(National 5A-class)
About 17 km away from the Yichang, and in the valley of Xiling Gorge, we will enter the three gorges household area. It’s a national 5A class tour site, a bright pearl of the “Two Dams & One Gorge” tour, as well as one of the 10 spots brought by new Three Gorges. Here, we can enjoy the towering mountains, rip current, deep valleys, admirable caves and pleasant springs, which all make up beautiful three gorges household area. The scenic stands are the Longjin River, the Forth Spring in the World, the Yepo Ling, the Dengying Cave, the Memorial for Anti-Japanese War, the Old Shipai Town and Drifting along Yangjia River etc. All theses sceneries can be summed up into “One, Two, Three and Four.” Want to know what these numbers are? There are One “Shipai Memorial for Anti-Japanese War”; Two special tour routes, folk customs tour among the three gorges household area and military drifting along the Yangjia River; Three No.1 places, as the first bay of the Yangtze River-Mingyue Bay, the first immortal stele of China- the Shiling Stele (Shiling Pai), the first rock of the Yangtze-Dengying Rock; and Four refers to the Forth Spring in the world-Hama Spring (the Toad Spring). And the folk customs tour among three gorges household is divided into: tour on the water, tour besides the river, tour on the mountains and experience of today’s folk customs. All of ages, large quantities of literati came to this place, leaving beautiful poem to three gorges household, to boats and sails, to Hama spring, to green mountains, to flying waterfalls.
Admirable Folk Customs - Three Gorges Household
Since enter the household area, tourists are experiencing the house over the water, the old sailboat, the thatched boat, the fishing of fishermen on the water, and young ladies’ cleaning clothing by wooden club along river...The unchanged folk customs will take you back to the world of hundreds of yeas ago. The green and clear river, flourish forests, crisscrossed footpaths, the natural yip and cock crow, the houses over the water, the traditional sailboats, and the working waterwheels, all are the same as before. Here, you’re willing to share this simple and pute life style, as well as the fervor of the villagers. Besides the folk customs, you will also find great pleasure in blending human life with the nature.
The first Immoral Stele of China - Shiling Stele (Shiling Pai)
The name of this giant stele came from the “Records of Donghu County”. It said: the giant rock crossed about 20 meters, liking a stele, therefore called Shiling Stele (Shiling means Rock Order). Also, this record brought out the town name, Shipai Town. This stele is 32m in height, 12m in width at top, 13m in width at bottom, with thickness of about 4m and weight of about 4300 ton. During the Later Zhou Dynasty, the Shipai was administrated by Xiazhou State; and during 1127-1130, the Shipai town belonged to Yiling County of Xiazhou State.
The first Rock of Yangtze – the Dengying Rock (the Lamp Shadow Rock)
In the south bank of Shipai, there stand 4 stones in Maya Mountain. These rocks look like the four famous characters of the Chinese legend “Record of a Journey to the West”. In the evening, when the afterlight shines from the back of the mountain, the four rocks look like the shadowgraph playing in the dark-blue sky background. Mr Guo Moruo left poem for these rocks saying “the master stands at the top, while the disciples are surrounding in the shadow”. Among four rocks, the Shasheng (one character’s name) Rock is the most supernatural one with mushroom shape. It’s about 100 ton, supported by a small base of only about 200 cm2. Just like a golden pheasant standing by one foot, this rock is a remarkable symbol of the Yangtze Three Gorges.
The first Bay of Three Gorge – the Mingyue Bay (the Bright Moon Bay)
When passing the Shipai watercourse, we will pass a sharp turn to the east. This turn is about 110 °, liking a big crescent. So, here is called the bright moon bay. Along the 193-km Yangtze River, there are hundreds of zigzag turns. But this one, called “the first bay of Three Gorges”, will change the direction of rip current mostly. Both side cliffs are smooth and clear, with most dream scenery at night.
The first Cave of the Xiling Gorge – the Dengying Cave (the Lamp Shadow Cave)
This cave is about 1500 m in length, full of colorful stalactites. Entering this cave, everyone should view the famous “5 Color Sound Stone”. It’s a strange stone covered by 5 colors as black, white, yellow, grey and green. Once stroked by human fingers, it will sound like beating the gong or drum. Besides, the underground river falling 30 meters sometimes runs smooth and quietly, and sometimes runs fast with amazing sounds. Walking in this cave, you will feel like walking in an underground dream world.
The first Memorial – the Shipai Memorial for Anti-Japanese War
Shipai was the battle field in May of 1943 between 150,000 Chinese army and 100,000 Japanese invaders. To protect Chongqing, the Chinese army armed with ordinary weapons successfully break down the excellent armed Japanese invaders, making the Shipai Battle field renowned in the Second World War. The memorial is built at the field site, and is the first one in Three Gorges area. It covers an area of 440 m2, consisting of Memorial Hall, Multimedia Exhibit Hall, Picture and Words Exhibit Hall and Battle Remains Exhibit Hall. It has collected valuable remains up to 200 pieces, and pictures up to 100 pieces. In March of 2003, the Yichang People’s Government listed this place into first series of national defense education base.
The forth Spring in the World – the Hama Spring (the Toad Spring)
In south bank of the Dengying Gorge, there’s a spring behind a toad-shape rock, called the Toad Spring (the Hama Spring). The spring runs day and night, and provides best water for tea cook and wine. Once in the Tang Dynasty, a famous connoisseur drunk this tea, and called it “the forth in the world”. And another famous poet also praised this spring as “the forth spring in the world”. Besides, there were other poets of high attainments praised this spring in their poems.