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28-588: The county's most famous geographical feature is the Qutang Gorge , the first of the Yangtze's Three Gorges . Notable karst phenomena, including the Xiaozhai Tiankeng sinkhole are located within the county. It is the place where Still Life was shot, a film by Jia Zhangke that won the 2006 Venice Film Festival ( Golden Lion ). The Fengjie county was established in 314 BC as Yufu County (魚復縣). In 649 AD,

56-482: A Z-shape. These holes are known as the Meng Liang Stairway (孟良梯). Legend has it that the holes were built by a Song dynasty soldier named Meng Liang (孟良). Meng Liang served for a general named Yang Jiye who was buried at the top of the cliff. Meng Liang wanted to find the remains of General Yang and give him a proper burial back in his home town. During the night Meng Liang constructed the stairway. A monk at

84-462: A number of caves . Dripping water from natural springs within the caves have created many stalactites . One particular stalactite is approximately 10 metres (33 ft) high, and it is shaped like a Phoenix displaying its tail feathers. Moss and bamboo growing next to the formation look like feathers on a bird. Water still drips from the head of the stalactite bird, and hence the Chinese have dubbed it

112-512: Is a major tourist attraction of a Yangtse cruise. The Chalk Wall (粉筆牆) is a white cliff face on the southern bank of the Yangtze River at the entrance to the Qutang Gorge (Kuimen Gate). The Chalk Wall has numerous characters carved into the rock, many of which were done by famous Chinese calligraphers . Nearly 1,000 characters in all are carved into the rock wall, with the oldest dating to

140-488: Is also carried out such as the growing of tobacco, navel oranges, cotton, walnuts, and silkworm farming. Fengjie has one Yangtze River crossing , the Fengjie Yangtze River Bridge . Chen Maoguo ( simplified Chinese : 陈茂国 ; traditional Chinese : 陳茂國 ; pinyin : chén mào guó , aka the "bird man", Chinese “ 鸟人 ”) protested against the low compensation received from relocation plans following

168-418: Is also carried out such as the growing of tobacco, navel oranges, cotton, walnuts, and silkworm farming. Fengjie has one Yangtze River crossing , the Fengjie Yangtze River Bridge . Chen Maoguo ( simplified Chinese : 陈茂国 ; traditional Chinese : 陳茂國 ; pinyin : chén mào guó , aka the "bird man", Chinese “ 鸟人 ”) protested against the low compensation received from relocation plans following

196-460: The Song dynasty (960–1279). The wall has characters carved in many different styles of calligraphy and in various sizes. The largest characters are approximately 1.7 metres (6 ft) wide. On the south side of the river (Baiyan Mountain) a series of rectangular holes is carven into the cliff face. The holes are almost exactly 1 metre apart and 1 metre deep. The holes zig-zag up part of the cliff face in

224-491: The Three Gorges Dam , it is within the dam's affected area . The county's most famous geographical feature is the Qutang Gorge , the first of the Yangtze's Three Gorges . Notable karst phenomena, including the Xiaozhai Tiankeng sinkhole are located within the county. It is the place where Still Life was shot, a film by Jia Zhangke that won the 2006 Venice Film Festival ( Golden Lion ). The Fengjie county

252-482: The Bellows Gorge. 31°02′35″N 109°33′42″E  /  31.04306°N 109.56167°E  / 31.04306; 109.56167 Fengjie County Fengjie County ( simplified Chinese : 奉节 县 ; traditional Chinese : 奉節 縣 ; pinyin : Fèngjié Xiàn ) is a county of Chongqing Municipality , China. It is on the Yangtze River ; located within a couple hundreds kilometers upstream from

280-589: The Drinking Phoenix Spring (鳳凰泉). The formation is extremely difficult to see from the river, but there is a pathway that allows direct access to the caves. These narrow footpaths were built starting in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and continued to be maintained and improved until the middle of the 20th century. The original purpose was to provide a footpath for human haulers to pull boats upstream. Thus they were always alongside cliffs next to

308-570: The Qutang Gorge has been especially large. Many of the historically significant sites in the Qutang Gorge are located closer to the water level. Even prior to the dam construction the water level would come close to many sites during the rainy season. The water has now covered many of the important sites in the Gorge including the Ancient Pathway, Meng Liang's Staircase, the Chalk Wall, and the cave within

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336-773: The Qutang Gorge is often considered the most beautiful of all the Three Gorges. The gorge is part of Fengjie County of the Chongqing Municipality. Baidicheng was an ancient city on the northern shore of the Yangtze River. Baidicheng was also where Liu Bei , first emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era, died. There is a Liu Bei Memorial Temple and a Zhuge Liang Memorial Temple in Baidicheng. Baidicheng

364-484: The cliff face near Meng Liang's Staircase there is a rock shaped like an upside down person. This is the Hanging Monk Rock (倒吊和尚). According to legend, when Meng Liang discovered that the monk had feigned a rooster call, and frightened him off the mountain, he was so angry that he found the monk and hung him upside down from the cliff face. Along the cliff face near the Chalk Wall and Meng Liang's Stairway there are

392-452: The cliff's vertical faces such as mountains, are placed in caves in the face of cliffs, or sit on natural rock projections on mountain faces. A rock formation that resembles a rhinoceros with head raised. The Daxi settlement was the first discovered site of the Daxi culture . Although the Qutang Gorge is the furthest upstream of all the affected gorges, the impact of the Three Gorges Dam on

