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Liujiaxia Hydro-electric Dam
From Lanzhou, the first stage of the expedition is a two-hour bus ride through impressively fertile loess fields to the massive Liujiaxia Hydro-electric Dam, a spectacular sight poised above the reservoir and surrounded by colorful rocky mountains. At the dam you board a waiting ferry, which takes three hours to reach the caves. From the ferry, the views are excellent: fishermen being busy at work, and farmers cultivating wheat, sunflowers and rice on the dark, steep banks. During the trip, the ferry enters a tall, hung gorge, where the river froths and churns; you'll see sections of the bank being whipped away into the waters. It's said that the Yellow River carries some 35 kilos of silt in every cubic metre of water – It is why its constant murkiness and its name come from.

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