The Three Gorges of Yangtze River extend 193 kilometers from the western Baidicheng in Sichan Province, to Nanjinguan of Yichang city in Hubei Province in the east. They differ from each other in sceneries: Qutang Gorge is straight and craggy; Wu Gorge, deep, serene and exquisite; while Xiling Gorge perilous for its shoals and rapid currents.

Qutang Gorge: From east to west, it measures 8 kilometers, starting from Baidicheng and ending at Daixi township. With vertical cliffs of some thousand meters high as its two flanks, the Qutang Gorge is only a few dozens of meters wide just like a narrow gateway. With swash and rumble, the surging Yangtze River pours into the gateway with great momentum. Looking up towards the tops of towering precipitous mountains along the Gorge, one sees from a boat only a narrow strip of clouds and sky, but under foot the River tears on violently.

Qutang Gorge
Qutang Gorge begins at Baidi City（白帝城）. Steep walls of rock rist more than 100 m high on either side, looking as if a knife had cut them. This is the narrowest part of the river. Qutang gorge is only 8 km long and thus the shortest one, but in spite of spit of that it is the most remarkable. A mighty rock formerly rose at its western end against which countless boats were battered. It was blasted away during the work on the river so that it is no longer dangerous to pass this spot. If one looks closely, one can discover remains of coffins in some cracks high in the cliffs. A tribe laid their dead to rest here several hundred years ago. Archeologists were able to recover some of these wooden coffins, along with some swords and other relics. One can find frayed splinters of wood that must have come from the formerly numerous wooden coffins if one walks along the narrow path cut into the rocky cliffs of the north bank.

Wuxia Gorge
Wuxia Gorge (40 km long), which follows Qutang gorge and begins near Wushan in Sichuan and leads to Baodong in Hubei. Twelve high peaks line both banks of the river. Shennu Feng（神女峰） is the most famous one, which is also named as Peak of the Holy Woman, named for its graceful shape.

Xiling Gorge
Xiling Gorge(76 km long) is one of the three gorges in Yangtze River(长江), which is possible to make out the most varied objects in the rocks and cliffs For example, rocks arranged like stacks of books or swords. Xiling gorge was once greatly feared for its risky shallows. After the last bend of Xiling gorge has been passed, a wide plain stretches out. The river becomes almost 2 km wide. Two small islands not far from the gorge divide the river into two channels. In constructing the giant hydraulic project Gezhou Ba, this natural phenomenon was used.

        Yangtze River Map