ON THE RIVER THAT FLOWS FROM HEAVEN

For more than 50 centuries, China's Yangtze River has been the aorta carrying the life blood of the planet's most peopled place. Known by various names along its length, as "The river that flows from heaven," "the river of golden sands," and simply, "the long river," the Yangtze is the world's third-longest waterway, after the Nile and the Amazon.  The river flows 3,964 miles from Mount Gelandong on the Tibetan Plateau, tumbling 22,000 feet before it drains into the East China Sea near Shanghai, at which point its width is measured in miles.  Six-sevenths of that altitude is lost in the river's first half, producing a raging dragon that roars through gorges 10,000 feet deep. Not until the city of Chongqing, more than 2,000 miles from its source, does the Yangtze become navigable by boats of any size, and then only when the torrential rains of spring and summer raise the water level.  The fluctuation in flow is so significant, the river can rise and fall a hundred feet or more in an average year. That means everything meant to be permanent must be built high on the river's steep flanks, and a wide band of its bank has been scoured into gravel fields and mud flats.  The effect becomes even more pronounced below the village of Fengje as the now mighty Yangtze begins to bully its way for 120 miles through a range of towering, tree-shrouded peaks.  Steeped in Chinese legend, this is the mysterious Three Gorges region, a realm of traditionally treacherous hazards and commanding beauty. Though they vary dramatically in length and width, the gorges, Qutang, Wu, and Xiling, along with several small side tributaries, offer dramatic perspectives, both of Chinese landscapes and of lives.  In November, I had the opportunity to take a quick, nine-day-tour through China. The centerpiece of my trip was a four-day-cruise through the Three Gorges region.  The passage through the Three Gorges region has always been a dramatic, dangerous journey. Before the arrival of steamboats a century ago, manpower was the only way river traffic could move upstream. Humans by the hundreds, teamed on long ropes, literally dragged boats up stream through the rapids. The life of these trackers was as precarious as the fate of the frail craft they towed. One in 20 perished in the passage, and the shifting river's shoals and eddies claimed countless victims from those who survived. No wonder the Yangtze river gods have always been regarded with awe.  Modern travelers have it easy. Hydrofoils now zip through the most scenic parts of the Three Gorges area in a few hours. Several fleets of comfortable cruise liners make the journey at a more leisurely pace, permitting passengers three or four days to slowly savor the river's changing beauty, history, and mystique.  River cruises are one of the fastest growing types of travel these days, with new voyaging possibilities being floated on major rivers around the world. Differing from ocean cruises in as much as they're never out of sight of something to look at, river cruises are a good way to see a select slice of scenery with a high degree of comfort and convenience.  While passenger vessels have sailed the Yangtze for centuries, the emphasis has always been transportation rather than tourism. That situation began to change two decades ago, when the Chinese government began to relax restrictions on foreign travelers, recognizing the hard currency benefits tourism can bring. I sailed on the Princess Jeannie, one of the three white-ships in the fleet of Regal China Cruises, among the newest liners on the Yangtze.  Truly international vessels, these ships were built six years ago in Germany for service on the Volga, but wound up in China when the collapse of Russia's economy left them up a river, so to speak. The cruise company which was formed to buy and operate them has introduced western standards of service to the Yangtze. Its passenger cabins are spacious, clean and comfortable; its food service ample, and its staff enthusiasm remarkable and genuinely warm. In addition to waiting on tables, young waiters and waitresses do double duty as performers at nightly cabarets. Wide walkways around all four passenger decks allow room to roam and seek the views. A gracious cruise host provides color commentary on a steady stream of sights along the way, and port calls are made at various points of interest.  These include Shendong stream, where modern-day trackers drag long, tourist-filled "pea boats" several miles up the steep-sloped gorge to a narrow beach where locals have set up craft tables. The quick float downstream back to the ship is reminiscent of shooting the rapids in a city bus.  The "Ghost City" at Fengdu was another port stop. Sort of Taoist "house of horrors," it's where the devout once went to discover the tribulations of disobedience and purchase a "passport to heaven." Situated on the brow of a hill reached by a chair-lift, the temple and its lurid statuary are actually re-creations of the originals, which were destroyed in the cultural revolution. The town of Fengdu is itself something of a ghostly place, scheduled to disappear in four years.  In fact, this entire stretch of the river will be eternally altered four years from now, when the Yangtze begins to rise behind the great dam being built at the new village of Sandouping half way through the final Xiling Gorge. More than a mile wide and 400 feet high, the Three Gorges Dam will drown 370 miles of the Yangtze deep under an immense lake.  Being built for flood control, irrigation, and electricity, the pros and cons of China's new "Great Wall" have been long debated by the world's politicians and environmentalists. But the Chinese government has made the firm decision to which, on albeit cursory investigation, its citizens seem comfortable, even anxious for completion. To witness the gigantic construction zone, to perceive its completed dimensions and the massive sections of dam already in place, is to know that in a decade, for better or worse, the project will be done, and this once-perilous river pacified.  While the sites and scenery through the Three Gorges will change forever, many changes will be for the better. The million or so people who will be affected by the flood are having their lives resettled on higher ground and in situations that offer the prospect for significant improvement. And if all goes as planned, the many millions who live downstream may be spared the annual floods, such as the one last year which claimed 10,000 lives and caused more than a billion dollars worth of damage. To put it in perspective, every paycheck issued in Hubei Province was docked an entire month's earnings to help cover the costs.  And when the great dam is done, travelers, who are sure to arrive in ever greater numbers, will still crane their necks in awe at the towering peaks of stately mountains, which will be only a few hundred feet closer. In fact, new areas of possible exploration will appear, as tributaries such as Shendong stream fill and provide access to previously hidden places few foreigners have ever seen.  In fact, a dam across the Yangtze has already been in place for two decades at Gezhouba, 25 miles downstream from the new dam, where the Three Gorges flatten out into the broad flood plains that form the bread basket of the Middle Kingdom.  For its final 1500 miles, the Yangtze meanders in a long, looping, ever-widening basin, gathering the waters from a third of China, as it makes its way to the sea. Though travelers can cruise all the way downstream to Shanghai, that journey requires another week or more, and, since most sights downstream are manmade, is beyond the patience of all but the most dedicated visitors. While the steady bustle of commerce is interesting and cities such as Yichang and Jingzhou have plenty of historic curiosities to offer, they're not particularly geared to foreign visitors.  Indeed the fourth day of the journey is spent cruising to the sprawling metropolis of Wuhan (and the nearest airport) between endless dikes built to contain the Yangtze during the summer's floods.  Equally endless is the China that lies beyond those banks, packed with wonders to be seen and moments to experience, but they will have to wait for future trips. Having had a taste of the Yangtze will make it even more interesting to return in a decade from now and behold the changes after the dam is done.



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