Search

The article details the problems and benefits created by China's building of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River. The project displaced more than a million people and has been associated with land slides and tremors. However, the hydroelectric dam is a environmentally friendly power source compared to China's coal-burning power plants. Future dam projects are discussed.

At least 273 people have died and 218 have been reported missing from recent flooding along the Yangtze River and other bodies of water, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. The flooding is the worst in a decade, Chinese officials say. About 330,000 homes have been destroyed, and economic damage is estimated at $8.5 billion, Xinhua reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China took a step toward making the yuan an international currency when it promised to allow its use in trade between a few provinces and their neighboring states. China's State Council said the yuan could be used for the settlement of trade between the factory-rich Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas and the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau. It also said that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations could use yuan in their trade with China's southeastern provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan. Chinese and foreign firms that are trade partners now do most of their business in dollars. (REUTERS) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Profiles Richard Rhodes who salvages ancient Chinese stones from the Yangtze River valley before they are inundated by the Three Gorges Dam. Principal of the Rhodes Architectural Sone in Seattle, Washington; Hunt for a specific type of granite to use in the building of a house for Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle; Discovery of the stones at the famous gorge of the Yangtze River.

Reports that Central China's Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River has closed its gate. Overview of the multi-billion dollar engineering megaproject; Dispute over the gains and perils; Resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people in a region of overexploited land; Benefits for some; Concerns over loss of scenery and the effects on the environment; Comments of the Chinese; Loss of archaeological sites, graves and temples.