Fuling
The city of Fuling, like many communities on the Yangzi, has been profoundly affected by the building of the Three Gorges Dam. Just an hour from the booming metropolis of Chongqing, this city of a million people has been completely transformed over the past decade. The rising waters of the Yangzi have prompted the government to demolish much of the city and build a series of dikes, highways and bridges in its place. A new section of the city has been built further up the hill from the river to accommodate the displaced people.
It is the hope of the people of Fuling that all of these changes will bring prosperity to the area. In the meantime the city has a distinct feeling of a place in transition. Half-finished buildings and bridges dot the waterfront while farmers work the land where homes have been demolished and new high-rises have yet to be built. Only time will tell if the dam, and all of its effects, will be good or bad for Fuling and the other communities along the Yangzi.
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Just read Peter Hessler’s book about Fuling called “River Town”. Great read about a Peace Corp volunteer’s two year stint in Fuling learning the language, culture, and making many Chinese friends.
I am reading Peter Hessler’s book about Fuling and was curious to see how far the water had risen from the damming. My partner’s father is a hydrologist from MIT and I have been following the story of the Three Gorges Dam closely. The photos are wonderful.
My friend and I traveled to Fuling in Dec, 2002 for her to adopt a baby. With the earthquake of May 12, 2008, I was wondering how bad the town was hit. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. We stayed in the Holiday Inn in Chongquing. Thanks
I am currently reading Peter Hessler’s book. I am visiting my daughter & family in Shanghai and purchased his book in a Shanghai bookstore. It is a great book. I see the same cultural/social/economic issues in Shanghai in 2008 as he saw in Fuling in 1996. The attitudes of the people haven’t changed. I love the people and being in Shanghai for 3 months.
I too am reading Peter Hessler’s book, and enjoying it greatly. I visited my Chinese friend a year and a half ago in Wuhan China. I rode on a river boat up the Yangtze River and fell in love with the people of China.
I am also wondering how the earthquake has affected the people who live in the area of the dam.
I am a Peace Corps Volunteer currently living in Fuling. The city did feel the May 12th quake, however, everyone in Fuling was fine.
I am halfway thru Peter Hessler’s ‘River Town’ and really enjoying it, I can relate to it. I purchased it in Shanghai after our 4 day trip thru the 3 Gorges. I wish I had travelled thru before the Yangtze was raised.
This was my 4Th trip to China with my Chinese partner and I will keep going back.
Great photos . . . I visited Fuling around Christmas in 2002, soon after it became “connected” to the outside world via a highway to Chongqing. At the time people from Chongqing thought I was crazy to go there–they wondered where I would stay! Fortunately, the paint had just dried in the lobby of the first hotel in town, and the staff must have wondered how I learned of the place so quickly.
Folks in Fuling are very much like those in the rest of Sichuan: tough, gritty, proud, and amazingly pleasant, given the challenges of simply being Sichuanese. I live in Shanghai–been here for seven-plus years–but the Sichuanese/Chongqingese are my favorite people in China by far.
Hessler’s book is great–his follow-up (Oracle Bones) picks up the thread of several of his students. I understand that a handful of his former students from Fuling were lost in the destruction of schools in the earthquake this past spring.
Fuling was spared, though–a bit of rolling around, but nobody injured. Fuling is about a six hour drive or so from the epicenter, so they would have had a good scare but little else.
One final note: the priest in the story (Father Li Hairou) was the subject of a few of Hessler’s short pieces in River Town. I met Father Li during my first visit to Fuling, and now I go to visit him about four times a year–as of mid-October 2008 he’s still alive (age 94!) and as sharp as a tack. He’s living in Chongqing now and is the senior resident at a former Catholic church. His health isn’t so good, but he continues to amaze me with his spirit and awareness.
Love Fuling . . . love its people, the food, and all that makes it the crazy place that it continues to be.
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Half way through Peter Hessler’s book River Town, I was curious to see photos of Fuling. I appreciate these website pictures. I’d also like to see some before pictures, photos of how the town looked before the dam. D.
I, too, am halfway through Peter HEssler’s book on Fuling. I wish I had been able to see it before the flooding. The world really is much smaller than when I was a child! I hope to see this beautiful area someday.
Seems like Peter Hessler’s book put Fuling on the map for traveling American’s. After reading half way through his books we seem to be drawn to the internet to see what has happened since he wrote. Would love to see more pictures.
I am glad I check out this site and seen the pictures. My oldest daughter (6 now) is from Fuling. I traveled in 2003 to Fuling to get her. I try to do research every now and then on her origin to put in her lifebook. Thanks.
I have just completed Peter Hessler’s book “River Town”.
It was important to me to see Fuling at least in pictures. How lucky were the students to have such a teacher and how lucky was he to be able to learn the language and interact with people in every area of life in Fuling and surroundings.