The Far West: nineteen days in China by Carrie King

second day on the boat. we arrive at the first dam, the smaller test version from back in the eighties or so. the contest to see who could properly guess the exact moment (hour, minute, second) that the upstream lock gates would crack open. consult journal for details, hope i wrote them down. i think i missed by a minute and a half (early).

earlier, thoughts of flying my new kite, but discouraged by unpredictable unsteady winds and kite girl's warning of possible power lines.

after passing first dam, we are now in the first gorge, xiling gorge, which is already filled about 70 feet higher than anciently by the dam. but this section, still below the new dam, won't rise any higher.

later we reach the site of the three gorges dam construction. BIG. hard to get good photos in the haze though. did get photos of future 5-step big-ship locks, and faraway tiny workers high in the sky on a cable crane thing. those here.

and then, past the 10-foot lock lift, we enter the latter half of xiling gorge, which when all is done will be up to three hundred feet deep in water (check numbers). from now on, the ominous future-water-level signs every here and there.