Introduction * The Towns: Shibao Block, Wushan, and Fengjie * History and Myth * Traditional Life * Outsiders on the River * War Along the Yangtze * Taming and Exploiting the River * New Life Along the River * The Coming Flood: The Three Gorges Dam and the Future
DEIDRE CHETHAM has been a frequent traveller on the Yangtze River for almost twenty years. She has been the Executive Director of the Harvard University Asia Center since 1997, and until 2000 served concurrently as the Executive Director of Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research. Prior to this, she spent a decade as a U.S. foreign service officer, with assignments in Beijing, East Berlin, and on the Burma desk in Washington D.C. Deirdre Chetham has been a contributor the National Geographic News Service, Gemini News Service in London, and Radio Netherlands International.
DEIDRE CHETHAM has been a frequent traveller on the Yangtze River for almost twenty years. She has been the Executive Director of the Harvard University Asia Center since 1997, and until 2000 served concurrently as the Executive Director of Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research. Prior to this, she spent a decade as a U.S. foreign service officer, with assignments in Beijing, East Berlin, and on the Burma desk in Washington D.C. Deirdre Chetham has been a contributor the National Geographic News Service, Gemini News Service in London, and Radio Netherlands International.
'...the content is a well-balanced mix of vignettes from real lives and their historical contexts.' - Jo Lusby, City Weekend '...a meticulously researched, emotionally charged account of China's uphill battle to erect the barricade.' - David Johnson, The Asian Reporter 'Readable and informative, it's highly recommended.' - Karin Glendenning, Chattanooga Free Press '...a timely study of a condemned place.' - Washington Post Book World 'A vivid last snapshot of the communities about to come to an end with the flooding of the Three Gorges. Chetham has an intimate understanding from many return visits, informed by her Chinese language and her knowledge of history, geography, society, and politics.' - Ezra Vogel, Research Professor, Fairbank Center, and former Director, Fairbank Center and Asia Center, Harvard 'Deirdre Chetham's evocative and informative portrait of a vanishing world will fascinate anyone who has wondered about the social and cultural implications of The Three Gorges Dam...A poignant work, the significance of which will only increase after the deluge.' - Judith Shapiro, author of Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China '...a meticulously researched, emotionally charged account of China's uphill battle to erect the barricade.' - David Johnson, The Asian Reporter 'Readable and informative, it's highly recommended.' - Karin Glendenning, Chattanooga Free Press '...a timely study of a condemned place.' - Washington Post Book World 'A vivid last snapshot of the communities about to come to an end with the flooding of the Three Gorges. Chetham has an intimate understanding from many return visits, informed by her Chinese language and her knowledge of history, geography, society, and politics.' - Ezra Vogel, research professor at the Fairbank Center, and former director of the Fairbank Center and Asia Center at Harvard
'...the content is a well-balanced mix of vignettes from real lives and their historical contexts.' - Jo Lusby, City Weekend
'...a meticulously researched, emotionally charged account of China's uphill battle to erect the barricade.' - David Johnson, The Asian Reporter
'Readable and informative, it's highly recommended.' - Karin Glendenning, Chattanooga Free Press
'...a timely study of a condemned place.' - Washington Post Book World
'A vivid last snapshot of the communities about to come to an end with the flooding of the Three Gorges. Chetham has an intimate understanding from many return visits, informed by her Chinese language and her knowledge of history, geography, society, and politics.' - Ezra Vogel, Research Professor, Fairbank Center, and former Director, Fairbank Center and Asia Center, Harvard
'Deirdre Chetham's evocative and informative portrait of a vanishing world will fascinate anyone who has wondered about the social and cultural implications of The Three Gorges Dam...A poignant work, the significance of which will only increase after the deluge.' - Judith Shapiro, author of Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China
'...a meticulously researched, emotionally charged account of China's uphill battle to erect the barricade.' - David Johnson, The Asian Reporter
'Readable and informative, it's highly recommended.' - Karin Glendenning, Chattanooga Free Press
'...a timely study of a condemned place.' - Washington Post Book World
'A vivid last snapshot of the communities about to come to an end with the flooding of the Three Gorges. Chetham has an intimate understanding from many return visits, informed by her Chinese language and her knowledge of history, geography, society, and politics.' - Ezra Vogel, research professor at the Fairbank Center, and former director of the Fairbank Center and Asia Center at Harvard
What will be the world's largest hydroelectric dam is under construction in the remote Three Gorges area of China's Upper Yangtze River. Of the nearly 1500 towns that will be submerged when the project is complete, the author focuses on a handful that she knows well from her experiences as a river guide and lecturer. She describes their residents involved in their daily affairs-working, worshiping, getting by-even as the flood waters ineluctably rise around them. In some cases, communities that have existed for thousands of years, whose entire histories and cultures are centered on the river, that have survived flood, famine, and war, will be forced to uproot themselves forever. Against this backdrop, the author also recounts the broader controversies and political deal-making that went into the decision to build the dam. This book had to be written now because in just a few years these people and their world will be gone. Highly recommended for Chinese studies, travel, and ecological collections. [For more on the environmental, economic, and social consequences of this project, see also Dai Qing's The River Dragon Has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China's Yangtze River and Its People.-Ed.] Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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