Three Gorges reach of Yangtze River stretches 192 km, and is famous for its beautiful natural landscapes and historical and cultural relics. After the reservoir began work, because of the rise of water level, some natural landscapes will be submerged. However, since most mountains upon the banks are as high as 800-1000 m, while the maximum water level of the reservoir is not higher than 175 m, so most of the natural landscapes will maintain unchanged. While the rise of water level brings improvement of navigation, some landscapes in the branches of Yangtze River of this area, such as Shenlongjia, Jiuwanxi, etc., will get favorable conditions for development. And also, the project itself will become a resort for tourists.

Forty four relics are influenced by the rise of water level of Three Gorges reservoir. One of them, the Baiheliang sculpture and epigraphs in Fuling, ranks among the first class in the national protecting list of relics. Another five relics are among the provincial protection list. The other relics unaffected by the Project include Baidi city in Fengjie, GhostTown in Fengdu, and so on. Some relics are preserved at its original location or transferred or copied to another place, such as Baiheliang sculpture, Zhang Fei Temple, Shibaozhai and Qu Yuan Temple. The ancient tombs of the submerged area have been unearthed on the basis of survey.