China - Yangtze River - Wu Xia

Wednesday, 1 May 2019

Immediately after lunch we started through the second, longer gorge, the Wu Xia. It is 28 miles (45 km) long.

The start of the Wu Xia at Wushan.

A tributary entering the gorge at Wushan, just before the bridge.

The gorge gets quite narrow.

The scenery changes with each bend in the river.

Steep mountains surround the gorge.

Depth markers along the steep shores.

Highly contorted limestone sediments on the cliff-like banks of the river.

One of the criticisms of the Three Gorges Dam project is that the limestone base and the fluctuating water level has led to frequent landslides. We saw many attempts to stabilize the steep sides. Here the landslides are covered with a blue-green fabric that was widely used at construction sites throughout China to keep down the dust.

Slope stabilization with anchors into the rock.

Large retaining walls.

Domestic goats didn't seem to mind the steep terrain.

About a third of the way through the gorge is the "Goddess", a small rock pillar.

A closer look at the Goddess rock formation.

Looking back up the gorge from the base of Goddess peak.