(July 7, 1957)
To the Central Committee, with a copy to Comrades Luo Ruiqing and Wang Renzhong:
I plan to arrive in Chongqing on July 24 and take a boat downstream on the 25th to visit the Three Gorges.
If it is indeed feasible to swim through the gorges, I will do so; otherwise, I may confine myself to one section of the Three Gorges where swimming can be safely attempted.
Should that prove impossible, I will disembark at Yichang as the ship exits the gorge mouth, or proceed directly to Shashi, and then continue by boat to Wuhan.
I have already discussed this matter with Comrade Ruiqing.
I request that the Central Committee consider and approve it.
If the Central Committee agrees, then:  (1) Comrade Ruiqing should immediately bring along about ten swimmers, including Sun Yong and Captain Han, together with their team, to Wuhan, where they will once again conduct trial runs and swimming tests with the fleet that has already undergone a preliminary trial, repeating the process several times.  (2) Comrade Wang Renzhong need not accompany us; I intend to go to Wuhan in mid-July to discuss certain issues with the Provincial Party Committee.
Mao Zedong
July 7
[1] Luo Ruiqing was then Minister of Public Security. Wang Renzhong was then First Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPC.
[2] On July 7, 1957, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee replied to Mao Zedong, stating that regarding his plan to swim in the Three Gorges, the Standing Committee proposed first sending a delegation to conduct investigations and trial swims before making a decision.
Subsequently, based on the results of the trial swims, the Standing Committee did not give its approval.
[3] Sun Yong was then Deputy Chief of the Guard Section of the Guard Department of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.
Captain Han refers to Han Qingyu, who at the time served as the Company Commander of the First Company of the Central Guard Regiment.