WALT: What is the 3 Gorges Dam project? How do different people feel about the project? What are the arguments for and against the project?

Where in China is the Yangtze Dam being built? The Chinese call the Yangtze River, Chang-jiang, which means "Long River". The Yangtze River begins in the Tibetan Plateau and is fed by snow and ice melt from the surrounding mountains. The Yangtze empties out into the South China Sea near the city of Shanghai. The Yangtze River is the largest river in China and the third largest in the world.

This is what the Yangtze valley looks like at the moment River boat cruises like this one is way of life for many and is how they earn a living. What will happen to these people when the project is finished? Almost all of the boating traffic in China is on the Yangtze River.

Many earn a living from fishing on the river. How will the dam affect them? About 350 million people live near the Yangtze River and its 700 tributaries. The lives of the people living near the Yangtze are affected in some way everyday by the river. Dangerous floods kill people and livestock living near the river.

Artists impression of what the dam will look like when it is finished.

As the dam fills and the valley is flooded, towns and villages like this on the hillside are at risk of being destroyed. Where do people from these places go?

Towns and villages have had to be destroyed to build the dam.

Building the dam – how has the dam affected these people?

This is what the dam looks like now.

The Impact of the Yangtze Dam Currently the world's largest engineering and construction site, the Three Gorges Dam project along the Yangtze River in Hubei province China, has displaced over 1.2 million people and destroyed 11 cities (in less than 6 months). The resulting 400 mile long reservoir will supply enough water to generate 84 billion kilowatts-per-hour of electricity. The dam wall is made of concrete and is about 2,309 metres (7,575 ft) long, and 101 metres (331 ft) high. The wall is 115 metres (377.3 ft) thick on the bottom and 40 metres (131.2 ft) thick on top. The project used 27,200,000 cubic metres of concrete, 463,000 tonnes of steel, enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers, and moved about 102,600,000 cubic metres of earth.cubic metresEiffel Towerscubic metres

Should a dam be built on the Yangtze River?

Arguments for It would supply much needed electrical power for development. Once operational, the dam will produce the energy of 15 nuclear power plants. To control flooding downstream on the East China Plain. Every so often these plains are devastated by a major flood where a thousand people die, a million lose their homes and 5 million have to be rescued. To move water to the arid north. To improve shipping so the ocean-going ships can reach Chongqing. In 1998 flooding in the area expected to be controlled by the dam resulted in 4,000 dead, 14 million left homeless and $24 billion in economic loss.

Arguments Against Over ten towns will have to be flooded to build the dam and people will have to move. The government says 1.3million people, others say up to 3 million. When the dam is completed, 13 cities, 140 towns and over 1,300 villages will be submerged by the Three Gorges Reservoir. Human and industrial waste could be trapped in the lake. Upon the dam's completion, 1,300 known archeological sites will be lost forever under water. Silt dropped could soon fill up the reservoir. Over 265 billion gallons of raw sewage are dumped into the Yangtze annually. Currently the river flushes this downstream and out into the ocean. Upon completion of the Three Gorges project, the sewage will back up in the reservoir. The project is estimated to be completed in 2009 at a cost of over $30 billion.

What would these people think? Farmer –You live near the banks of the Yangtze because you take the water from the river to flood your rice fields. Boatman –You have a small water taxi which you use to ferry people across the Yangtze. This is how you earn your living. Construction Worker –You have moved into the area for this well paid job organising the workers on the Three Gorges Dam project. Small Business Owner –You own a shop on the banks of the Yangtze. You provide the local village with general goods that people cannot grow or produce themselves. Yours is the only shop in the village.

Being Persuasive Language Be strong, positive and certain Use of questions Exaggerate your good points Use of ‘Magic threes’- three adjectives. Keep your writing polite - do not be rude (sound friendly). Work out the opposite point of view –then say it is wrong! Humour Connectives Use personal pronouns Layout Start with a clear presentation of the point that you are arguing followed by each of the main arguments. Each argument should be backed up by evidence. Conclusion – summarise the arguments that you have put across and then repeat you opening point e.g. that school uniform should be banned! Don’t forget – T ask A udience P urpose! e.g. write a letter to Mr. Reeves encouraging him to ban school uniform e.g. design a leaflet encouraging children to visit seaworld park in Ferndown e.g. write a radio advert to promote a new toy that has just been introduced.