Forget Chongqing. This Town Nearby LIVES ON THE EDGE (Fengjie) | This is China?! Ep. 3

What happens to a 2,600-year-old town when it’s entirely submerged — its people forced to move uphill?

I came to find out, with a heart full of nostalgia, expecting stories of loss and longing. Instead, I found life flowing on — steadily and restlessly — like the Yangtze itself.

Fengjie (奉节) — a cliffside town rebuilt by the Yangtze River after the Three Gorges Dam swallowed its old town. (The relocation began in the early 2000s, displacing over a million residents along the river.)

I came chasing stories of the sunken town… and somehow ended up stumbling across a red-light street, retirees fishing in forbidden waters, and swimmers ignoring every single “No Swimming” sign.

The new Fengjie now stands higher, but down by the river, the old rhythms remain — the elderly playing music, slow boats drifting past, porters waiting eagerly by the steps for whoever still comes and goes.

Join me as I explore a town where everyone seems to bend a rule or two just to get by, where everything feels a bit… improvised — and life plays out, quite literally, on the edge.

A place where nostalgia has gone out of fashion.
No one’s waiting for the old days to come back — defiant, as if refusing to fade quietly into the reservoir.

This is Episode 3 of This is China?! — a series where I rediscover my own country after years abroad, with all the surprises, slip-ups, and double takes that come with it.


China Travel | China Travel Vlog | Travel Series China | Fengjie | 奉节 | Three Gorges Dam | Yangtze River | 三峡 | Chongqing | Chongqing Travel | Sunken Town | This is China?! | Offbeat China | China Hidden Gems | Chinese River Towns

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