Cruising on the Yangtze

We've been through the Three Gorges Dam, the Three Gorges, the Three Lesser Gorges and the Three Lesser Lesser Gorges. All very spectacular, but one can't help but wonder what they were like when the water was 300 feet lower. The official line is that the dam has improved navigation, controlled flooding, provided electricity and been good for the environment. Probably the same arguments we would make for all the structures we've built on the Mississippi or Colorado.

Lots of farms along the Yangtze, but nothing like the farms we know. These are all quite small and cling to the mountainside in carefully terraced rows. Not a machine in sight, everything is done by hand.

Lots of traffic on the river, from very large to very small, carrying coal and cars and sand and passengers and trucks and God knows what else. This is China's major thoroughfare and it shows.

We have enjoyed a relatively quiet afternoon watching it all roll by. Now its time for dinner.