Satellite
  • Day 7

    Three Gorges

    August 2, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Alarm set for 6.45 am to see us go into the first ship lock of the Gezhouba Dam. Quite a sight to see. Once through this we entered the Xiling Gorge - the scenery changed from flat landscapes and high rised towers to spectacular greenery and rock formations along with houses nestled in the hillsides. We learnt that there are no trades in this this picturesque area and that many family members go elsewhere to work and send money home.

    After lunch the boat moored and we headed over to the Three Gorges Dam Project. This opened in 2008 and is the world's largest generator of electrical power from a renewable sourse. The dam is 8000ft and 6000 ft wide - and visiable from space. The estimated cost to build is US$28 billion - and over a million people were displaced when it was built. It really is an amazing site to see. Added to this we experienced the hottest day so far - temperatures soared to 46 degrees plus - thank goodness for air conditioning on the coach!

    As we head to midnight now, we have just left to go through the dam consisiting of 4 stepped locks that will take over three hours to navigate - there are normally 5 locks but one is not in use at the moment. We are off to watch the start of this now!
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