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"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
Early last week, the reservoir in front of the 3 Gorges Dam reach its level 2 plateau of 156 m. above sea level, up from 136 m., which it had been since June 2003.
The amount of garbage, flotsam, debris, and organic matter in the reservoir is overwhelming. There is talk of poking big holes in the dam to try to clear some of the refuse and prevent it from damaging the generators and clogging up the area just in front of the dam. Boats run by who used to be fishermen now get a small salary to haul in garbage in their big old fish nets.
It is bound to get better, not worse, as the water level stabilizes, but what about all the toxins and foul run off from the countless factories and towns that dot the river banks? They would need pretty fine filters to fish out all the chemicals.
The other day, a seemingly disgruntled bus driver reportedly drove a jam-packed bus over a guard rail and onto the banks of the Jialing River far below, taking with him scores of commuters. I personally find it hard to believe that anyone would puposely do something so horrific, but it is being described as a "suicide crash" in the media.
While there is a lot of competition for resources, jobs, and space in this crowded city, everyone usually manages to squeeze in and get by, both literally and figuratively. While Chongqing people are quick to loose their temper and often curse each other out in their flavourful local dialect, seldom does anything serious result.
That is why this news story has made such a huge impact on everyone here. Car crashes are commonplace here, but intentional acts of violence, much less premediated murder in spectacular fashion is nearly unheard of. You would think road rage, that ugly phenomenon manifested daily on the streets of North America would be a plague here too, but is surprisingly absent. Most drivers don't get upset about being cut off, because it happens every couple of minutes, and everyone drives the same.
I hope the local government comes under greater pressure to regulate the transportation industry as a whole on the chaotic streets of Chongqing. Some of the vehicles certainly should have been permament members of the junk pile or ground into pulp long ago, heavier fines should be put on drivers that cram their buses well beyond safety limits, and better licencing regulations need to be enforced for all drivers.
My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones on that day.
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