There's no doubt China's growth in recent decades is being remarkable, with hundreds of millions of people lifted out of poverty.

-I've been taken it back, frankly.

But with prosperity is coming a search for mean. Are their faith and beliefs here that can help influence the path the country takes in the future?

-What a fantastic viewpoint! It's breathtaking. Part of the reason I wanted to start the journey along this stretch of the Yangtze, because this is the first bend in the river. So what? I hear you say. Well, the river, the Yangtze, is heading south this way and really should head out of China, but it hits these hills, those mountain ranges over here which made of hard limestone. It just can't erode even over eras of time, so the river doesn't abrupt about turn and heads that way back into and across China, and in doing so takes water and civilization and life to hundreds of millions of people.