Author: Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Premiere of New 3 Gorges 3D movie

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

 

Premiere event

The Premiere of New 3 Gorges 3D movie was held in the Central Television Media Center on 26 June 2025.
The movie was jointly produced by the former Three Gorges Office of the State Council (now merged with the Ministry of Water Resources), Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, Hubei Provincial People’s Government, China Three Gorges Corporation and China Film Group Corporation, and many international film masters participated in the creation of the film. It took 30 years of tracking and shooting, more than 10 years of creation and polishing, the full support of 11 Chinese academicians; more than 50 experts and leaders participated in the dialogue, and 100 scholars and eyewitnesses contributed. It will be screened in more than 3,000 theaters across the country starting from June 26, and a series of international and domestic screenings will be launched.

During the premiere I was the only foreigner and also the only tourism expert from the expert group that took part in the November 2015 shooting, see the earlier post.
Many speeches from leaders and contributors and the presentation of the movie in 2D.
The detailed report of the event by China Report.:
The world premiere of the large-scale 3D documentary film “The New Three Gorges” with the theme of “Three Gorges Love and Chinese Heart” was held in Beijing, by China Report.
Here the original article in Chinese with translation into English: 250630 Sanxia_eventreport

I was interviewed I think by Chongqing TV.
During the “New Three Gorges Tourism Promotion Conference” delegates from several cities along the Yangtze River presented their region and local products and dishes were displayed.

Watching the 3D movie

On 28 June we went to watch the 3D movie in one of the very few theaters that showed 3D (somewhere in North 3rd Ring Road area), most were 2D. In the afternoon session we had the whole theater for us. We were told the morning session was full.

The double text in the pictures is because of the 3D.

My take on the movie

Of course I am honored and happy to be so much featured in the movie. But I regret none of the other members of our tourism expert team was featured and also none attended the premiere. It seems they were pretty unhappy with the movie, a sentiment I do share in part.
We saw so many amazing tourist sites but they appear little in the movie that spends too much time with insignificant themes. It fails to show the transformation by the rising waters, the impact on logistics and mobility in the whole region. There are other videos that show the submerged villages and structures; nothing about it in the movie.
The movie fails to project and promote the imposing tourist pearls along the Chongqing to Sanxia riverside. It missed a great opportunity.
Let’s hope that other movie segments will be shown later.

 

New 3 Gorges documentaries

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

 

Seven chapters

The New 3 Gorges documentaries had 7 episodes, each 30 minutes long, with 7 aspects of “dam”, “water”, “mountain”, “people”, “scenery/The View”, “city” and “dream”. It shows the new achievements, new changes and new developments of the Three Gorges reservoir area and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River after the completion of the Three Gorges Project. The film was launched in 2012 and the crew has invested in the shooting, production and polishing of “New Three Gorges for 10 years.
The documentaries were aired on CCTV9, 17 to 23 November 2022. I am featured as a tourism specialist, mostly in Chapter 5 “The View”, from the shooting in November 2015.

See some screenshots from the different chapters.
The movies are 2D, the 3D movie came out years later.
For the 3D shooting, Keith Merlin, the documentary director who won two Oscars, and Christie Niby, the director of “The Truth about Diaoyu Island” and “Mysterious China” , “Avatar” visual effects director Chuck Komisky, “Ocean”, “Migrating Birds” and “Penguin Diaries” director Jacques Behan and many other international film masters participated in the planning, shooting and guidance.

The 3D camera was showed during the Jialing River event on 3 August 2018.

New 3 Gorges documentaries details

Introduction of the 7 episodes, see the YouTube clip.
And on Vimeo.
Watch the full Chapter 5 on YouTube.
In my opinion the documentaries are somehow better than the final 3D movie. More about it in later posts.

Earlier media event

On 15 December 2015 a Media Event was held in the CCTV Media Center (Fuxing Road) to introduce the movie, “Discovering New Three Gorges”.
Check the earlier post.

 

 

The New 3 Gorges

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

 

A memorable adventure

On 2 November 2022 I landed in Chongqing to start my journey for the shooting of the movie “The New 3 Gorges”. I was the only foreigner in a group of over 50 experts, scholars and media personnel as well as several journalists. Also part were the many cameramen and the drone operator. It took 12 days, we traveled more than 3,000 kilometers along the Yangtze River from Chongqing to the Three Gorges Dam, and visited more than a dozen districts and counties, and more than 40 tourist attractions. Every day we needed to fill out a detailed report to evaluate the tourist sites we visited. Journeys were long and exhausting!

