Three Gorges Dam by Chiang Kai-shek, began preliminary work on plans in the Three Gorges. In 1939, Japanese military forces occupied Yichang and surveyed the area. A design, the Otani plan, was completed for the dam in anticipation of a Japanese victory over China. In 1944, the United States Bureau of Reclamation head design engineer, John L. Savage, surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal for the 'Yangtze River Project'. Some 54 Chinese engineers went to the U.S. for training. The original plans called for the dam to employ a unique method for moving ships; the ships would move into locks
Xiling Gorge the length of the entire Three Gorges region, is actually a series of four different gorges: Precious Sword; Horse Lung & Ox Liver; Soundless Bell; and Shadow Play Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam was constructed at Sāndòupíng in the middle of the Xiling Gorge. Before the construction of the Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba Dam, Xiling was known for being the most dangerous of the three gorges to travel through, with frightening whirlpools and strong rapids. Since the construction of the dams, the river's depth has increased from in some areas below the dam, to well over throughout the reservoir's