Glen T. Porter and Dr. David Honey, Asian and Near Eastern Languages
China’s Three Gorges project is much more than the construction of the world’s largest dam. It includes an array of projects ranging from constructing suspension bridges to planting tangerine orchards. The centerpiece of this massive project is a concrete and steel dam that will stand 610 feet high and will be 6,864 feet (1.3 miles) wide.1 The reservoir created by the dam will be a watery ribbon 372 miles long and less than a mile wide. The water will drown 23 8,120 hectares of arable land, 5,025 hectares of tangerine orchards, 657 factories, and 44 ancient ruins.1 The water surface will eventually rise 560 feet above current levels. This will necessitate the relocation of 1.13 million people who now live in 13 large cities (some as large as 100,000 residents1), 140 towns and 326 villages located below the projected surface of the reservoir.1
The government claims that the vast majority of those to be effected looks forward to relocation.1 In the absence of any in-depth study on this issue, and believing that the feelings of 1.13 million people might be better represented, I decided to ask some of the people myself. During the spring of 1996, I spent an extended time visiting the cities, small villages and towns that will be covered by the waters of the Sanxia Reservoir. The reaction of both city dwellers and farmer-peasants was solicited on the following questions:
1. What has the government told the people about the project? What do they know about the project from other sources?
2. How has the project impacted their present economic situation? Do they feel the government’s compensation will be adequate? What are their expectations for the future?
3. What social/cultural impact has the project had on their communities? Do they plan on staying together as family or community groups after relocation? How has the project impacted family units?
The results were far from the supportive majority declared by the Chinese authorities.
As might be expected, the peoples opinions about the project ranged from enthusiastic support to angry opposition. Close observation revealed a pattern in the differing attitudes. Responses indicate a wide difference in understanding and opinion between two distinct groups of people—the urban population and the farmer-peasants. Although the differences are much less pronounced, the results also indicate general opinion differences divide both groups by age with those younger generally more supportive. The farmer opinion block can be divided again into upstream and downstream fractions whose attitudes seem to be influenced most by the degree of affectation and present financial situation, followed by education and age.
The majority of the population expects initial flooding to begin during the summer of 1997. Urban dwellers have been promised relocation in new cities being built to replace those that will be covered by the reservoir. The new cities are touted as being clean, spacious and modern—all the things their current cities are not. Each family and government sponsored business will receive about the same amount of space in the new city as they now have. Rents will be higher, but most citizens don’t see this as a hardship since the creation of the reservoir is expected to stimulate the economy and bring a higher standard of living to the entire province. Few people living in the cities oppose the project. The farmers, on the other hand, are not so supportive. They expect to either be moved to land higher on the mountain slopes or to be moved to the new cities. The farmers view both prospects as less than desirable. Soil on the mountain sides is thin and infertile. Nearly all the new land will need to be terraced and improved. Without the flat land on the river bank, their tangerine groves, and the seasonal silt deposits from the river they feel maintaining life on the steep rocky slopes will be nearly impossible. To make things more difficult, the government does not plan to build replacement housing for the farmers. Instead, they are promised compensation based on the area of the building lost in the reservoir. Few farmers feel the money promised by the government will be enough to replace what they presently have (houses made of mud with black tile roofs, many with only a dirt floor). Morever, these funds are to be distributed by the local cadre, who the farmers see as greedy and untrustworthy. Many villagers expressed doubt that they would ever see any of the reparation promised. All persons I spoke to got what information they possessed about the dam from the government, whether through it’s propaganda bureau, the cadres or through friends in positions of responsibility.
The project has had surprisingly little impact on the peoples lives to this point. This lack of influence is most striking in the countryside. The farmers know that they may have to move in less than a year. Yet, they continue to plant orchards, build houses, graft tangerine trees, and hoe their fields. There is no sign that they are preparing for relocation. The farmers do not know where the government will move them or when. Many of them expressed a disbelief that anything would ever happen. They have been told they would be moved at least three times since 1958, yet, each time they were left on their land. Just as their ancestors waited for emperors to forget or grow weary of planned changes the farmers of today wait for a war over Taiwan, for Li Peng to run out of money, or Deng Xiaoping to die. They do not feel an urgency to prepare for something that may not happen and which they cannot control. Their vision of what may come is a troubled one, but they wait in patience, willing to deal with the future, one challenge at a time.
This attitude has prevented much of a social/cultural impact, as yet. In both urban and rural areas nuclear families expect to be able to stay together through the move. Extended family and other members of farming communities, however, are to be divided between the cities and the new land. For those that leave the villages this represents a near-total loss of important traditions of burial, religion, and farming. Those left behind face huge environmental and economic changes that will most likely have a negative effect on their way of life.
References
- Tyler, Patrick E. “Cracks Show Early in China’s Big Dam Project” The New York Times vol 145, Jan 14, 1996:, A1. 1
- Jiang, Di, editor. Sanxia Baiwan Yimin Chulu Hezai? Chongqing: Chongqing University Press. (1992): 25. 2
- Holman, Richard L. “China Starts Dam Relocations” The Wall Street Journal June 4 (1993): A9. 3 Tyler pp. A1. 4
- Jie, Yan. “Chuanwei Renshi Tan Sanxia Gongcheng” Qiaodian (Focus) May (1996): 13, 22.