Abstract:

"Jodie Foster narrates this provocative documentary about the Three Gorges Project, China's ambitious plan to dam the Yangtze, one of the most dangerous rivers in the world. On-location filming illustrates the mammoth scale of the dam, which, when completed in 2009, will be 1.3 miles long and 610 feet high--just as long and twice as high as the Golden Gate Bridge. Computer graphics accompany discussions on the geophysical, technological, and economic issues of this, the largest construction project since the Great Wall. The dam itself, however, is only part of the story. The formidable resettlement effort underway is a culturally and emotionally costly one for those abandoning their cities, ancient villages, and farmlands in what may be the true price for China's continued modernization." -- DVD container