Three Gorges Dam free to Chinese tourists

YICHANG - Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, will be free to Chinese tourists from Thursday, China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) and Yichang municipal government announced on Wednesday.

The dam in Yichang city of central China's Hubei Province, will be free to all Chinese tourists, including overseas Chinese and those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, according to the announcement. Neither the CTGC, which runs the dam, nor Yichang government mentioned whether or how they would charge foreign tourists.

It is rare for Chinese scenic areas to eliminate ticket fees. There have been many complaints about high admission fees in tourist spots across the country.

The Three Gorges Dam currently charges 105 yuan (17 US dollars) for each adult.

Chinese tourists can make online reservation or walk up with an identity card. The maximum number of tourists every day will be restricted to 40,000.

Eliminating entrance fees shows the social responsibility of CTGC as a state-owned enterprise, said Sha Xianhua, deputy general manager of CTGC.

The dam receives an average of 1.8 million tourists every year, about 15 million tourists since its completion in 2006.

The Three Gorges project is a multi-functional water control system, consisting of a 2,309 meter long, 185 meter high dam, five tiers of locks, and 26 hydropower turbo-generators. It generated 82.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2013, accounting for 1.55 percent of the country's gross power generation.