Immediately below Baidicheng is Kuimen, the entrance to the first of the three gorges of the Yangtze River, the eight--kilometre (five-mile) long Qutang Gorge. Known as the "throat" between Sichuan and Hubei provinces, the widest point here measures only 150 meters wide, while the mountains along it reach as high as 1,200 meters. This combination of narrow canyons among high mountains with several switchbacks in only 8 kilometers creates spectacular vistas, and it is often considered the most beautiful of all.
What to see
Sheer precipices on both sides form a colossal gate over the river, called Kuimen. The water roars through the gorge like galloping horses. There are many historical sites in Qutang Gorge. On a hilltop on the north bank is the town of Baidicheng, boasting many rare historical relics. On the south bank are the Chalk Wall covered with carved inscriptions, the legendary Meng Liang Stairway, Hanging Monk Rock, Armor Cave and the sweet-tasting Phoenix-Drinking Fountain in a deep cave.
Also on the south bank, not far downstream, is a very strange-looking peak standing by the river; it is called the Rhinoceros Watching the Moon because it looks like a rhinoceros.
Baidicheng
Also called "White Emperor City," Baidicheng is a place full of poetic sense, gleams amongst forest-covered hills on the north bank of the Yangtze River near the entrance of the Qutang Gorge. Surrounded by waters, it gains its popularity by its rich heritage of literature contribution during thousands of years.
Surrounded by the river on three sides and backed by a mountain, the ancient city is actually a mini city scattered with temples and gates. Climbing over 500 steps, you reach the top, the starting point of Three Gorges and have a wonderful view! The City was said to be built by Gongsun Shu, an official turned soldier, as the site of his headquarters during the end of the Western Han Dynasty.
Kuimen (Kui Gate)
Also known as Qutang Pass, Kuimen (Kui Gate) is the west door for Three Gorges, the western tip of Qutang Gorge. Here the river is flanked by sheer cliffs on both sides. Eroded over the centuries by wind and rain, the cliffs on both banks are perpendicular as if they have been hewn with an axe, presenting a marvelous natural scene.
Kuimen is the gate through which the Yangtze River flows into the Three Gorges from the Sichuan Basin. The White Salt Mountain is on the southern bank and the Red Armor is on the northern bank. Both rise perpendicularly into the sky. The sheer cliffs on either side of the river are like a gate guarding the river, narrowing it in a width of just over 100 meters.
Rhinoceros Watching the Moon
Among the scenery of Qutang Gorge, there is a huge stone in the shape of a rhinoceros looking at the moon. The stone lies on the top of the hill east of The Armor Cave on the northern bank of the Yangtze River. From a distance, the stone looks like a rhinoceros standing on top of the hill looking westward towards the moon. Hence the name Rhinoceros Watching the Moon.
The best time to admire the scenery is during twilight. Prior to the water rising due to the Three Gorges Dam, there were two such stones like the rhinoceros looking at the moon, one on the bank of the river at the foot of the hill and the other on the top of the hill. But now, the one along the riverbank is submerged in the river. The top stone is now easy to watch.
Ancient plank roads
Cruising on the majestic Yangtze River, visitors will notice some narrow meandering paths hung on the cliffs about 33 feet above the river. They are the ancient plank roads - the typical ancient Chinese mountainous roads that are mostly seen on the borders of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Hubei Provinces. It is such roads that make a deep chasm turn into a thoroughfare.
Why built them
A question may arise in your mind: Why the ancient Chinese people build this kind of road on cliffs? It served the survival needs of the local people. For centuries, the dangerous rapids and currents of the Yangtze River along the Three Gorges section made transportation really hard work, especially in flood seasons when all shipping along the river closed.
Until the late Qing Dynasty, the intelligent Shu People began to solve the problem by drilling holes in cliffs to beat in stakes in order to support the planks, or they chiseled a road directly into the cliffs. These are the two forms of plank roads. With iron chain railings or stone balustrades along the sides of the roads, they were safe for people to walk on.
The construction of this plank road put many project techniques into use that offered some knowledge to today's road building. As a monumental feat in Chinese transportation history, the plank roads show to the people of the world how the ancient Chinese people conquered nature.
Bellows Gorge
1.2 miles from Baidicheng along the Yangtze River, there is snuff colored precipice. Some gaps can be seen on the cliff and from afar a large cave can be seen in which there are piles of quadrate wooden boxes. In the distance, they look like bellows, so the gorge is called the Bellows Gorge.
According to the legend, the bellows are placed there by Lu Ban, the founder of Chinese woodwork living during the Zhou Dynasty (770 BC - 221 BC). As a matter of fact, they are not the bellows but the suspended coffins of the ancient Ba people (people lived in eastern Sichuan and western Hubei Provinces from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty).
The mystery was unveiled in 1971 when three brave gatherers of herbs climbed into the gap of the gorge. Cultural relics such as the fragments of bones, swords and the copper axe of the Ba People were discovered there. Besides the cave, there are two higher caves where more wooden coffins are suspended.
The best place to view the gorge is the plank road of the gorge. As the coffins lie over 32 feet high in the cliff, it is difficult to climb. So, the method used to suspend them in the cliff is a mystery that still puzzles people today.
