Lesser Three Gorges (Wushan)

National 5A Tourist Attraction; The Daning River Gorges Off The Yangtze · Wushan, Chongqing

Three gorges on the Daning River, a tributary that joins the Yangtze at Wushan, and by most accounts finer than the Three Gorges themselves now that the dam has raised the main river. The Daning is narrower, the walls closer, and the water a startling green against grey limestone; boats run up through the Dragon Gate, Misty and Emerald gorges past cliffs that rise several hundred metres almost vertically from the surface. What holds the eye are the details on those walls: hanging coffins of the Ba people wedged into crevices two thousand years ago and still there, the square sockets of an ancient plank road cut into the rock to tow boats upstream, and troops of macaques that come down to the waterline and are entirely unbothered by tourists. Above the Lesser Three Gorges, smaller boats continue into the Mini Three Gorges on the Madu River, narrower still. The round trip from Wushan takes about four hours, and the last boat leaves the docks by two in the afternoon.

Wushan County, Chongqing, Wushan, Chongqing, China

Daily, about 8:00-18:00, but the last boat leaves the Wushan docks by 14:00 and the round trip takes about four hours. Tickets are real-name and time-slotted, with check-in from about 30 minutes before your slot.

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