Too Many Dam Jokes

8/4/15 

The main highlight of the Yangtze River cruise, and the one Nick was looking forward to the most, was seeing the new Three Gorges Dam. Nick is a sucker for engineering feats, so he was in his element, asking tons of questions and telling everyone around him how it compared to the Panama Canal which we visited a few years ago. (NN: :-P)

Model of the dam

Model of the locks

The dam began construction in 1994 and is still undergoing its final construction phases (NN: There is a ship elevator that they are still finishing that will hoist smaller ships past the dam in 40 minutes instead of the 3-4 hours it currently takes in the locks.) but it is fully functional for boats to pass through (which we did at about midnight that night) (NN: It was late when we passed so I was the only person in our tour group that got up to see the passage through the locks. I was amazed by how close to the walls the ships navigate. Getting in place and closing the door behind you takes a good while, but amazingly the huge lock fills up with about 20 meters of water in maybe 2 minutes.) and is now the world’s largest power station, which is the main reason it was built – to provide energy to China, even though it only provides about 5% of all the electricity China needs. Which really puts the population size of China in perspective: if the world’s largest dam/power plant, built to produce massive amounts of energy, can only supply a fraction of one country’s needs (a country that is currently booming and will continue to grow), then we as a species are definitely outstripping our natural resources faster than they can possibly be renewed.

Single boat passing through lock

4 boats passing through lock

Looking down on locks

Before the dam, the Yangtze River was a relatively small, shallow river in this area, only about 3 meters deep. But to build the dam, they would need to flood entire villages across a 600 km stretch of river. (You can still see some of the remains of brick buildings and crumbling walls on the shoreline of the river, a mere fraction of what lies below.) The Chinese government relocated all of the villages (1.3 million people and numerous archeological sites) to newly built cities on higher ground, about 100m higher to accommodate seasonal flooding. In return, the villagers were compensated at a rate of about $6-10 USD per month for 20 years. But walking through one of these cities, you can see that the new towns are still very poor. Once farmers, they don’t really have a job to go back to (and the government owns the land anyway) now that their fields are 100m below water, so most local people seem to make a living off of the tourist industry as guides (younger) or store vendors (older). (NN: And many, like is true in much of rural China, have moved to work in mega factories in the big cities.) Though we were told that being a matchmaker was the best job in town, but you have to be 60 years old, female, and have given birth to both a son and a daughter, which is quite the list of prerequisites.

Lookout over dam & tetrahedron used to dam river initially

Explanation of tetrahedron

Chinese guard post

The dam was definitely a sight to see. Hard to compare it in size to Panama, especially since the new one was under construction while we were there, but this dam has 5 boat locks (instead of 3 like Panama) and they pack the boats in so amazingly close together and so close to the walls. It was impressive; and what’s more is that boats can pass through free of charge. The Chinese army built and still runs the dam, and since there are mostly Chinese ships passing through the river, there is no toll (as there is in Panama) to cross it. Clearly China must collect massive amounts of tax dollars from its citizens to enable it to build massive infrastructures, build and relocate entire cities, and provide compensation. (NN: It also helps the that compensation is whatever the Chinese government wants and that they forced their Army to build it so they did not have to deal with increased wages due to demand.)

Front of dam

Back of dam

Thankfully the clouds rolled in as we reached the top of the dam site (we’re not actually allowed to walk across the dam), so we had our first relief in days from the oppressive heat. And in no time, the umbrellas that people were using as sun protection (everywhere you go it’s a sea of colorful parasols!) came in handy during a light drizzle. Hopefully the rain will help cool things down a bit. The summer is actually China’s rainy season, so the water level is purposefully lowered by about 10 m to accommodate possible flash flooding. In the dry winter time, the river would be much higher than we’re currently experiencing it.

Upon returning, we took a much needed shower – we’ve learned that there’s no point in showering in the morning, as you just have to take another one at the end of the day because you are seriously drenched in sweat – and got “dressed up” for the Captain’s Reception. Which I learned just translates into free endless champagne and shaking hands with men and women in official-looking white uniforms. After speeches in both Chinese and English from the crew, there was a small ballroom dancing show, where young couples dressed all fancy did the waltz and then picked out people in the crowd to come join them. Of course, tall, not-so-dark, and handsome Nick stands out in a Chinese crowd and is immediately picked up by one of the young dancers, much to his chagrin and the cheers of our group. He was in stark contrast to the French-Canadian gentleman in our group who was very eager to join a young Chinese girl on the dance floor (and apparently made friends because she met him for breakfast the next day – LOL).

Once Nick finished his dance (NN: First was a waltz. Next less elegant dance that had me twirling around the girl, kindda reminded me of the Punto Guanacasteco. Then started the music for the “chicken dance” at which point I bowed out. No way!), we headed back to our cabin and both of us passed out missing dinner (I’ve now missed 3 meals in 2 days – clearly I must be very sick). I must have over done it with the two shore excursions and the intense heat. My entire body was wracked with pain every time I’d cough, and my chest rattles a bit when I breathe, so it’s probably some kind of respiratory infection is my guess. Ugh, I’m really hoping this medicine kicks in soon.