Looking at the Yangzi River

South-North Water Diversion Project (Geography)
南水北调工程
One of themajor features of China’s geography is the disparity in available water resources in the parched north and the wetter south. The South-North Water Diversion Project is an engineering project designed to move water from the flood-prone south of the country to the dry north. The main river systems concerned are the Yangtze River in the south and the Yellow and HaiRivers in the north. The project has generated a large amount of controversy, both from experts within China and from without. Criticisms include the vast amount of human and material capital the project requires, questions about the environmental impact of the project, the practicality of the project given the severity of pollution in the water that is being transported, and the humanimpact on those relying on water from rivers that flow from the Yangtze, including those in neighboring countries. As with the Three Gorges Dam, a significant number of people will need to be relocated, raising questions about human rights, land rights, and fair compensation.

Three Gorges Dam (History)
长江三峡大坝
China has a long history of complex hydraulic engineering projects developed to control and channel the flow and supply of water for flood control and irrigation purposes and to aid in navigation. For example, the Grand Canal, became an important trade route for Sui Dynasty (581-618 C.E.) China with sections built as early as the 5th century B.C.E.. The Three Gorges Dam continues in this tradition as one of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams, located on the Yangtze River in Hubei province. The dam became operational in late 2008 and reached full capacity in 2011. The dam is an engineering marvel intended to decrease China’s reliance on non-renewable forms of energy by providing 18.2 million kilowatts of electricity (equivalent to about 18 coal power plants). The dam also allows for greater flood control capacity along the Yangtze River, but remains controversial in its impact on the ecology of the river, the displacement of over a million people in its building, and the flooding of important archaeological sites in the region.

Artifacts from 3 Gorges Sites (Material Culture)
New archaeological artifacts are constantly being unearthed as China’s cities grow and new land is developed. Striking a balance between development and conservation often proves difficult, as in the case of the Three Gorges damproject. In preparation for the flooding of the Three Gorges reservoir China coordinated its largest archaeological excavation project with more than 1,000 experts on staff to salvage historical relics before the dam became operational. More than 240,000 artifacts were unearthed from sites near the ThreeGorges reservoir, including artifacts from prehistoric cultures through theQing Dynasty. Despite the massive mobilization to excavate known sites in the region, there were many other suspected sites that archaeologists did not have sufficient time to investigate and have now been lost. In addition, sites like Fengdu, the ‘City of Ghosts’ (pictured here) and the 500 year-old Shibaozhai Temple will become partially submerged with dikes surrounding them to protect the remainder of the structures.

Urbanization Along the Yangtze River – Chongqing (Culture and People)
重庆
Chongqing, pictured here, is a major metropolis in Southwest China with direct-controlled municipality status, meaning that it operates similarly to a province. It has a population of over 28 million in the city proper. Located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and intersected by the Jialing River, the city is a major site for transportation, industry, and commerce in Southwest China and serves as an important hub for international business with Southeast Asia. Chongqing has rapidly urbanized in the last few decades with an influx of migrant labor from relatively poorer parts ofWestern and Southwestern China. Chongqing is representative of a number of new and growing cities along the Yangtze River and elsewhere in China. Cities like Chongqing offer a chance for some to move out of difficult farming lives, but the industry and manufacturing that has fueled the growth of these cities has also contributed to the pollution and degradation of the river’s ecosystems.

Creating Livable Cities – Houtan Park (Appreciation)
后滩公园
The theme of the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 was ‘Better Cities, Better Life.’ Houtan Park in Shanghai is an expression of the appreciation for developing cities that combine urban conveniences with green space and eco-friendly technologies. The park was developed for the World Expo in 2010 on land once used for ship building and steel industries along the Huangpu River. The park consists of 14 hectares of reclaimed wetlands filled with native plants, grasses, and trees and is intended to create both a space for public recreation as well as to begin to restore the badly polluted riverfront. The park is one of the few expo-related creations that will remain a permanent feature of the waterfront and includes space for education and outdoor performances. A rapidly urbanizing China continues to grapple with balancing preservation of natural habitats with building 21st century cities ready to integrate themselves into the global economic systems.