he controversy over the Three Gorges Dam project surrounds the forced relocation of an estimated 1.2 to 2 million people and the negative environmental impacts of massive flooding.  In fact, half of the project's total cost was spent relocating people whose homes are now underwater due to the higher river level. Throughout the cruise, we saw many towns that were recently built to provide housing for those who were relocated.  

It is important to remember that the communist Chinese government is still all-controlling. The government puts the interest of the people as a whole ahead of the interests of the individual. This is in stark contrast to the U.S. where individual rights are paramount and sometimes taken for granted. The fact that the Chinese government relocated more than a million people to create a hydroelectric dam shouldn't be surprising, but in many other countries this simply wouldn't be able to happen..

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