(December 18, 2005) Yichang, near the Three Gorges dam, is planning various events this fall ‘to showcase the emerging world-class hydropower city,’ Xinhua reports. 

Beijing: Yichang City, the site of China’s gigantic Three Gorges Project, will host the third international tourism festival this fall. Vice Mayor Liao Dafeng said here Wednesday the October 1-7 festival would feature 20 events to showcase the emerging world-class hydropower city and its unique scenery and cultural heritage. They include a tour of the picturesque Three Gorges, a large fireworks party, tour of Three Kingdoms (220-285) relics, and a dragon boat contest. The Three Gorges water conservation project being built on the Yangtze River, the third longest in the world, is designed to generate clean energy equivalent to that produced with 50 million tons of coal per year. It will also boost China’s flood control capacity in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, benefiting several hundred million people and such big cities as Shanghai and Wuhan. Yichang received 7.1 million tourists last year, including 230,000 overseas travelers, with tourism income close to 4.4 billion yuan (US$530 million).

Xinhua news agency, December 18, 2005