My official title: “Discovering the New Three Gorges”. Tourism Mission Leader and Expert GILBERT VAN KERCKHOVE Nationality: Belgium, Work Unit: International Leisure Industry Association. Position: Senior Expert Consultant.

I saw fantastic scenery, imposing tourist sites, I took hundreds of pictures, see some here as well some of the location maps during our travel. I still have an idea to publish some of the pictures.

In every city we passed we were received as VIPs by the local government.

We ended our journey on the dam of the Three Gorges 0n 12 November 2022.

 

Many sites visited

In this interview I gave some comments and recommendations about the tourist sites I visited: 151118 interviewGVK

See the planned program: 151102 program

Here is a list, actually incomplete as some locations were downvoted (sometimes wrongly in my opinion):

The ranking list of 30 Best New Three Gorges Scenic Spots

1三峡人家 (san xia ren jia in Yi Chang)、2三峡港湾 (san xia gang wan in Zhong Xian)、3神农溪 (shen nong stream in Ba Dong)、4汉丰湖 (han feng lake in Kai Xian)、5黄水旅游区 (Huang shui Tourist Area in Shi Zhu)、6鬼城名山 (the ghost city in Feng Du)、7三峡大坝 (Three Gorges Dam)、8神女景区 (shen nv Tourist Area in Wu Shan)、9平湖万州 (Wan Zhou city)、10新三峡电影公社 (New Three Gorges Film village in Wan Zhou)、11瞿塘峡 (Qutang Gorge)、12巫山小三峡 (Wu Shan Little Three Gorges in Wu Shan)、13天坑地缝 (tian keng di feng in Feng Jie)、14恩施大峡谷 (En Shi Grand Canyon in En Shi)、15雪玉洞 (Show Jade Cave in Feng Du)、16白帝城 (Bai Di City in Feng Jie)、17西沱古镇 (Xi Tuo Ancient town in Shi Zhu)、18龙缸景区 (Long Gang Tourism Area in Yun Yang)、19万州大瀑布 (Wan Zhou Great Falls in Wan Zhou)、20武陵山大裂谷 (Wu Ling Mountain Rift Valley in Fu Ling)、21大昌古镇 (Da Chang Ancient Town in Wu Shan)、22腾龙洞 (Teng Long Cave in Li Chuan)、23石宝寨 (Shi Bao Zhai in Zhong Xian)、24刘伯承纪念馆 (Liu Bo Cheng Memorial Hall in Kai Xian)、25白鹤梁水下博物馆 (Bai He Liang Underwater Museum in Fu Ling)、26文峰观 (Wen Feng Taoist Temple in Wu Shan)、27三峡梯城 (San Xia Ladder City in Yun Yang)、28张飞庙 (Zhang Fei Temple in Yun Yang)、29屈原故里 (Qu Yuan Temple in Zi Gui)、30涪陵两江广场 (Fu Ling Rivers Plaza in Fu Ling)

The dam

It’s the world’s 27th largest dam by reservoir volume, and the world’s largest power station by installed capacity (22,500 MW).  After the extensive monsoon rainfalls of 2020, the dam produced nearly 112 TWh in a year, breaking the previous world record set by the Itaipu Dam (Brazil) in 2016.

The dam’s body was completed in 2006; the power plant became fully operational in 2012. The last major component of the project, the ship lift, was completed in 2015. The dam, measuring 185 meters in height and 2,309 meters in width, significantly surpasses Brazil’s 12,600 MW Itaipu facility and is one of the world’s largest hydroelectric plants.

Each of the main water turbines, state-of-the-art at their installation, has a capacity of 700 MW. Combining the capacity of the dam’s 32 main turbines with the two smaller generators (50 MW each) that provide power to the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the Three Gorges Dam is 22,500 MW.

The generators were manufactured by two joint ventures: Alstom, ABB, Kvaerner, and the Chinese company Harbin Motor; and Voith, General Electric, Siemens (abbreviated as VGS), and the Chinese company Oriental Motor.

