Sommet des Trois Gorges

The Top of the Three Gorges (Sanxia Zhi Dian) is a dramatic ridgeline observation area perched on Chijia Mountain, directly above the famous Kuimen Gate where the Qutang Gorge — the westernmost and narrowest of the Three Gorges — opens into the Yangtze. Opened in 2020 and quickly recognized as a national 4A-level scenic area, it has become one of the most rewarding viewpoints on the upper Yangtze, offering a perspective on the gorges that is difficult to appreciate from river level.

The name borrows from a line by the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, who served as an official in this region and immortalized the vertical cliffs of Chijia and Baiyan mountains in his "Ten Quatrains on Kuizhou." Standing on the observation platform, visitors look down on the slab-like peak of Baidicheng, the confluence where the Yangtze pours into the narrow defile of Qutang, and the sheer limestone walls that made this stretch of river legendary for centuries among boatmen and poets alike.

The scenery here compresses much of what makes the Three Gorges culturally and geologically significant into a single panorama: the towering Ordovician and Triassic limestones, the emerald ribbon of the river far below, and the layered haze that has defined Chinese landscape painting for a millennium. For photographers, the morning cloud sea and the late-afternoon sidelight on the cliffs are the most coveted conditions.

Visually the site stretches for more than ten kilometers along the summit, with multiple viewing decks connected by walkways. It is best visited as part of a Fengjie County itinerary, often paired with Baidicheng and a Yangtze cruise through Qutang Gorge. Visitors should come prepared for elevation, wind, and rapidly shifting weather — the same atmospheric drama that inspired Du Fu still defines the experience today.