Three Gorges Stone

Generally, Three Gorges Stone refers to the grait and pebbles in Three Gorges Area. Stone collectors in Chongqing are used to call all the pebbles in the upper reaches of Three Gorges as Three Gorges stone.

Brief Introduction of Three Gorges Stone

Three Gorges Stone is the general name of grotesque pebbles produced in Three Gorges Area. Three Gorges Area is a natural geological museum and a natural art palace of grotesque pebbles. Three Gorges stones are mainly distributed at the river valleys and high mountains on both banks of Yangtze River. There are various types of Three Gorges stones. There are more than 200 types of pebbles were discovered so far.

Charms of Three Gorges Stone

Three Gorges stone originates from the pre-Sinian metamorphic rock, sedimentary rock and the Precambrian granite. It is various in type, shape, color, vein and charm. There are many records about Three Gorges stones in ancient works. Lesser Three Gorges, Shennong Stream, Jiuwan Stream, Huangbai River and some other places are listed as the main distribution areas of Three Gorges stones. Visitors could buy Three Gorges stones as a souvenir at Yichang and Chongqing.

Distribution of Three Gorges Stone

Three Gorges Area is praised as "Natural Museum" and the grotesque stones are precious and rare treasures in this museum. The crustal movement 0.8-0.9 billion years ago changed the geologic structure here and since then the granites and organism fossils appeared. They provided necessary condition for the forming of natural and grotesque Three Gorges stone. Then the running water of Yangtze River pushes the grotesque stones to the areas where the water current is relatively slow.

Three Gorges stones which formed after thousands years of erosion are mainly distributed under the 175-meter water level. Those grotesque stones would be submerged by water after the construction and operation of Three Gorges Dam. A museum was built in Wushan County to settle these "special migrants". The Three Gorges stones under 135-meter water level would be moved to the museum in three years.

Collection of Three Gorges Stone

The folk collectors of Three Gorges stones keep collecting them in the past years. The number of Three Gorges stones broke through 100000 and their tastes had reached certain grade. Some cultural businessmen of Southwest Asia invited the stone collectors to hold exhibitions in their countries several times. Three Gorges stone culture has expanded to parts of Southwest Asia. Three Gorges stone is bringing economic benefits and social benefits for people in Three Gorges Area just as the water and landscape of Three Gorges.