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Xiling Gorge

geography Maturity 7-9 Next article →

Xiling Gorge is a grand place in China.

Zigui-Xiling-Gorge-4983
Zigui-Xiling-Gorge-4983

It sits on the Yangtze River in Hubei province. This gorge is the largest of the Three Gorges. It is also the one located furthest east. The gorge covers a huge area of the river. It makes up nearly half of the Three Gorges region. It stretches from Xiangxi down to the suburbs of Yichang.

Cruise boats on yangtze
Cruise boats on yangtze

This area is actually made of four different gorges. They have very interesting names. One is called Precious Sword. Another is named Horse Lung and Ox Liver. The third is the Soundless Bell Gorge. The last one is the Shadow Play Gorge. These four parts fit together to make the big Xiling Gorge. Each part adds to the beauty of the river path.

People have known about this place for a very long time. The name comes from Mt. Xiling. This is a mountain peak at the eastern end. This name has been used since at least the Three Kingdoms period. A book called Shui Jing Zhu recorded it back then. This old book is a geographical treatise. It helps us see how names stay the same for many years.

Traveling through the gorge used to be a hard job.

Before the big dams, the river was very dangerous. It had strong rapids that moved quickly. There were also frightening whirlpools in the water. Now, things are very different because of the Three Gorges Dam. This dam was built at Sandouping in the middle of the gorge. The Gezhouba Dam was also built here.

These dams have changed how the river looks and works. The water in the river is much deeper now. In some areas, the depth was once below the dam. Now, the water is well over 100 meters deep.

Because the water is deep, cruise boats can travel there. You can see many boats moving along the river today. The dams turned a scary place into a deep reservoir. It is a very big change for the Yangtze River.

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🖼️ Images & Media (3)
File:Zigui-Xiling-Gorge-4983.jpg
Zigui-Xiling-Gorge-4983.jpg
File:Cruise boats on yangtze.jpg
Cruise boats on yangtze.jpg
File:Xiling Gorge 2016 2.jpg
Xiling Gorge 2016 2.jpg
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