We reach the dam just before sunset. It is smaller than I
expect, smaller than Bonneville or the Grand Coulee
dams. It is directly above the city of Yichang .
In the twilight of a cloudy day, the gray dam is quite ugly. Many Chinese rush
to the top deck of the ferry to get their picture taken in front of the dam.
The water flows freely around the right end of the dam, and we cruise silently
by.
I think a little about the dam. We have seen so much new
construction in China .
Expressways that opened just two years ago have lanes closed for repairs, as the
roadway washed out. I don't think I have been in a building or on a bus yet
where everything works. (I lost track of the number of leaky facets or toilet
flush mechanisms that I have fixed). In the 1970's two major dams in Chain
broke, killing thousands of people. I shiver to think that the world's largest
reservoir is being built upstream of the world's largest population center,
with Chinese engineering.
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