Union College in Nanjing 2001

Chinese Hypernews

 

Around Nanjing

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-See the Nanjing environment for Union students

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Index

Student Remarks and Inquiries
-China 2001 Home -Read short diaries from Union students

 

Buying souvenirs

Sarah Peach:

After being through the Yangtze River and seeing the construction of the dam,  I have a different perspective on the whole project.  When you hear the  amount of electricity that the dam will produce and see the poverty that  different villages live in, you believe that the dam is necessary.  But,  then as you go down stream and see the destruction that the dam will cause  and all the people that will have to relocate you begin to feel differently.    I really feel as though the dam is necessary.  China needed to find a way  to produce more energy for its people.  I am sure that other ptions were  discussed and analyzed.  The Three Gorges Dam must have been the best  option.  From what the tour guides where telling us the government has  provided options for the families that are being relocated, such as building  an entire city to replace the relocated city of FengDu.  The biggest loss  for China will be losing the beauty of the Three Gorges.  The mountains that  seem so massive and beautiful will lose some of their majesty.  I believe  that although this project is necessary China will be losing a great aspect of its beauty.

 

 

Dancing in the hotel

Katie Round:

The Three Gorges Dam Project will have both positive and negative affects on  the surrounding area and on the entire country of China.  It will supply a  large percentage of China with electricity.  It will also provide an easier  route for ships traveling on the river.  These are very positive aspects of  the project that will help all of China in the future.  But this project  will have a huge effect on many people and on the environment.  The rise in  the water level will completely submerge several large cities, many  countryside towns and homes.  We can only slightly imagine the effect this  will have on the people forced out of their homes.  The project will also  destroy much of the natural beauty and the environment of the Three Gorges  and the area surrounding the river.  After seeing for myself the beauty of  The Three Gorges its hard to imagine that a large portion of it will be  destroyed in a few more years.

 

 

 

 

Enjoying the view

Virginia Liu: 

After traveling to the three gorges and finding out that China has started constructing a dam that would destroy this scenic area, I think it's a good and bad idea. It's good that the dam is going to help China's economy and it would promote a great amount of electricity for the civilians.  The bad part is that it would  destroy the scenery and relocate the people who has been living in that area for so long. There are good and bad points, if I had the power to make the decision, I would keep the gorges the way they are and find other ways to get electricity and use other paths in China to bring in foreign goods to help out the economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listening to brief intro

Julia Mahr

China's population is the largest of any nation in the world; only India even comes close to approaching the same amount of citizens. The need for a safe, inexpensive and efficient way to produce energy for the billions of people living here is a real one. By creating a massive dam, the largest in the world, China is going to be able to provide huge amounts of energy for the entire country practically pollution free. However, over a million people are going to have to be "relocated" because of the flooding that the dam is going to create and the amazing Three Gorges along the Chang Jiang River are going to be seriously diminished in beauty. The water level of the river is going to ultimately be raised an estimated 175 meters, thus covering cities, towns, historic temples and even a large portion of the three gorges themselves. The project has both huge downsides and huge upsides. I understand the need for a significant source of energy, and in China, a country which already has so many problems with pollution, water power is one of the smartest ways to do so. However, it is sad to think that so many historical sites of interest and such beautiful things are going to be covered by water and that so man people have to make sacrifices for this project to work.

 

Trying for her luck

Jon Schiff:

Our Three Gorge Dam trip started out with us staying at a four star hotel, very nice.  Early in the morning we boarded a bus full of tourists and were shipped to the dam site where we were given time to look at the construction.  It was a foggy day and not much could be seen although you could imagine how immense the project is.  Our bus then led us to the boat, a luxury 4 star cruise ship that cost a lot more than it was worth.  Although the ship was not all that we had paid for we did get to view the beautiful mountains along the Yangtze river.  It was tough taking in the  fumes and the bull horn that was present on the observation deck (also the site of the supposed exercise gym).  We ate three meals a day, however my first meal off the boat felt like the first real one in months.  In all the trip did not turn out as I expected, and I felt that we paid far to much for the cruise ship. Looking forward to our next excursion,

 

Viewing on the boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting the Ghost City

 

 

Visiting the Great Hall

 

 

 

Visiting Mao's Residence

 

Visiting the Shenglong Stream

 

Visiting the Dam of Three Gorges

 

 

Visiting Wuhan

 

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Term Abroad in Nanjing, China

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Last updated October 9, 2001