[Yellow Crane Tower] The story is that a monk, who could not pay his food and drink bill, gave his host a crane. The monk fashioned the bird with orange peels, pressed into the side of the owner's tower. The crane would fly out and entertain guests, and people came from all over to see it. And the owner prospered.

[Yangtze] Mumsy and I set out for a five day boat ride up the Yangtze River. Our cabin on the Victoria Princess.

[Yangtze] Mumsy on the front deck of the Victoria Princess.

[Yangtze] Coal barge, one of many, on the river.

[Yangtze] Boat lock. The Yangtze has actually already been damed once: the Gezhouba Dam. Here we take a lock to the top (note how close the boat is to the side...)

[Yangtze] Pagoda on the banks of the river.

[Yangtze] View from boat, morning.

[Yangtze] View of Three Gorges river bank. Note the small indent just above the tree line. That marks a path that was used by folks that pulled boats up the river back in the day known for people falling from the banks and dying.

[Yangtze] Three Gorges dam: model of project. The people in the red and white badges were on our tour. Yup. We all wore badges. I've never been counted so often...

[Yangtze] Dam site. This was a "clear" day. The air was so thick with particles, that it was hard to see. Rough on the throat as well.

[Yangtze] More Dam site. This is where the lock will go. Four steps up about 80 meters.

[Yangtze] Even more Dam site. Another view.

[Yangtze] Even more Dam site. Yet another view.

[Yangtze] Dam site: Mau rock. There's a saying that Mau, who was a big proponent of the Three Gorges dam, watches over the project. Here you can make out his form in the silhouette of the rock.

[Yangtze] Hydroplane.

[Yangtze] This bridge will be submerged in 2003, when the first stage of dam operations begins.

[Yangtze] Water level marks. The lower white rectangular mark will be submerged in 2003. The higher, right by the tree line, will be submerged in 2009, when the whole dam project is complete.

[Yangtze] The front of the small boat we took through the Lesser Three Gorges-- three sections of Wushan valley in mid-stream of Da Ning River. They are "Dragon-Gate Gorge," "Misty Gorge" and "Emerald Gorge," 60 Km in length.

[Yangtze] Another shot of the Lesser Three Gorges.

[Yangtze] And still another shot of the Lesser Three Gorges.

[Yangtze] Loading coal onto a barge on the river.

[Yangtze] The line of small white squares reads "Plant Trees." There is a big government campaign to plant trees and prevent erosion. Often, along the banks, there are newly planted trees and signs with this message.

[Yangtze] The river is too narrow in many places in the Three Gorges area for more than one boat (either upstream or down) to pass at a time. There are many navigation stations. Either an "Upstream" or "Downstream" arrow shows which way traffic may pass. Note: these stations often seemed to be at odds with our passage.