48 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 1, 2019 http://www.bjreview.comA River, a Dam and
A Hawthorn Tree
By Isabel Schwartz
The author is an American living in Beijing
Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo
Comments to [email protected]EXPAT’S EYE
T
he Three Gorges area on the middle
reaches of the Yangtze River is undoubt-
edly one of the most beautiful and
exciting places in China, and the perfect desti-
nation to admire China’s natural and manmade
marvels. In May, I followed my inner siren call
and visited the area on a sunny weekend with
my boyfriend.
We took a cruise on the Yangtze. The
ship was swarming with domestic tourists
and several foreigners, many of us lean-
ing over the railings in awe. I had booked
seats on the top deck, and we were not
disappointed as the panorama of the Xiling
Gorge passed us by along with the lush
vegetation on the hills and teal waters of
the Yangtze.
The Three Gorges refer to the Qutang,
Wuxia and Xiling gorges. From Yichang in
central China’s Hubei Province, our ship
sailed through the Xiling Gorge and to the
Three Gorges Dam for several hours. The
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generation and to facilitate shipping. It is
the world’s largest hydroelectric station in
terms of generating capacity.One hundred years ago, in 1919, Dr.
Sun Yat-sen first hatched the idea of a
Three Gorges dam. However, the construc-
tion of the dam didn’t start until 1994. We
saw footage of workers constructing the
dam and leaders giving speeches to mark
milestones in its construction on the ship.
My boyfriend told me it had been a dream
in his youth to see the completed dam, the
construction of which was reported on TV
at the time.
Today, there is a five-stage ship lock
through which ships can pass in about four
hours. The ship lift, which we took on our
cruise, can handle a 3,000-ton passenger
ship and move it in roughly 40 minutes.
Shortly after passing the dam, we dis-
embarked and went by bus to Tanziling
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tion area that was opened to the public
in 1997. From there we had a wonderful
panoramic view of the dam. When I looked
at it, I could understand why it was referred
to as China’s pride in the ship’s video, and
of course with the Belt and Road Initiative
that was proposed in 2013, the importanceof infrastructure makes the dam a very
timely engineering feat. The completed
dam is described as a “dragon locking the
river” in my guide book.
The Three Gorges Dam is a very famous
place in China, but I combined it with a less
known jewel on my itinerary—Bailihuang.
When we booked a guided tour there at a
travel agency next to the Yichang Railway
Station, the agent smiled when he learned
I was from the United States and had come
all the way to see the famous hawthorn
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Under the Hawthorn Tree.
Bailihuang, which advertises itself as
“alpine grasslands” in south China, has
become famous among tourists because
Zhang shot some scenes from his movie,
which is based on a true love story im-
mortalized in a book by Ai Mi, here back in- The famous 30-something-year-old
hawthorn tree that was “cast” in the movie
set in the 1970s now sees quite a few tour-
ists wielding selfie sticks on a daily basis
and is surrounded by a fence for preserva-
tion purposes. According to Zhang, he did a
lot of searching before he found his perfect
hawthorn tree.
My boyfriend and I spent about an hour
sitting behind the tree on a knoll admiring
it, instead of in front of it where tourists
were crowded. It was the perfect season to
visit, with the tree in full bloom. Birds alight-
ed on the tree and bees buzzed around the
white flowers with their heavy fragrance.
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All in all, it was a surprisingly delightful
weekend spent between a river, a dam and
a hawthorn tree. Q
The Three Gorges Dam
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in Yichang, central China’s
Hubei Province, on June 1XIN
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