Goddess Peak & Golden Helmet and Silver Armor Gorge

(Shennu Feng)

It is well known that, along the Wu Gorge, there are twelve unique peaks. Among them, the most prominent one is the Goddess Peak (Shennu Peak). The peak looks like a beautiful and pious maiden standing gracefully on the northern bank. Hence the name. Because the Goddess Peak is the highest peak among the twelve peaks and is first to greet the sun and sees off the afterglow at sun set every day, it has another name - Wangxia Peak (Looking Sunglow Peak).

For thousands of years, people have made up many legends about the Goddess Peak. Among them the most popular one goes like this: In the Prehistoric Times, there lived many fairies in the palace of heaven, among them, a clever and beautiful one was called Yao Ji. On the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival,she invited her eleven sisters to visit the earthly world, as she felt lonelyin heaven. When they arrived at the Wu Gorge, they encountered Yu the Great controlling the flood there. Moved by his spirit, Yao Ji decidedto help by sending him a sealed book relating to the control of water. However, before she deciphered the book to Dayu, she and his sisters were caught by the soldiers from heaven. In order to help Yu the Great, they broke the chain usedto tie them, and returned to the earth. With the help of Yao Ji and her elevensisters, the flood was finally overcome. Since then, Yao Ji and her sisters remained in the Three Gorges area and helped the local people to tame the water. They forgot to return and turned into twelve elegant peaks along the banks of Wu Gorge. Shennu Peak is the incarnation of Yao Ji.

(Jinkui Yinjia Xia)

Located six miles along the lower reaches of the Wu Gorge, this is one of the small gorges of Wu Gorge.  Here is a limpid stream called Hengshi Stream on the northern bank of the Yangtze. At the confluence of the stream and the Yangtze River is a residential area called Hengshi. In this area, there are continuous steep mountains and cliffs along the river.

When viewed closely, the rocks on the cliffs appear in many thin layers like the squama in a grayish white. They resemble the silver armor of the ancient warriors. On the top of the peak, the limestone has a helmet's shape. Its color is filemot, which makes it resemble a golden helmet even more.

From afar, the peak can be seen as yellow in its upper part while the lower part is white resembling a warrior wearing a golden helmet and silver armor. Hence, it gets its name.

On the mountainside on the southern bank of the gorge, there is a cave with a diameter of approximately 10 feet. A yellow rock stands at the entry of the cave. Seeing from a distance, the rock is like a mouse with its forelegs up in the air and hind legs on the ground. Therefore the cave is called Mouse Cave.

To the east of the Mouse Cave, the Arrow Shot Hole (Jianchuan Dong) is located on a swarthy ridge of Facing Clouds Peak (Chaoyun Feng). There is a legend about the hole. It is said that Xiang Yu, the King of West Chu during the period after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), once competed with someone on archery. They agreed that the one who could shoot a hole on the ridge by an arrow would be the winner. Xiang Yu then shot a big hole on the ridge through his first try and defeated his rival. On the ridge opposite the Arrow Shot Hole, there is a huge stele, which is said to be the magic arrow left by Xiang Yu.