Mist and Shadows

Have you every wanted to dive to ancient city lost beneath the waves?  No, I’m not talking about Atlantis here.  I’m talking about a city sunk beneath the waters deliberately by man.  I’m not talking about the Aswan Dam in Egypt either, but a place in China.

In 1959, a hydroelectric scheme in China created the Qiandao Lake (literally the Thousand Island Lake).  In the process of doing so, it sunk an ancient city, called Shi Cheng (Lion City), which was founded somewhere between 25 to 200 AD, to a depth of between 25 and 40 metres.

Now enterprising types are offering tourist dives to see the city.  If I ever go to China, it is certainly a place I’d like to visit.

Australia, despite its young age as a nation, is not without its abandoned settlements.  Many of this are from the Gold Rush era, quickly springing into existence, and just as quickly fading away.  As the population has become more urbanised, it has continued on.  I’ve walked in a few of these places, and there is a melancholy air to them.  These were places people lived, worked and loved, and now only the memories remain.  I can only imagine diving in such a place would be even more so.

And as a writer, sunken cities are filled with all sorts of possibilities…