"Red Heart Moon" a WEST MEETS EAST China Weblog -- by Kevin Hart

Cross-cultural musings about life straddling the Pacific.

last modified Jun 16, 2004 at 17:43

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Here, Again, Today

This must be my 150th visit to the Three Gorges Dam. It is an awe-inspiring sight indeed, if for nothing else, the sheer audacity of it all. Having been a regular visitor since 1996, I have witnessed it grow from nothing to really really something.

Today is Thursday, April 13th, 2005, and I am writing from an internet cafe, complete with the cafe, from the immigration town called New Zigui (old Zigui lies two-thirds underwater several miles upstream). One section of the five stage shiplocks at the dam is being repaired, so all ships are temporarily stuck either above or below it. The docking facilities just above the dam are crowded with 4 and 5 ships per berth, and while it means inconvenience and delays for passengers traveling to Yichang City or Wuhan, there is an almost festive atmosphere among the staff and crew as they get to see old friends from other ships, and go ashore after hours to dip their chopsticks in spicy, communal hot pot.

Here in the immigration city high above the dam, I am struck at how green it has become since the last time I visited about this time last year. Many of the trees and shrubs lining the parks and streets have grown and blossomed, and are taking well to their transplanted setting. It really makes a difference when the sun comes out (a rarity for most parts of the river except in the summer when the hot sun burns off the constant haze), and right now the weather is gorgeous; sunny, clear, about 20 degrees Celcius. The view of the reservoir from the edge of town is breathtaking, and the dam imposes itself over everything at one end seeming to say, "Behold, and tremble". The changes have been drastic, and the local universe now certainly revolves around the colossal concrete structure, abbreviated simply as the "3GDP".

140341 | posted by xinwenyang at 23:45 | 0 comments