Three Gorges Dam Project to Wuhan
Sunday, July 20, 2008

Lost in translation

Relatively calm day today because it involved travel by bus back to Wuhan and our “home” at Hubei University.

We left the boat early in the morning and took the 275 steps up to meet our original bus. We were taking off to see the massive Three Gorges Dam Project right up the road. This massive hydroelectric plant with its 32 generators can provide electricity for China in a one thousand kilometer radius around the area. Incidentally, the area covers most of the densest population areas of China.

A model of the three gorges dam project

The dam that is being built there for three main reasons;

1. Flood control, a major problem on the Yangtze River.
2. Increase the navigable areas of the Yangtze River.
3. Hydro-electric power.

Another dam model, okay I am immature.

The dam will eventually displace 1.13 million people. Those who are being displaced by the project will receive a monthly stipend for the next twenty years. The stipend is not much by US standards but more certainly adequate by Chinese standards. The children of the displaced families will also receive free education. Free education is only guaranteed until the equivalent of the ninth grade.

Today was quite overcast and foggy which greatly limited the visibility of the dam itself. Even though I could not see the whole thing one can not mistake the massive size and scale of the project. We saw the some of the dam from an observation point and later went to a museum which showed and interesting film strip about the construction of the dam.

A view from the observation deck.

The project is scheduled to be totally completed by 2009. Here is the amazing thing. The dam has cause significant portions of the Yangtze River to rise, specifically near the Wu, Qutang, and Xiling Gorges. Despite the rise of the river the views are still spectacular. I can not fathom how the views were when the gorges were a football field deeper.

After that we rode on back to Yichang City for lunch. We ate the Innca Hotel as guests of the President of Three Gorges University. The meal was buffet style and had many western “style” dishes. Our group kinda…, went nuts. I mean come on. We had access to French fries, ice cream, and really good coffee. I always say you covet what you can not have and well we “gorged” ourselves. Sorry bad pun but it was just sitting there to be used. The bathrooms were some of the nicest we had seen since being in China. Anyone who has traveled overseas for any length time understands that at the coming across of good clean bathroom facility is as much akin to the discovery of the Ark of Covenant as a traveler is going to get.

Our Fulbright group were then guests of the University for a Welcoming Ceremony with the usual power point and then a short tour of Three Gorges University (3GU). The campus is quite nice and then buildings were all very new. I think that when a university that specializes in engineering and hydroelectric energy has the world biggest Dam Project built down the road from it said university is going to benefit. Overall I was very impressed by Yichang City and Three Gorges University.

From there we stopped at a little on campus grocery to get provisions for the five hour bus ride back to Wuhan. To say that we were the center of attention at the store would a drastic understatement.

The ride back was pleasant enough. We discussed education and schools. It was great to have so many different backgrounds and situations sharing in a conversation about the field of education. My program mates are truly professionals and I feel honored to experience this program with them. I ended up napping the final two hours of the trip, thank you ipod.

When we finally saw the hotel/dorm at Hubei University we all truly felt we were “home”. Hit the bed and slept well.