Yoshida Nishimura in the interview with iChongqing during the "Back to The Three Gorges" tour

By Keqiao Cheng

“It said the scenery of the Three Gorges would undergo certain changes or even disappear. So I came up with the idea to visit it then.” Yoshida Nishimura recalled his memory in the interview with iChongqing.

A life-changing adventure in China

In 2002, 29-year-old Yoshida decided to take an adventure alone to the Three Gorges. Because she was fascinated with Chinese culture and feared that the beautiful sceneries and historical sites would be immersed for good amid the awash report in Japan on the constructing Three Gorges Dam.

The cruise was small and old, and a cabin was shared by four or five persons, she said. However, the kind local people impressed her the most. Then she shared a heartwarming story that happened during her visit to a village along the Yangtze River. “My shoelace was broken while I was walking, and an aged man of ordinary-look removed his own shoelace and handed it to me.”

“I feel grateful every time when this experience occurs to me over these years,” she said. “We didn’t exchange contact information because I did not speak Chinese at that time. The gratitude has been kept in my heart since that time.” she added, and she would like to say “thank you” to the stranger if she got any luck to find him.

Actually, that trip changed the life course of the Japanese girl. 

After the Three Gorges tour, Yoshida came to China again in 2007. It was on this trip that she met her Chinese husband, who was her tour guide. “We fall in love at the first sight,” she said smilingly. “I never thought I could marry a Chinese man.”

Back to the Three Gorges

In 2018, Yoshida finally had another chance to board on a cruise to travel along the same route she took 16 years ago. “Everything has undergone a dramatic change, except for the Yangtze River,” She said she couldn’t believe a city like Chongqing can be turned into such a modern metropolis in less than two decades.

Yoshida and her husband have two lovely sons now, living a happy life in SW China’s Chengdu. This time, she was really looking forward to the trip back to the Three Gorges.