四海为家 » 中国照片

Picture-perfect 大东海 beach

Maria — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:36:58 +0000

Shivering away the evening in my unheated Wuhan apartment, all I have left of Sanya is the volleyball we bought on the beach, some sand in my backpack, and a folder on my computer with photos of glistening white beaches. For anyone else thinking about escaping the cold for a vacation in the sun, do you need any more convincing than this?

Sunbathing with Chinese characteristics

Maria — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:25:35 +0000

Want to spend time on the beach, but worried about darkening your pearly-white complexion? In Sanya, the whities showed no fear for the sun (which we eventually paid for dearly with awkward sunburns), but Chinese beachgoers were endlessly creative in finding ways to keep the sun off their skin. Here are a few of my favorites:

The classic: An umbrella can always double as a parasol, temporarily folded away when it's time for pictures

Full coverage: If you want to sit on the beach and umbrella-protection isn't enough, the next step in sun-protection is to sit under the coconut trees wearing a wide-rimmed hat and mask that fully covers your face

The camper: Tents are for sale everywhere along the beach, and provide another sun-proof but very warm option for full protection from the sun

The ostrich: Having your friends bury you in sand may be a creative but less effective way to keep your skin safe

The alternative: Some beachgoers decided to embrace rather than fight the sun, and joined the sizeable group of darkly tanned nudists at the far end of the beach

Selling fruit

Maria — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:50:14 +0000

Fishermen

Maria — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:50:50 +0000

Fishermen in front of the Three Gorges Dam

Cranes

Maria — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:49 +0000

Performance space in the Three Gorges Dam park

Guarding the gate

Maria — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:48:16 +0000

Cruising the Yangtze

Maria — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:24:05 +0000

What did the Wuchang fish say when it swam into the wall?

Maria — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:59:43 +0000

We just got back from a trip to the Three Gorges Dam and a boat trip on a section of Xiling Gorge, between the Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhou Dam. I have to admit, seeing the dam in person, you can’t help but feel impressed. It’s amazing that it was even possible to build a dam in a river the size of the Yangtze, let alone one that’s 101 meters tall and holds back a 39.3 km³reservoir of water. It’s not only the biggest dam in the world, but according to Wikipedia it’s also the largest electricity-generating plant of any kind in the world.

The building of the dam has been pretty controversial – the rising water levels that come with a dam of that size have displaced 1.24 million people, flooded countless cultural heritage sights (of which Peter Hessler gives some excellent examples in his book River Town), and seriously disrupted the ecosystem in and around the river. Critics argued that the same amount of electricity could have been generated through a series of smaller dams, without having as much of an impact on life in and around the river, and without gathering together so much risk in one place (I’ve been told that foreigners aren’t allowed on, or to pass over, the dam, just in case our backpacks and Nalgene bottles aren’t as innocent as they look — and the dam is apparently near a seismic fault line).

But there are also benefits — most importantly, the huge amounts of electricity generated, which, despite the environmental impact of a dam of that size, is much cleaner than coal. Taming the Yangtze has also made it possible to control flooding downstream.

The Three Gorges Dam, seen from above

Wuhan is just a few hours downstream from this wall of water — I very much hope Chinese engineers know what they’re doing. I’ve been told that if something did happen and the dam burst, there are contingency plans to sacrifice a smaller city (rumor has it Jingzhou would have to go) in order to save the 9-or-so million inhabitants of Wuhan. I have my doubts that diverting the rushing flood waters would even be possible… I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that the massive amounts of concrete and steel will be enough to hold the Yangtze at bay.

Some fishermen try their luck downstream from the dam