Tribe of the Three Gorges Scenic Area (Chinese name: 三峡人家风景区) is located in the magnificent fantastic Xiling Gorge, between Three Gorges Dam and Gezhou Dam. It covers a total area of about 14 square kilometers. In this place, you can not only enjoy the beautiful gorge landscape, but also unique cultural sights. It is the only large scenic spot that are not be influenced by the water storage of Three Gorges Dam. It is a unique geology embedded with ancient Ba and Chu culture, together with Tujia ethnic minority.
Tribes of the Three Gorges are living in a region of mountains and streams where the scenery has the beauty of landscape paintings. The traditional stilted building(Diaojiaolou) lying beside the river, old sailing boats and sheltered Wupeng boats resting at anchor beside the houses of the tribe, fishermen leisurely casting their nets in the misty distance, young ladies washing clothing with wooden club by the river……All these folk customs that has been handed down for thousands of years, together with fantastic natural landscape in this place like wild streams, deep valley, peculiar rocks, fascinating cave and clear water and spring, attracts visitors to this place from different places.
Highlights to Visit in Tribe of the Three Gorges Scenic Area
Three Gorges Scenic Area mainly consists of three parts: The Village on the Water, The Brook-Side Village and The Mountain-Top Village. They respectively shows different kinds of lifestyles of local people. Shadow-Play Stone, Stone Tablet, Shadow-Play Cave, Toad Spring, Qinying Waterfall, etc. are also worth visiting.
【The Village on the Water】
The Village on the Water is sited at the intersection of the Longjin Stream and Yangtze River, where the scenery with the green mountains covered by mist against the blue water is like a beautiful landscape painting. The people here, from generation to generation, live off the mountains and waters, and stretch their ancient culture of fishing life. They are living on the boats and make living by fishing all the year round. That is how it got its name as The Village on the Water. Although the living condition of fishermen has been improved now, the old custom of fishing is preserved for long. The young generation still cast the net to do fishing. It would be interesting to admire the traditional fishing culture.
【The Brook-Side Village】
Located by a river and against mountains, the Brook-Side Village is surrounded by green mountains, with half on the land and the other into the water. You will feel like slandering in the fairyland with the fine rain breezing. Visitors can see many stilted buildings by the river, which are the local-style dwelling houses, and in front of the house usually hangs corns, dry chili peppers, straw rain cape, bamboo hat, etc.. Here you can see young ladies washing clothing with wooden club, women rowing a boat on the river. In the houses on the hillside display the daily life of the local people, and there are regular fold performances for you to enjoy and take part in. The schedule of the performances can be found at the entrance of the scenic spot.
【The Mountain-Top Village】
Due to the steep terrene along the three gorges area, buildings tribe on the mountain top, with Banana trees planted around, are mostly built by the mountains with wood materials. And buildings are known as stilted building. The buildings are mostly constructed by wood, set against mountains and strutting with pillars with corridor on the side and balcony in the behind. There are usually two floors or three floors. The first floor is used for raising livestock or storage, and it protects the residents from wild beasts; the second floors and three floors used for living.
The Brook-Side Village is quite near to The Village on the Water, you can walk to visit the both. Otherwise, The Mountain-Top Village is on the top of the mountain by the river, and you can go up by walking or taking cableway.
Except for the villages, other highlights includes Shadow-Play Stone- The NO. 1 stone along the Yangtze River standing at the mountain peak of the cliffs taking the form of mushroom, Stone Tablet -The first tablet in China about 32 meters high, 13 meters wide, 4 meters thick and 4,300 tons in weight, Shadow-Play Cave-The NO. 1 cave with stones in black, white, yellow, gray and green and different shapes, Toad Spring -The forth spring under heaven, Qinying Waterfall, Seven Piles Spring, etc..
It would be a fantastic excursion for 3 hours to walk along pathways to admire the lovely scenery and the local people. There is wedding customs show and other local folk performances for tourists to enjoy, but they are all in Chinese. Make sure you are with a guide who can explain everything you see and hear as there is audio of voices singing to each other across the water (courtship rituals).
Travel Guide
【Best time to visit】From April to October is the best time period to visit this place.
【How to get to there from Yichang】Tribe of the Three Gorges Scenic Area is sited about 30 kilometers west of Yichang City. Visitors can take Special Bus Line 10-1 at Wuyi Square, whose last stop is the entrance of thr Tribe of the Three Gorges. The bus leaves every 45 minutes from the square and takes about 1.5 hours for one-way. But it is winding hilly road, please prepare some medicine for carsickness if necessary. It is recommended to spend 4 to 5 hours to visit inside the scenic area.