Three Gorges

Yangtze River, Hubei/Chongqing, China

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The Three Gorges, stretching along the Yangtze River through Hubei and Chongqing, form one of China’s most awe-inspiring natural spectacles—a fusion of dramatic geology, ancient lore, and modern engineering. Carved over millennia, Qutang, Wu, and Xiling Gorges rise like stone guardians along the river’s path, their sheer cliffs and mist-veiled ridges framing waters that once surged with untamed power.

This landscape has stirred poets and painters for centuries, their verses etched into the cliffs, their brushstrokes echoing the grandeur of a river that flows like the lifeblood of a civilization. Today, the Three Gorges are inseparable from the immense dam that shares their name—a feat of human ambition that tamed the mighty current and altered the region forever.

The reservoir has submerged ancient towns and unearthed new reflections on progress and preservation. Yet the soul of the Gorges endures, in the mythic silhouette of peaks like the Twelve Peaks of Wu, in the haunting stillness of submerged valleys, and in the gentle drift of boats tracing the path of dynasties.