The Great Wall of China, Forbidden City,Terra-Cotta Warriors,Yangtze River, Bird's Nest, Water Cube....

The Introduction of Three Gorges Dam

Monumental works of civil engineering undertaken by Chinese emperors, often at the cost of tens of thousands of lives, are strewn across China's landscape and history alike. The Qin organized the Great WaIl and the Ming re-routed it and clad thousands of kilometres with stone, the Sui built the great canal network of the Imperial Highway, and various emperors constructed labyrinthine palaces and vast mausoleums, principal tourist attractions today.

China's modern leaders have not been slow to conceive super-projects of their own, although cement has replaced stone, and the raw muscle power of thesurpIus agricultural laborers known as the 'army of
sticks' has been partly supplemented by machines. The greatest of these projects is undoubtedly the new San Xia (Three Gorges) Dam, a 17--year, US$70 billion operation involving the transporta1ion of more than ten billion cubic metres (350 billion cubic feet)of rock and earth and the displacement of over 1 million people from the 60,000hectares of Iand which will gradually be flooded by the resulting 640-kilometre(397-mile) long reservoir.

First phase:
1993-1997 (five years): Project preparation and first stage of construction, culminating in the damming of the Yangtze River in November 1997. The water of the Yangtze River was diverted through a man-made canal - the diversion channel, and the water level in the Three Gorges area rose by as much as 10 meters as a result.

Second phase:
1998-2003 (six years): The second stage culminates in the first batch of turbines beginning to generate hydropower and the permanent shiplock being put into operation. The reservoir is filled between June 1 and 15, 2003, when the water level in the Three Gorges have risen from the previous 66 meters above sea level to the current 135 meters.

Third phase:
2004-2009 (six years): The project is to be completed in 2009, when all 26 generators will be operating. The water level will be raised to 156 meters in September 2006. At the completion of the project in 2009, the water level will reach 175 meters, referred to as the “normal pool level”.

THE FUTURE OF YANGTZE CRUISES
Already the experience of passing through the gorges is changing. Gradual1y,the narrow ribbons of paths will disappear, and many temples and pagodas are reappearing on higher ground, some escaping from tactless deveIopment around them. In some ways the scenery will actually improve--several dark, Satanic concrete factories and mills wi1l disappear below the waters as wi1lbrutally ugly accommodation blocks, their new modern counterparts on higher ground unlikely to win architectural awards, but still visually far more appealing. The colossal dam itself and the five-stage ride up or down it will be among theTiver's main attractions, and schedules will become more convenient as the deepening waters make night navigation possible on formerly dangerous reaches. Most travellers often feel the Three Gorges trip to be the perfect break from the clamour of China, and a cruise on the Yangtze is likely to remain one of the most pleasant memories of many China trips to come.

The energetic visitor may climb to the summit of Wushan (Witches Hill), a two-hour hike. Worshippers still come to a small shrine here, built within the ruins of an old Buddhist monastery. From the summit the views of Wu Gorge and the river are spectacular. A less strenuous outing may be made to the newly opened limestone cave complex in Wu Gorge high up on the cliff face above the north bank of the river. This involves a short boat ride from Wushan town, an easy scramble up the rocky slope and then a walk along the old towpath. Around the cave complex there are the usual teahouse and ornamental pavilions. The cave complex, Luyou Dong, is named after a Song-dynasty official who visited Wushan and left an appreciative record of his stay.