This model shows the main dam structure (upper center) and the lock system (center right).

Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam was billed as the highlight of the Yangtze River and we were eager to see what has been called China's greatest engineering and building endeavor since the Great Wall was started over 2,000 years ago. The Yangtze, flowing over a distance of over 3,800 miles, is the longest river in China and the third longest in the world after the Amazon in South America and the Nile in Africa. It is also a cradle of ancient Chinese civilization.

The idea of building a dam across the Yangtze river has two principal rationales--- to control flooding and to harness the river for hydropower. This has been the dream of several generations of Chinese since the time of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, leader of the revolution that established the Republic of China around 1914. The first proposition for construction dates back to the year 1919, when he suggested building a dam at the Three Gorges. For various reasons, mostly related to internal political conflict and war with Japan, nothing was done to advance Sun Yat Sen's proposition. Then, starting in 1954, hundreds of Chinese scientists and engineers began to devote themselves to the planning and design of the project and, after forty years of effort, the vast undertaking finally got under way in the early 1990s.

Still under construction after more than a decade of work, the Three Gorges Dam will be finished in 2009. With a 1.2 mile stretch of 600 foot concrete across the Yangtze (another Chinese Great Wall), the project will create a 37 mile-long reservoir with a depth of over 500 feet in most places and will will supply power throughout central China. When completed, it will have a capacity of 17 million kilowatts, topping the output of South America's Itaipu Dam by 40 percent. Its projected annual power generation of 84 billion kilowatt-hours is equivalent to a coal mine capacity of 40 to 50 million tons per year. This project will wind up costing more than any single construction project in world history.

In recent times, at third reason for the dam has emerged--- the promotion of tourism. Our local guide told us that the completion of the project will benefit the local tourism industry in at least two ways. First, the rising water level of the river will facilitate direct and easier tourist access to many scenic spots formerly located on hard to reach mountains, and second, the vast waterway and reservoir will enable local people to develop new forms of water-based tourism.

Our Tour

The original plan for our tour was for the Victoria Queen to pass the dam's immense locks as we made our way downstream to the city of Wuhan. However, this idea was undone because the lock system was under repair. Instead, we had to say farewell to the ship at the docks near Yichang. We took some last minute pictures of the Dragon Cruiser moored next to us and then picked our way across still another pontoon bridge to the wharf. On shore, we discovered gratefully that cable cars (below) would take us up to the "ground level." After a few minutes waiting around, we boarded the bus ( by far the worst we had during our time in China) that would take us to first the dam site, then to Yichang for lunch and some shopping and, finally on to Wuhan, some four and a half hours away by expressway.

Completely disoriented in regard to directions because of many turns and traffic circles, we drove along for a half hour or so until we reached a nice park above the dam complex. After checking the driver's permits, the uniformed guards outside a large parking lot gave us permission to enter the park. Our local guide tried to started to explain some of technical details regarding the dam and its hydroelectric turbines and power lines but we didn't hear too much. In fact, we wandered away from the "Gold I" group, Joan once more in search of a lavatory, and Ralph trying to find a place where he could take some pictures around the park, especially the beautiful flower gardens, without dozens of tourists walking in front of his lens.

Not too far from the dam site, we arrived a nice Visitors Center with attractive flower gardens, a fountain, and a lookout station affording a great view of the entire Three Gorges Dam site. Much to the delight of the ladies in our group, it also had a clean bathroom and a small building with a nice souvenir shop (Joan bought more earrings and Ralph got small stone carvings of a dog and a pig, his and Joan's "birth year animals.") For the technically inclined, a portion of this building building also provides a scale model of the dam that is really helpful in giving a complete idea of what the entire dam complex involves .