420-537: The construction of a road entailing the demolition of his house. He was sentenced to prison for 3 years. Qutang Gorge The Qutang Gorge ( Chinese : 瞿塘峽 ; pinyin : Qútáng Xiá ) is the shortest of China's Three Gorges . Immediately downstream of the ancient village Baidicheng (白帝城) the Yangtze River passes between the Chijia Mountain (赤甲山) on the north and the Baiyan Mountain (白鹽山) on

448-494: The end of 2008, the population of the county is 1.04 million with male population of 540,000 persons, accounting for 51.9% and female population of 500,000 persons, accounting for 48.1%. Subdistricts: Towns: Townships: The GDP of Fengjie County ranked 25th among 40 county-level divisions (counties and districts) in Chongqing and 6th among all divisions in the northeast of Chongqing (11 counties and districts) in 2007. In 2007,

476-439: The end of 2008, the population of the county is 1.04 million with male population of 540,000 persons, accounting for 51.9% and female population of 500,000 persons, accounting for 48.1%. Subdistricts: Towns: Townships: The GDP of Fengjie County ranked 25th among 40 county-level divisions (counties and districts) in Chongqing and 6th among all divisions in the northeast of Chongqing (11 counties and districts) in 2007. In 2007,

504-512: The family income for the local rural residents. In some families, all the members are migrant labor. Their major occupations in urban areas cover restaurant operation, retailing and private business. The area of land cultivated is 58,933 ha and with a per-capita land area of 0.85 mu . The major crops grown in the area include rice, corn, potato, sweet potato, oil plant and vegetable and major animals raised include pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry and fish. Apart from conventional agriculture, cash cropping

532-512: The family income for the local rural residents. In some families, all the members are migrant labor. Their major occupations in urban areas cover restaurant operation, retailing and private business. The area of land cultivated is 58,933 ha and with a per-capita land area of 0.85 mu . The major crops grown in the area include rice, corn, potato, sweet potato, oil plant and vegetable and major animals raised include pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry and fish. Apart from conventional agriculture, cash cropping

560-450: The flooding after the Three Gorges Dam is complete. Hanging coffins are a method of ceremonially placing the corpses of the deceased upon cliff sides, an ancient funeral custom of some minority groups , especially the Bo people of southern China. Coffins of various significant shapes were often carved out of a whole piece of wood. Hanging coffins either rest upon beams projecting outward from

588-427: The name was changed to Fengjie, an reference to the loyalty of Zhuge Liang . Fengjie County is located in the northeast of Chongqing, bordering Wushan County in the east, Enshi City ( Hubei ) in the south, Yunyang County in the west and Wuxi County in the north. It is 500 km (310 mi) away from downtown Chongqing, and administers 30 townships, 363 administrative villages and 23 residential committee. By

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616-485: The per capita net income of the peasants in Fengjie County is CNY 2,717. It is known that the "collectively owned" land in Fengjie County were allocated the second time in 2005 after the first time in 1982-1983. Since then, the land has not been reallocated. Fengjie County Government encourages rural residents affected by development projects to become urban residents. Migrant labor constitutes also an important part of

644-428: The per capita net income of the peasants in Fengjie County is CNY 2,717. It is known that the "collectively owned" land in Fengjie County were allocated the second time in 2005 after the first time in 1982-1983. Since then, the land has not been reallocated. Fengjie County Government encourages rural residents affected by development projects to become urban residents. Migrant labor constitutes also an important part of

672-616: The river. Since the earliest days, boats going downstream used oars just to get steerage way. Going upstream, human powered oars were no match to the rapid current. Thus gangs of humans, harnessed to a tow rope, hauled the boats upstream. These haulers needed a path along the steep cliffs to walk on. Thus the Ancient Pathways were built. Even today haulers can be seen as in 天山網. Over the years, these paths were expanded and improved. In addition to paths for haulers, paths were built for hauling goods up mountains. These higher paths would survive

700-620: The south. The point where the river passes between these mountains is called the Kuimen Gate (夔門) and it is the entrance to the Qutang Gorge – the first of the three Yangtze gorges. The Qutang Gorge is only 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) long, but it is also the narrowest of the Three Gorges. The widest point measures only 150 metres (500 ft) wide. The mountains on either side reach as high as 1,200 metres (4,000 ft). This combination of narrow canyons among high mountains with several switchbacks in only 8 kilometres creates spectacular vistas, and

728-487: The top of the mountain saw him coming and crowed like a rooster. Meng Liang, thinking the morning had arrived, quickly abandoned his plan to avoid being caught. Holes such as these are used as a walk-way several places in the Three Gorges region. Poles were inserted into the holes and then either a walkway could be constructed or a person could walk from pole to pole. Historians do not know why these particular holes were constructed, nor do they know why they only reach part of

756-649: The way up the cliff face. Remains of city walls have been located at the top of the cliff, and some historians have theorized that the pathway might have been intended to enable a person to access the city from the river. Another set of similar holes can be found near Wushan in the Little Three Gorges (小三峽) of the Daning River (大寧河). The local tourism agency in Wushan has placed poles in some of these holes so that tourists can see how they were used in ancient times. On

784-487: Was established in 314 BC as Yufu County (魚復縣). In 649 AD, the name was changed to Fengjie, an reference to the loyalty of Zhuge Liang . Fengjie County is located in the northeast of Chongqing, bordering Wushan County in the east, Enshi City ( Hubei ) in the south, Yunyang County in the west and Wuxi County in the north. It is 500 km (310 mi) away from downtown Chongqing, and administers 30 townships, 363 administrative villages and 23 residential committee. By

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