Yangtze River cruise

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We are now into day 3 of our Yangtze River cruise. There are an about 250 passengers on board plus about 80 staff and crew. The ship is rated 5 star but probably more realistically 4 star, still very well appointed and comfortable with two dining rooms, a large bar and an observation deck. Yesterday we had two stops, the first to visit the "Tribe of the three gorges" and second to see the enormous three gorges dam. The dam was completed about 16 years ago at a cost of US$23bn and 45% of that was to relocate and house 640,000 people whose homes were flooded by the dam. It is the biggest hydro project in the world producing 22.5 billion kilowatts which was 10% of China's consumption 10 years ago but now represents only 2.7%. Increased demand has come from better living standards and industry converting from diesel to electric. China are planning 20 more hydro schemes on the Yangstze over the next 15 years. The "tribe of the three gorges" visit gave an insight into how they lived in these areas before the dam. It was very well done in a very scenic little river trubutary of the Yangtze.
Today we took a scenic jaunt up a narrow side gorge called the Goddess river, a deep ravine with towering limestone sides that would have been close to 1000 metres high. This section of the river we are cruising through is very impressive on a grand scale

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Photos

image.
At the tribe of the three gorges