“Enjoy the scenery but you will have to leave your glasses with the guard,” Mae said. Our Chinese English teacher friend guided Frank and I onto a bus in Yichang, Hubei Province. Our destination was the Three Gorges Dam.
“Why would I have to leave my binoculars with the guard?” Frank asked.
“The dam property is very private and you cannot look with those glasses on the north side,” Mae said.
I placed my hand on Frank’s lap – a gesture we had established with each other to help calm ourselves when we did not know exactly how things worked in China.
The bus was filled with fifty-two Chinese teachers and four English teachers, including Frank and I. All the passengers taught at Yichang No.1 High School. Our excursion to China’s famous Three Gorges Dam was to celebrate Teacher’s Day.
When we arrived at the barricaded dam site, we lined up to have our backpacks checked. There was a slight tug-of-war between the guard, who could not speak English, and Frank, who could not speak Chinese. Frank told me later that he wasn’t trying to cause a scene he was only trying to protect his prized field glasses. The guard took the binoculars and put them in a box where he stood.
We boarded a golf-cart vehicle and were driven to the middle of the top of the dam. We were ushered to the south side viewing area where we leaned over slightly to gaze at the brown rushing water. The thunderous sound of the displaced water pushing through the openings in the concrete barrier was deafening. We were denied access to the north side and were given another reason later in whispered tones.
"The reason you cannot go to the north side is the same reason you cannot bring your binoculars to the top of the dam – you will see too much,” our Chinese teacher friend said.
The area to the north of the Three Gorges Dam is being flooded and the property that was there has disappeared under water. Advocates for the displaced renounce China’s Three Gorges Dam. The love-hate relationship of China’s Three Gorges Dam is that it provides three-quarters of China’s power and at the same time has displaced millions of farmers who helped build it.
Learn more about China's Three Gorges Dam http://www.worldinterestingfacts.com/infrastructure/three-gorges-dam-the-worlds-largest-dam-from-china.html
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| Rendering of Three Gorges Dam |
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| View taken from Internet |
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