The Water People and the Three Gorges

The Tujia minority numbers about 8 million.  They were centred primarily along the Yangtze River and they are the ones who have been most severely affected by the construction of the dams.  Over a million of their people were relocated, their villages flooded and their heritage mainly lost.

In China, the words "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) don't compute.  If the greater good is served, it will happen.

The older people were traumatized by the changes, but the younger ones have a different view.  They now have electricity, TV, cellphone availability, and new jobs for some in the tourism industry.  The Water Village that we visited was created for the tourists.  Besides some stunning views, we saw a recreation of the village activities, including a wedding pageant.

Our local guide was a cute young lady called "Alyssa".

She's 20 years old and has no boyfriend.  The tradition in her society is for  a Matchmaker to arrange the marriages.  The weddings are elaborate affairs, with the bride expected to cry for three days beforehand because she may have never met her groom.

But, hopefully, they will live happily ever after.

This was a very beautiful place as the following pictures will attest.

These scenes were obviously staged, but note the Cormorants in the picture.  They are used for fishing - rings are placed around their necks to prevent them from swallowing their catch.

On the way back to the boat we passed an actual wedding.

The first gorge we passed through had some spectacular scenery.

Did I mention that they now have TV?

A pretty big entertainment centre, for the world to see, in the middle of nowhere.

Boats like this were a common sight during our three day cruise.

This was fairly common too - locals who wanted their picture taken with westerners.