Three Gorges Dam. Photo: Xiao Weinan

The Three Gorges Dam has seen the largest flood peak since the construction of the reservoir, reaching 75,000 cubic meters per second at 8 am on Thursday, exceeding the largest inflow in history. 

Eleven of the reservoir's spillway holes have been opened, discharging 49,200 cubic meters of water per second.  The dam has 23 deep spillway holes and 22 surface spillway holes to efficiently release flood water and allow it to stay firm. 

Both inflow flood peak and discharge flow detected are higher than what authorities forecast on Wednesday, when the Ministry of Water Resources raised the emergency response to flooding from Level-III to Level-II.

Three Gorges Dam. Photo: Xiao Weinan

The Three Gorges Corp said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Wednesday that an "elaborate deployment and operation" plan will be carried out to ease the flood defense pressure for Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality. 

On Thursday, Chongqing closed Hongya Cave, a tourist attraction known for its similarity to a building from the Japanese animated movie Spirited Away, as well as a number of other scenic spots and public avenues after the city launched its first ever Level-I emergency response to the flood on Tuesday. 

The water level detected at Cuntan Port Station in Chongqing, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, reached 191.55 meters Thursday morning, 8.05 meters above the safety line, the highest since the station was established in 1939. 

Days of heavy rain in some parts of Sichuan have also caused waters to continue to rise. In Leshan, floods that reached the toes of the famous towering Leshan Giant Buddha statue for the first time in 70 years drew attention from home and abroad. 

However, aerial images on Wednesday showed that the Buddha's toes are now exposed as the water level in Leshan retreated below the platform of the Buddha's feet.

Three Gorges Dam. Photo: Xiao Weinan

Three Gorges Dam. Photo: Deng Bin