More hardcore backpacking

After our few days in Shanghai, we grabbed a flight to the city of Chongqing and boarded our cruise ship that was going to take us down the Yangtzee River through the 3 Gorges and the now infamous damn.

The cruise itself was really relaxing, and in typical Chinese efficiency (and over-management) they had allocated us tables in the dining room with like-minded countrymen. Unfortunately when Heather booked the cruise, they mistook Australia for Austria so we were at a table of Germans. Fortunately, they were mostly a good bunch and were happy to chat in English. Despite any temptations, I avoided mentioning the war or 1966.

The 3 Gorges themselves are spectacular to look at and worth visiting. Although the dam is going to raise the water level by about 40 metres or 120 feet, the reality is that the gorges are so tall the environmental impact really is not going be significant. It will also provide millions of gallons of water to Southern China and supply upto 10% of China's electricity requirements. Certainly a better option than invading Taiwan!

Part of the tour included a couple of day excursions, one of which was to the City of Ghosts which is an anicient temple. This was an interesting place to visit and included one macabre room which represented Hell. The other major excursion was to the 3 Gorges Dam site (which we had passed through during the night). As the project is costing over 100 Billion Yuan (the Chinese currency) and is the largest such project in the world ever, the Chinese are very proud (and boastful) of it, but really a dam, is a dam, is a dam (in my opinion). We were driven round the dam site, having the 5 stage locks (the only one of its kind in the world!) pointed out to us, along with the top of the dam ('if you came next month, we could go along the top'). Interesting to see, but really not spectacular.

All in all, the 3 Gorges is a splendid sight to behold and worth doing if you get the opportunity.