Leading readers through this popular travel destination in China, Shaw provides a compelling read. The famed 'long river's' gorges has held allure for travelers for centuries and any person who now ventures to this ancient area, home to China's most revered poets and archaeological treasures, will be expertly assisted by this handy guide. The 3,965 mile-long (6,380 kilometer-long) Yangtze river, which flows from the barren snowfields of Tibet to the fertile delta near Shanghai, has been a main trade artery for 2,000 years. The most spectacular section of the remarkable Yangtze river is the famous Three Gorges, which extends downstream for a distance of 120 miles (192 kilometers) through the Wushan Mountains from Baidicheng to the Nanjin Pass near Yichang. Surrounded by towering peaks and enclosed by precipitous cliffs, each gorge has its own distinctive and dramatic scenery. In addition to describing the landscape, economy and social history of the river between Chongqing and Wuhan, this richly illustrated guide also contains practical information for the traveller including informative maps, descriptions of the main sites, accommodation and tips on cruising China's legendary gorges. Peter Hessler, author of best-seller "River Town", describes how the world's biggest dam has flooded the past. Chongqing, once China's wartime capital, now the world's most populous urban administrative region, 33 million strong. Wuhan, one of the notorious former treaty ports, now a modern industrial powerhouse. Yichang, home to the dam 'as high as a sixty-storey building and as wide as five Hoover dams'. This title offers practical information on cruising the gorges as well as shore-based excursions and accommodation. It presents geology of the river, and archaeological sites.