Where there’s water, there are people. And where there are people, there’s change. And no place is changing faster than China’s Yangtze river valley.
The 4000-mile long river holds what many say is the key to China’s economic future: energy and electricity. In 1994, the Chinese government began construction on the Three Gorges Dam. This year the project moves into the final phase, with a finish date set for 2009.
At a cost of $25 billion, the Three Gorges Dam is one of the world’s largest — and most controversial — public works projects. And it is changing the Yangtze river valley, the environment, and its people, in profound ways.
On Point’s Meghna Chakrabarti was recently in central China. She took a five-day river trip up the Yangtze and through the Three Gorges, and sent back this report.
Guests:
Meghna Chakrabarti, On Point producer.
