Triple Rapid of the Ching-t'an 6i 



rectangular turn in the middle, until the deep ravine opens 

 out slightly, making room for the extensive scattered village 

 of Shin T'an, or, as it is locally pronounced, Ching-t'an, on 

 its flanks. 



Shin T'an * means new rapid, and, as its name implies, is 

 of recent formation, having been created by a fall of rocks 

 from the precipitous mountain on the right bank, which 

 occurred in the second year of the reign of the Emperor 

 Chia-Ching of the Ming dynasty — about 250 years ago. 

 This is considered the most formidable of all the rapids on 

 the navigable portion of the Great River. It consists of a 

 race of water broken into three rapids, the whole extending 

 over a distance of two miles, in which I estimate the fall in 

 the river-bed at about twenty feet. The first rapid is due to 

 a small stream called the Lung-ma-chi, which enters the river 

 at right angles on the left bank, issuing from a narrow glen, 

 and which has deposited a huge fan-shaped moraine of 

 boulders, of nearly half a mile radius, damming up the river 

 and causing the first of the three rapids of the Ching-t'an. 

 The other two falls are due simply to barriers of rocks athwart 

 the stream, the latter like a weir with deep still water above 

 it — the channel of the Ping-shu Gorge. 



While our boat was delayed here awaiting her turn, below 

 tiers of big junks moored bow on to the shore, I landed for 

 a walk, in company with our " Ta-kan-tse-ti," or bowman, 

 who took me up a beautifully shady road through the village, 

 consisting of a steep flight of steps. Arrived on a terrace, 

 about 300 feet up, on which I had stopped for breath, my 

 companion pointed out two substantial brick houses, one on 

 the right and one on the left, and asked what I thought of 

 their respective Feng-shui, or site. The Chinese, as is well 



* Another and more formidable Shin t'an now exists above Yiinyang, 

 formed by a huge land-slip in September, 1896. 



