YANGTZE
RIVER Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to Chongqing! I am very glad to be your local guide for today’s visit.My name is zhang jingying.You can just call me Angela if that is easier for you to remember.I am from china youth travel service, chongqing branch.
On behalf of my company, I hope that all of you will feel as good as today’s sunshine and enjoy yourselves here.We will try our best to make your visit a very pleasant and enjoyable one.And now our ship has leaved the CHONGQING PORT, in the following time we will have a visit on the 3 gorges of Yangtze river- one of nature’s most fantastic sights.During the tour if you have any questions or some good ideas please point them out or just tell me, I will try my best to satisfy you.Wish you a wonderful journey!
So first or above all, let me give you a brief introduction of Yangtze River.The Yangtze River, the biggest river in China, the third longest in the World, starts with the Tuotuo River at the Roof of the World-Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, takes in countle rivers, and flows eastward acro the interior of China.It flows through Qinghai Tibet Yunnan Sichuan chongqing hubei hunan jiangxi anhui jiangsu and shanghai, 11 provinces, cities and autonomous region. With an overall length of more than 6,300 kilometers, the Yangtze River next only to the Amazon and the Nile, is the third biggest river in the world and is a cradle that breeds the ancient civilization of the Chinese nation.
When the Yangtze River reaches the eastern Sichuan basin in southwest china, it cuts through the WUSHAN Mountain.Here the river course suddenly narrows and the waters become turbulent.Sheer cliffs and steep mountains rise on either side, creating one of nature’s fantastic sights-the 3 gorges.Extend about 192km, the 3 gorges made up of qutang gorge, wu gorge and xiling gorge.It starts from baidi city, fengjie town in chongqing to nanjingguan of yichang city in hubei province.The gorges vary from 300 meters at their widest to le than 100 meters at their narrowest. The 3 parts of the gorges have their own characteristics.So next let me introduce you them.The first one is qutang gorge, which wins its fame for grand precipice.It is only 8km and is the smallest and shortest one of the three, but its landscape is the most magnificent.The Yangtze River runs very fast here, and it suddenly looks like a thousand of seas poured into one cup.
And the next one is the wu gorge which got the name from Wu Mountain.The wu gorge extends or stretches about 44km well known for its profound beauty.Traveling in the deep seems like sailing in a nature gallery.Whenever the visitors arrived here, they were all fascinated by the famous 12 peaks of Wu Mountain.The 12 peaks stand thousands of meters high above the water.Their shapes are various and each of them has a reputation based on a beautiful legend.Godde peak stands out from the other peaks on the north bank.It is the most beautiful and upright one among them.It just looks like a slim and beautiful young lady.Every day the godde peak is the first to greet the morning sun and the last to bid it farewell.
Down stream from the zigzagging wu gorge is the xiling gorge.It starts from xiangxikou in the west and ends to nanjinguan of yichang in the east.Its total length of 78 km runs the longest in the 3 gorges.Xiling gorge is awesome with its dangerous rapids, shoals, reefs, sharp turns and billowy whirlpools.Xiling means West Mountains in Chinese because it located in the west of yichang.It takes on the typical scenery of the later three gorges, and the scene is very splendid here. Ok, then let me introduce the Yangtze river 3 gorges project
The Three Gorges Dam has become a symbol of China\'s efforts to join the modern world.It was begun until 1994 and has been completed in 2009.now the Three Gorges Dam is the world\'s largest at 7.575 feet long and 594 feet high.The dam\'s main purpose is to improve flood control and navigation on the river.In addition, the dam will increase electric power production in China by 20% in central China where it is really needed.Finally, the dam will boost fisheries, tourism, and recreational activities in the area.
Ok, let us just stop here.In the following time, let me introduce our first visit place, the badi city!
Located at the entrance of the Qutang Gorge on the north bank of the river, Baidi city, also known as White Emperor City clings to grandeur hills and cliffs.It is actually is a mini city scattered with temples and gates on top of Baidi Hill.
The Baidi City was said to be built by Gongsun Shu, an official turned soldier, as the site of his headquarters during the end of the Western Han Dynasty.The legend goes that in 25 A.D.Gong Sunshu saw white vapor in the shape of a dragon rising from a nearby well, and taking this as an auspicious omen, he declared himself the \'White Emperor\' and renamed the town \'White Emperor City\' and the hill Baidi Hill.Later in 36A.D.he raised a war with Liuxiu (Emperor Guangwu of the Easten Han Dynasty), then a member of the Han imperial family, in order to annex each other.In this turbulent period, the city was entirely survived from warfare.The grateful local people then built a temple to commemorate him.During the Ming Dynasty, the statue of Gongsun Shu was replaced by a new one for Liubei and later with another three for Guanyu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang respectively.
Another story of the city is about the Three Kingdoms.During the Three Kingdoms Period, Liu Bei, the king of Shu, retreated from a disastrous war against general Lu Xun of Wu Kingdom, and died here in distre.On his deathbed, Liu entrusted state affairs and his son, Liu Chan, to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang (a famous idea man in China\'s history).The front hall contains large modern statues which depict the scene in the story.To the left is the handsome, winged Observing Stars Pavilion (Guanxing Ting) where Zhuge Liang observed the stars and made accurate weather forecasts which helped him plan his victorious battles.With upturned eaves and polished beams, the temple has 12 pillars on the ground floor and 6 on the upper floor.
Baidi city is also known as City of Poems.In ancient times, attracted by its fame, many scholars and poets visited here and left lots of literal relics.In the city, there are over 70 poems, carvings, and cultural relics of the Sui, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, in which two steles from Sui, Qing Emperor Kangxi, Bamboo-Leaf Stele and Phoenix Stele are the most outstanding. Ok, ladies and gentlemen! Our ship is nearing the land! So let us prepare to get out of the boat to see the baidi city!