Chalk Wall
The Chalk Wall of Qutang Gorge refers to the wall located among the crumbling walls of the White Salt Mountain. The wall is over 1,094 yards long with many words carved into it. It is called the Chalk Wall as the wall is white in color, having been brushed with lime powder during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). It is also called Fen Bi Tang (The Hall having White Wall) because the wall is inscribed with tablets originating from different dynasties in various fonts. Thus, it resembles the wall of a hall hung with calligraphy works, hence the name.
The word carvings on the Chalk Wall date back from Song Dynasty. The largest word inscribed is two yards, and the smallest is only the size of a finger. When the cruise ship passes the mouth of Qutang Gorge, the words "Kui Men" and "Qu Tang" can be seen. These four words are written by celebrities of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) in Li script (official script).
Among the inscriptions, there is a large tablet of four yards high and eight yards wide. Over 980 characters are carved on the tablet. It is the work of Zhao Gongshuo, a calligraphist from the Southern Song Dynasty. The achievements and virtues of Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Xiaozong are described in the words.
Daxi Culture Heritage Site
Daxi Culture belongs to the Neolithic Age of the middle reach of the Yangtze River. The culture got its name because of the Daxi Culture Heritage Site in Wushan County in Sichuan Province. Daxi Culture lasting from 4400 BC to 3300 BC consists of the Daxi Heritage Site, and over ten sites in Hunan and Hubei Provinces. The pottery of Daxi Culture is the distinctive red kind of multiple shapes.
Located on the southern part of Qutang Gorge, in Wushan County, Daxi Culture Heritage Site can be found in the territory of Daxi Village. The site, rich in soil and endowed with natural beauty, is the ideal place to visit.
From 1959 to 1975, the site was excavated three times covering a total area of 682 square yards. As a result, more than 50 graves were found on the site. Among the cultural relics excavated from the site, there were potteries, stone wares, bone objects and jade artifacts. As the site differs in soil composition, pottery type and burial methods, it is divided into two layers. The upper layer is regarded as the late period of Daxi Culture and the lower layer is considered the early period of the culture.
Similar relics have also been found in a section of Xiling Gorge. They all belong to the Daxi Culture. To learn about the ancient culture of the Neolithic Age, Daxi Culture Heritage Site is a good place to visit.
Iron Lock Pass
On the northern bank of Qutang Gorge, opposite the Meng Liang Stairway, there is a small branch of the Yangtze River, called Caotang River. Just at the place where the Caotang River flows into the Yangtze River, there is a stone disk bearing two iron posts. On the southern bank, there is a stone hole. In ancient times, people threaded iron chains between the posts and the hole in order to block the Yangtze River and prevent the intrusion of the enemy. This is called the Iron Lock Pass.
The Iron Lock Pass was firstly constructed during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). In the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), a general called Xu Zongwu once built seven Iron Lock Passes in order to prevent the intrusion of the army of Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368). It is said that, the two iron posts remaining were consecrated by General Xu. The two iron posts are seven feet high and have been rusty for years. Besides the posts, there are inscriptions from the Yuan Dynasty caved onto the rock.
Meng Liang Stairway & Hanging Monk Rock
On the remains of the Chalk Wall, are carved some square holes (each of one foot deep, 0.9 foot wide and 0.8 foot high). The holes are three feet in distance from each other, form a special "Z" shape and reach to the mountainside. The holes are called Meng Liang Stairway by the local people. Close to the Meng Liang Stairway is a strange stone extending out of the precipice. As it resembles a monk hung upside down, the stone is called the Hanging Monk Rock (in Chinese Daodiao Heshangshi).
The legend
According to the legend, General Yang Jiye of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) was killed by a treacherous court official. His corpse was buried on the Glance at Home Terrace on the top of the White Salt Mountain. One of his henchmen called Meng Liang entered Qutang Gorge wanting to bring his skeleton back and bury it in his hometown.
He cut holes and inserted wood every night and stopped his work before daybreak. However, his deed was discovered by a monk living in the Baidi Temple opposite to the precipice Meng Liang climbed. The monk crowed like a cockerel during the night causing all the cockerels in the Baidicheng area to crow.
Meng Liang mistakenly thought that daybreak was coming and stopped his work. Later, he discovered the monk's behavior and hung him upside down on the wall after killing him. For years, the monk became known as the Hanging Monk Rock.
As a matter of fact, the corpse of General Yang Jiye was not buried in Qutang Gorge Area; his legend only reflects the people's love for the general. The holes caved on the precipice were in fact the relics left by the ancient local people when they built the ancient plank road. And the Hanging Monk Rock is nothing more than a stalactite.
Water-Stealing Holes
On the northern cliff at the western end of Qutang Gorge, there are stone holes positioned in a series up the cliff. They are the so-called Water-Stealing Holes.
The legend
People say that the holes were cut into the cliff by Zhang Xianzhong, leader of a peasant uprising in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), and his army. In order to oppose the dark rule of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong led his army to occupy the Area of Kuimen as it was often a place of battle.
He overcame and occupied Baidicheng. When the Emperor Chong Zhen heard the news that Zhang Xianzhong had taken Kuimen, he sent forces to shut off the source of water supply to the mountain, giving Zhang Xianzhong's army the choice - surrender or thirst to death. As it was sunny and rainless at the time, it was difficult to get water on the mountain. Zhang Xianzhong and his army, in order to reach the riverside to obtain water, chiseled holes in the cliff and inserted wooden pegs or steps to climb down every night. These are the Water-Stealing Holes.