The Three Gorges of the Yangtze

I've cruised the The Three Gorges of the Yangtze, Chinese style. It began on Friday, April 17th and ended Sunday the 19th. I understood not a word - save those spoken by the three other foreigners aboard - but I saw what there was to see.

It was more interesting than beautiful. China seems to be like that. That's not to say it wasn't beautiful. At the end of three days, I was still saying WOW aloud to the diving slopes of mist and green. I've never seen land meet water like that before.

Interesting though would be my word of choice. I shared a dorm with five people. They seemed to know each other - two couples and a lady. Middle class, late fifties. We had major communication issues. Ni hao (Hello), xie xie (thank you), and America were our only mutual means of understanding.

But they were so friendly. I was given a share of whatever was eaten, and the bilingual tour guide was always asked to translate questions when passing by our room. Your Uncle and Auntie wish to know... she would say.

China is changing fast, and you can tell. At Wushan, the Yangtze is now 75 meters higher than it was three years ago. High rise concrete apartments stand above the now underwater fishing villages. Suspension bridges in flaming orange red span tributaries and construction crews are making ready the hills for super highways.

That responsible for so grand a transformation we toured at cruise's end. The Three Gorges Dam - now the largest dam in the world. 1.4 miles from end to end. Capable of generating 22,500 MW. It's immense - power at a mammoth scale.

Wide-eyed and small, I stood alone at the concourse. Our guide - megaphone and pointer aloft - had moved on surrounded by my fellow cruisers - I couldn't understand her anyway. The words clean energy and at what cost? kept running through my mind. I don't know.

I don't know.