Visitors to the Three Gorges Dam totalled a record 1.45m last year, according to a local tourism company reported by Xinhua. Xu Ting from Yangtze River Three Gorges Tourism Development said the figure was 26 per cent higher than in 2009.

Cruise ships brought 860,000 tourist arrivals, a year-on-year increase of about 40 per cent. In the peak travel season, the dam in Yichang, Hubei province could receive more than 20 cruise ships a day, Mr Xu said.

Completed in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam is China’s largest industrial tourist site.