Yichang
A transport terminus
on the Yangzi 120km west from Jingzhou,
YICHANG was an important commercial
centre under the Han, and later became
a treaty port. Fading during the early
twentieth century, the blossoming
of Yangzi tourism, as well as the
building of the Gezhou dam upstream
(not to mention the Three Gorges dam
), has seen an optimistic renaissance
replacing the once decrepit atmosphere.
That said, there's little of interest
in the modern city centre - glaring
and shadeless in summer - but animated
evening scenery along the river compensates,
with water traffic moored up, nightclub
barges throbbing to karaoke efforts,
and crowds flying kites, gorging themselves
on shellfish at nearby street restaurants
or just sitting on the banks cooling
off with ice creams. You may well
end up here for a night; aside from
the river, Yichang marks the start
of routes north to Shennongjia , while
the town is also on the rail line
between Xi'an and Hunan.
Yichang stretches along
the Yangzi's northern bank for around
5km directly below the Gezhou dam,
with buses and trains pulling in near
each other on Dongshan Dadao.
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