Day 13 Yangtze River -- Three Gorges Dam

This morning, we toured the Three Gorges Dam at Sandouping. This was not a tour of the dam itself, but we saw the dam up close and from a high vantage point. The day was foggy and hot, which allowed us to see only the nearby parts of the dam. The dam is the largest concrete dam in the world (not the longest dam, the highest dam, or the greatest capacity dam), but it is a significant dam in flood prevention, electricity production (largest hydroelectric power station in the world), and in aiding shipping on the river. The Yangtze's amount of water flow is exceeded only by the Amazon and the Congo, so the dam has to manage a huge amount of water. About 50% of Shanghai's electricity is produced by this dam's generators. We were able to see the shipping locks well from the high viewing area. The locks raise and lower ships about 60 meters (at the highest water levels). This is done in a five-step lock system with one system for each direction. Each lock will handle as many as six large ships/barges at a time allowing it to handle a large volume of shipping. Apparently, there is no charge for using the locks. The appearance was basic utilitarian. Now that the dam has been built, it is fulfilling its functions, but still 1.4 million people were displaced from the former river valley, and whatever river life existed before has been changed forever. A major concern I had in looking at the river and the dam is that even with the great depth of the water, there is so much silt in the water that will settle out behind the dam that eventually it will fill up.
 
We cruised on the river below the dam after our tour, coming to another dam in a few hours.  It was much smaller, lowering the water in its single lock only a fraction of what the Three Gorges Dam did. By now, the mountains alongside the river had become hills and then flat land. Of course, the fog and haze remained, so it was difficult to determine what was beyond the banks of the river. Although, there was still farming on the river banks, we saw more and more industrial sites along the river. Shipping also increased. We stopped during the night at Jingzhou.
 
Throughout the trip, we have been provided three large meals a day. Breakfasts at the hotels and on the boat have been elaborate buffets providing both Chinese and western fare with omelets and waffles or pancakes made to order, many kinds of fruits, and breads and pastries. The lunches before we reached the boat were often at a local restaurant in the areas we were touring; these were mostly Chinese dinners with a number of courses served on a lazy-susan table. On the boat, lunches have been a salad bar, with soup and small sandwiches followed by a small entree and dessert (if you wanted these).
Dinners before the boat were elaborate Chinese dinners with many courses. On the boat, dinners have been a choice of several salads, soups, entrees, and desserts, mostly western food. We have had an abundance of food, most of it was tasty and interesting. I tried almost everything at the Chinese dinners (I can't remember what all we were served), but I only needed a very small serving of some of the foods. The foods in the Sichuan Province were especially spicy, and there were many new flavors.

Pictures:  Three Gorges Dam and Lock, Lock on lower dam on Yangtze (waiting for lock to unload), Fishing boat