Xiling Gorge

Xiling Gorge is the easternmost and largest of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, located in Hubei province. It stretches from the village of Xiangxi, situated in Zigui County where a stream of the same name meets the river between Guizhou Town and Quyuan Town, down to the western outskirts of Yichang. The gorge takes its name from Mount Xiling, a peak at its eastern end, a designation recorded as early as the Three Kingdoms period in the geographical work Shui Jing Zhu.

Rather than a single canyon, Xiling Gorge is a series of four distinct gorges: Precious Sword Gorge, Horse Lung and Ox Liver Gorge, Soundless Bell Gorge, and Shadow Play Gorge. Together, these sections account for nearly half the total length of the entire Three Gorges region. Historically, before the construction of the Gezhouba Dam and the Three Gorges Dam—the latter built at Sandouping in the middle of Xiling Gorge—this stretch was considered the most hazardous of the three to navigate, notorious for its powerful rapids and dangerous whirlpools.

The damming of the river has dramatically altered the waterway: in some areas below the dam, the river’s depth has increased from a few meters to well over a hundred meters throughout the reservoir’s length. The gorge lies within Zigui County and Yiling District, in the western part of Hubei province.