The First Bend of Yangtze River
Drum-shaped marble stele whose legendary crack is said to open before war and seal in peace.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the First Bend of the Yangtze River near Lijiang centers on a drum-shaped marble stele carved in the mid-1500s, its crack said for nearly five hundred years to open before war and seal itself in peace. It traces the Naxi ruler's victory over a Tibetan army at this river bend, where the Yangtze folds back on itself in a turn of nearly ninety degrees between the mountains. You'll hear of the armies said to have crossed here over the centuries, from Zhuge Liang and Kublai Khan's cavalry to a Red Army crossing in April 1936. Look at the crack yourself and consider how a valley keeps watching a piece of stone whenever the news turns bad.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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