeological sites had to be submerged beneath the waters.
This includes ancestrial burial grounds and fossil remains which would be lost.
Many people also had to be resettled to higher grounds and this was the major controversy.
It is because they had not been compensated adequately and they also lost the high fertile land that they owned.
I feel that certain issues could have been addressed more appropriately.
I believe that for everything that we do, there are definitely pros and cons to it.
Not all times that it is only about the recognition and reputation that may be gained.
It is how the group of people involved reacts and deals with the concerned issues that matters.
Nothing in this world exist without disadvantages. (:
But the Three Gorges Dam definitely helps to generate power for the country and therefore, they need not be too dependent on other countries for crude oil.
I believe this is also one of the reasons why Singapore had came up with NEWater.
It is because we do not want to be too dependent on other countries for water and thus, we have to find our own way of recycling/renewing water with the resources that we have.
NE Message: No one owes Singapore a living.
Indeed, we must always find our own way to survive and prosper and turning challenges into opportunity although we are only a small country.
(:
If you look closely at the top of the mountain, you can see the shape of Mao Zedong lying down.
To the left is his head, followed by his body and to the right are his legs.
There are some angles which have even better view of it than this.
I didn't manage to capture it though.
It is interesting how the Chinese people can make out something simply out of the mountains.
I think it shows how good they are at looking things from a different perspective.
Even when it was mentioned, some of us could hardly identify the shape of it.
Sometimes, it just takes that one split of a second to see the whole picture. (:
This was the ship lock that I mentioned just now.
It was taken before the water level rose.
However, this is only one step.
It is really huge, isn't it? (:
How it works is that the gate will open for the ships to move in.
Once the ship lock has been fully occupied (most of the time, the maximum is 2 big ships),
the gate will close and after some time the water level will rise up.
This will then lift the ships up to the next water level. (:
While waiting for the water level to rise, the person on the ship behind us actually used a wooden pole to avoid their ship from hitting the one in front by directing it to the side.
The water level rose up quite fast and before we knew it, we were reaching soon.
The whole process only took around 15 to 20 minutes.
There are more to explore for the next day.
the dam and the ship. (:
day 12
We had to change from our ship to a smaller one that will bring us to the Shennong Stream.
At the Shennong Stream, we have to further change into a smaller boat.
This is because we will get to experience how the boat trackers actually work. (:
While looking at this flight of stairs, I had some random thoughts;
I can't imagine myself climbing those steps though.
Little did I know what was in store for us today.
Hahaha.
Many of us were quite fascinated by this bridge.
I guess its because we have never really seen such a long bridge before.
Hahaha.
The waters are really green. (:
So green that we can even see the reflection of the surroundings quite clearly.
A group photo. (:
As usual, the three of us. Hahaha. (:
There they are the boat trackers! (:
Well, they may look small, skinny or old but don't underestimate their strength.
With 17 passengers and 5 boat trackers on the boat, they indeed have alot in them to row the boat just by using those paddles.
There is actually a boat tracker at the back who will manipulate the direction of the boat.
And again, the water is just so clear! (:
What they are doing is they are pulling the boat using ropes that is attached to their body and the boat.
They have to pull the boat because the area here is filled with many sediments and the water is very shallow.
Therefore, the only way to get the boat across is by pulling them. (:
The footwear that they wore looks like any normal sandal.
But it is made up of a material that is non-slippery so that they can pull the boat through the slippery rocks which they stand on and not hurt themselves.
After we have experience that, it was time for us to get to the smaller ship and back to the original one.
Here are some views taken while on the way back.
Civilisation on the high land.
A cave that leads to nowhere?
Hahaha.
When we got back, we rested for awhile and had our lunch.
Well, there were more interesting things to see today. (:
See the small red "hut" in the middle?
Initially, we thought it was a temple but it wasn't.
When we had a closer look on it, it was quite empty inside.
Remember the mountain that looked like Mao Zedong?
Here is another one that looked like the Buddha's hand. (:
We actually had some sightseeing at Chang Jiang San Xia.
However, it was already quite late in the evening so we couldn't really see much except for the ones at the musuem.
The musuem actually showcase the olden artefacts that were found along the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.
The orange lights is actually the flight of stairs we had to climb in order to get to the musuem.
It was kind of tiring to climb in the cold weather and without doing any warm-ups.
Hahaha.
This is the interesting one that we saw while on the way to the Shennong Stream;
Only that here at the museum, it is placed in a transparent container while the one we saw was hanging up in the cliffs on a plank.
It is actually known as the Suspended Coffin and is the funeral customs of a civilisation known as the Pu People.
It was believed that the higher the coffin is hung, the greater the filial piety is expressed.
The coffin is made from a tree trunk and sometimes two bodies might be placed in the same coffin.
Interestingly mysterious. (:
A poem that is inscribed on a rectangle stone.
The furnitures here are actually 400 years old.
Pearls are also used in the furniture as a symbol of royalty.
These seats are usually for the more important persons.
I guess most of us were tired by then because of the weather.
The sun is there but the coldness is also present.
It was like a mixture of hot and cold. (:
just a mixture of everything. (:
day 13
Most of the time spent today was on the journey back to WUST.
Along the way, we stopped at a place to buy the speciality food.
I didn't buy any though.
During the stop, I had an urgent nature's call.
Xinhui asked around where the toilet was and surprisingly, they offered their help to show us the way.
And they are..
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The Policemen!
Hahaha. (:
This shows how they are willing to extend their help to others. (:
In Singapore, we don't see rubbish bins being placed inside the toilet cubicle.
Over here, they are placed for a reason;
After using the tissue to clean yourself, you shouldn't throw the tissue into the toilet bowl but throw it into the rubbish bin.
This is because the pipes are designed only to take in materials that can be dissolved and tissue can't be.
If not, the pipe will be choked and all the materials down the pipe will float upwards..
Hahaha.
Better to be safe than regretting it later. (:
And this is our lovely tourguide who filled us with so much information within these 3 days;
Explaining to us every single detail that we should know. (:
the end of the trip. (:
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