The dam enhances the Yangtze River’s shipping capacity and provides flood control, helping to protect millions of people from severe flooding on the Yangtze Plain.

Source with many details: Wikipedia.

In the eighties I introduced the Belgian technology of ship lifts to the project team but they failed to follow up. Much later the Chinese side came back to me but at that stage I said, sorry, all engineers have retired and Belgium cannot do it anymore. They built their own ship lift but as far as I can see, it is not that much used used, the ships usually use the ship locks.

See the story of the Belgian Strépy-Thieu boat lift in Wikipedia.

 

Old China Hands Lunch 4 July 2025

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

 

Independence Day

Some patriotic Americans chose to go eat hot dogs for their national day instead of the Old China Hands Lunch 4 July 2025. And yes many were away so we ended up with 23 attendants who had to brave some bad traffic hurdles and the sauna weather. All enjoyed the food and the company.

The menu, see the pictures:
•    one local draft OR glass of house wine OR soft drink•    tomato stuffed with fish salad OR cooked ham roll stuffed with Russian potato salad OR fresh daily soup
•    thin sliced tenderloin with black pepper sauce served with vegetables and Belgian fries OR fricandon of beef served with hot cherry and mashed potatoes OR red snapper mediterranean style served with daily vegetables and mashed potatoesz
•    daily desert
•    coffee or tea

Next lunch is planned for 1 August. Expect real sauna weather!

Baby trafficking denied

Morel’s staff denied they were engaged in baby trafficking, despite the suspicious activities going on.

Chef Renaat was kept company by the miniskirt gang.
After investigation it is said to be a preparation for a romantic Chinese holiday in late August. Stay tuned!

Beijing restaurant battlefield

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

A long list

As a well-known food vlogger in Beijing I go around a lot and see the scene as a Beijing restaurant battlefield. Many locations open and then close. Rather few survive for a long time. There are many reasons, often the rent being increased dramatically, quality not kept up to standards, poor marketing and promotion, lack of appeal.

Beijing has seen many starting to make Belgian waffles, most went bust, except for Morel’s Restaurant that has them on the menu and Bewaffle, a small outlet close to O’Steak near Chunxiu Lu, Maison Manneke started with a lot of fanfare, they also joined Belgian embassy events. I tried it a few times but the location in SOHO Sanlitun did not have enough turnover. Sadly very few Belgians supported it. It is now a Chinese restaurant.

I liked a lot the cozy American style restaurant in Chunxiu Lu, food was good but it closed recently for reasons not clear. It is now a noodles restaurant.

Cartahge Restaurant was on Dongzhimenwai, operated by our friend Adele – he has gone through some failed restaurant, It was supposed to be North African cuisine like couscous and other. I tried it a few times. Now gone and replaced by some Pakistani restaurant.

East End was a small restaurant and delicatessen place, very nice and good food, that still stayed some time after its related restaurant Apollo next door vanished, a very nice restaurant that seemed to be doing well. We miss both Apolla and East End,

Orbit was a very nice bar restaurant in front of the Workers Stadium, with impressive decoration and wine selection. But it did not attract customers and it is now a Chongqing Hotpot restaurant “Chunying”.

Next to my home, Julong Garden, there has been an endless series of shops and restaurants in the same location. Seems it has bad karma because nothing seemed to survive for long. Last victim was a Xinjiang Restaurant, Ayisha, pretty good, no idea why it closed. It is now Jiangxi restaurant.

I could go on and on as the list of failed restaurants is endless. A restaurant like Morel’s that has been in operation for 25 years is really an exception.

Pushkin Literature Restaurant

As a last example, this Russian restaurant near Morel’s Restaurant was very popular at some point. They also had Russian staff. With COVID the Russians disappeared, Here some media articles.
Thebeijinger: Pushkin Literary Restaurant, a Throwback Hit? We’re Putin Our Money on It. Borscht, breaded pies, blinis and other Russian classics are available at the Yoolee Plaza restaurant.
CGTN:: Russian cuisine brings Russian literature to Beijin
Global Times:  Russian Alexander Pushkin restaurant gains popularity in China, but not just for food.

I visited several times: 10 June 2021, 27 January 2019, 11 February 2019, 6 March 2019. And one day it closed without much explanation.