China

China China’s Three Gorges: Before the Flood China’s Three Gorges Dam is the largest project in history since The Great Wall. When the dam is completed twelve years from now, it will be the most powerful dam ever built. The dam will stand 607 feet high and more than a mile wide., equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants. At peak load, 26 turbines will generate 18,200 megawatts of electricity It will create a reservoir 370 miles long, with a system of locks designed to bring prosperity through maritime commerce to China’s interior( Zich 8). Many of the inhabitants of the Yangtze River will be forced from their ancestral homes and farms. Many of the cities along the rivers bank will be devastated. Half the people destined to be moved are farmers. The reservoir will take up as many as 240,000 acres of farmland. Some of the inhabitants of the region are in favor of the dam and believe it will help future generations, while others believe the dam will destroy much of the cultural and historical value of the area. Archaeologists estimate that some 8,000 unexcavated sites will be lost forever in a tomb of water and sediment. ( Zich 20) The Yangtze River gorges, dam, region, three, river, zich, yangtze, reservoir, project, cultural, created, create, china’s, , waters, religious, powerful, people, over, miles, landscape, inhabitants, history, high, help, different, cities, chinese, china, believe, yu, years, wide, while, whatever, water, warn, wall, value, valleys, uprising, unexcavated, twelve, turn, turbines, true, troop, tributaries, tremendous, tomb, time