goodmorning,ladiesandgentlemen,weletochina!weletohubeiprovince!
todayiamverypleasedtoshowyouthreegesofyangtzeriver.
atfirsti’llhaveabriefintroductionofyangtzeriver,theyangtzeriver,thebiggestriverinchina,thethirdlongestintheworld,startswiththetuotuoriverattheroofoftheworld-qinghai-tibetplateau,takesincountlessrivers,andflowseastwardacrosstheinteriorofchina.withanoveralllengthofmorethan6,300kilometers,theyangtzeriver,nextonlytotheamazonandthenile,isthethirdbiggestriverintheworldandisacradlethatbreedstheancientcivilizationofthechinesenation.
whentheyangtzeriverreachestheeasternsichuanbasininsouthwestchina,itcutsthroughthewushanmountain.heretherivercoursesuddenlynarrowsandthewatersbeeturbulent.sheercliffsandsteepmountainsriseoneitherside,creatingoneofnature'smostfantasticsights.thethreeges---qutang,wuxiaandxiling----startjustafterfengjieandendnearyichang,stretchabout200kilometers.thegesvaryfrom300metresattheirwidesttolessthan100metersattheirnarrowest.
qutanggeisthesmallestandshortestge,butgrandestofthethree.theyangtzeriver,mightyandrapidhereissuddenlycontainedlike"athousandseaspouredintoonecup",asthesongdynastypoetsutungpodescribedthespectacle.highonthebothbank,ataplacecalledbellowsge,areaseriesofcrevices.thisareaissaidtohavebeenthehomeofanancienttribewhosecustomwastoplacethecoffinsoftheircrevices,somecontainingbronzeswords,armourandotherartifacts,butthecoffinsarebelievedtodatebackasfarasthewarringstatesperiod(475bc----221bc)
wugeextends40kilometersalongwhichtheriversnakesbetweenbasedstrange-shapedmountainpeaks,eachofwhichhasareputationbasedonabeautifullegend.thestoryofthe"12peaksofwushangoeslikethis:12nymphsoncedescendedtoenjoythemselvesinthesecularworld.findinghowperilouswushangewas,theydecidedtostaytheretoprotectships.astimewentby,theytransformedthemselvesinto12peaks.thegoddesspeak,themostgracefulofthe12,issaidtohavebeenyaoji,theyoungestdaughterofthequeenmotherofthewesternheaven.goddesspeakstandsoutfromtheotherpeaksonthenorthernbanktobethefirsttogreetthemorningsunandthelasttobiditfarewell,henceitsanothername,viewingtheglowpeak.seenatadistance,itresemblesthesilhouetteofabeautifulyounglady.
downstreamfromthezigzaggingwuxiageisxilinggewhichstretches78kilometerseastwardandthecliffsoneithersiderisetojustover900meters.xilinggeisawesomewithitsdangerousrapids,shoals,reefs,sharpturns,billowywhirlpools.thewateratonepointissoturbulentthatitseemstobeboilingduringthefloodseason.xilinggeintheeastconsistsofseveralsmallges.onthetopofanotherisarockthatlookslikeasword.onthecragofthenorthbankaretwopiecesofbrownrock,whicharenamedbull'sliverandhorse'lung,whoseshapetheytake.nextdoesthelanternshadowge,whichhasfourrocks,resemblemonkxuanzangandhisthreedisciples---monkey,piggyandsandyintheclassihineseadventuresofthefourontheirwaytoindiatoobtainbuddhistscriptures.
aroundthelastbendofxilinggestretchesavastplain.theriversuddenlybeeswidehere.travelersontheyangtzecruisemayalsovisitmanysitesofhistoricalandscenicinterestalongtheriverbanksincludingtheruinedofbaiditownandpreciousstonevillage.
everyoneknowsthattheyangtzegesarechangingsincethewell-knownthreegesdamprojectisbeingbuiltatsabdouping,yichang,hubeiprovince.thedamis181metersinheight.itsconstructioninvestmentesupto203.9billionrmb,equalsto24.65billionu.s.dollars.theinstalledpowergenerationcapacityisexpectedtobe18.2millionkilowatts.withthedambuilt,thefloodintheyangtzerivervalleywillbecontrolled,navigationimprovedbesidestheeconomicbenefits.tourismwillbelittleaffected.manyculturalandhistoricalrelicsarenowbeingremovedtoahighergroundbeforetheriseofthewaterlevelapproaches.