Three Gorges Dam

Overview of the Dam - best view we had on this romantic day...

Inspired by Chairman Mao's poem which begins 'Wall of stone...will stand upstream....Hold back Wushan's clouds, the intent of the dam was to tame the mighty Yangtze.

Prior to the dam a winch stations ware required to pull a boat upstream on the shallow part of the Yangtze, along with the required effort of trackers in some areas. The dam solved many of these problems although it
submerged 13 cities, 140 towns, 1352 villages. People were relocated to new towns and villages. The stories vary as to whether or not they are happy about it. One of our guides said that she received 600 yuan for one year.  The formula for compensation was based on how much the individual lost due to the relocation


According to Wikipedia and our guide "The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping.  It is the largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW). The dam was completed and fully functional as of July 2012 except for a ship lift. "

Ships passing through

The dam allows free tours, takes 3 ½ to 4 hours to go through it.  They are currently working on the ship lock system. It has 10 chambers.  (lots of locks, no bagels - joke courtesy of our guide. As Guide Michael would say it was a very romantic day...meaning misty with limited visibility. On the way to the dam we saw the locks. 

 The dam area itself was guarded allowing limited entry. The grounds were beautiful; the escalators a welcome relief from stairs.

Terry and I shooting each other on the escalator ride

 I climbed the monument and took pictures from the top.  The sculpture at the front is meant to represent three men fighting with the water in an attempt to tame the river. That could be me standing at the top watching the cascading falls below.

The view from the top was of one of the concrete blocks  used to stop the water flow so that the dam could be built.  Each block weights 18 to 28 tons.  It's sharp angles allow it to be placed deep in the earth.

View from the top

Terry would like you to believe that he picked up this rock and put it on its appointed stand, but I know it was actually rescued from the river before the dam covered up the river bed with water.

 For those of you who might be interested in the the facts, I bought the book.  Chances are I will be able to get it in the new suitcase that we are going to have to buy to get all the stuff we're buying home...

Guide Steven said the river is rising each year because of all the silt that is added to the river.  His joke:
Why is the Yangtze River so rich? It has two banks with many many deposits.




Flowers and Kids

Never would have thought this was a dam, more like a park

Pretty pictures everywhere

Little Girls and Water, Delightful

This little girl has the Chinese style diaper, much cheaper than Pampers