24 Three Gorges Ship Lift

So it seems that the 5 level lock system was not enough to sustain the demand, for ships, especially cargo to pass through....

Well what else do you do? Build a lift, and yes you guessed it .... the world most largest ship lift!

So now instead of it taking close to 4 hours as it does with the locks, shipping companies have the option of using this elevator that scoops up a ship, lifts it up over 40 stories and plonks it on the other side of the dam.

Previously a cruise like our would actually start from the lower section of the Yangtze and the ship would travel through the locks to continue it's journey.

In 2018 the government put a temporary ban on all passenger ships from using the lock system.  Now the ships leave from the top section.  This was why our ship actually overnighted in Yichang.

For the second part of our tour we boarded a ferry which took us along the lower Yangtze, up the lift and returned us to the Yangtze Gold 6.

Being well trained by Garry I headed straight to the pointy bit of the ferry to get the best view.  And there I stayed for the next 2 hours or so .....

Everything takes on a different perspective from water level and it was interesting to see the base of the locks as we cruised pass... we then entered the corridor that would take us to the entrance of the lift..

 It was hitting dusk as we waited for our turn to enter the elevator.  No sooner as a ship glided out of the chamber, our engines roared and we started to make our way in.  Once in we were secured with ropes and then the big swimming pool we were sitting in started to rise elevating us up over 100m.

Maybe the kids were not as excited as I was ...... they made the most of free wi fi

 Dark by the time we reached the top we exited into the large lake and headed straight for where our ship was docked.