I took the trip in April 2001. The amount of infrastructure being built was very impressive.
The Chinese people were so friendly and seemed to genuinely like Americans. I've been curious if that has that changed during the Bush Administration?

Sent by Gwenn Stewart Tucson AZ | 3:49 PM ET | 06-18-2008

My husband and I, our two teen daughters, and another family took a cruise on the Yangzte river in the summer of 2004. The guides on the cruize narrated as we went through different areas. They insisted that there are three gourges on the Yangzte river (thus the dam's name). We noticed that there are in fact 4 gourges and asked our guides point blank why they refer to three gourges. After some discussion we did determine that three is a lucky number and four is not, and that is why they say there are four gourges.

Sent by Libby Goff | 3:49 PM ET | 06-18-2008

We just returned from a trip up the Yangtze, including the Three Gorges Dam on May 3. As your callers suggest, those we spoke with indicated they were very happy with their new living arrangements. What intrigued us was the visit to the dam. while visitors were given the same metal detector screenings as one receives on an airline, nobody had to bring their belongings or carry on baggage through the metal detectors and the bus itself was not searched. We then re-boared our bus and went to the dam site. Strange indeed!

Sent by Mary Ellen Walls, Sisterdale, Texas | 3:53 PM ET | 06-18-2008

I just read a short story clled "Village" by Anthony Doerr in the O'Henry prize stories for 2008. It was a very powerful look at the affects of the dam on villagers and their varying responses. I recommend it to those who are interested in this topic.

Sent by Stef Neyhart | 3:54 PM ET | 06-18-2008

In September of 2006, my husband and I went to China specifically to take the cruise on the Yangtze and catch a glimpse of it before all was lost. To our surprise, alot had been lost already. We could make out foot paths that were partially under water, bridges that would be torn down and other starting to be rebuilt. Some areas had hidden graves in the walls of the Yangtze, which would soon be under water. It was amazing to think all that we were seeing would be under water. I felt extremely lucky to have gotten to see history in the making and yet very sad to see history be ripped away from it's people. As you looked at the sheer beauty of the mountains and the amazing old pathways from village to village it was hard for me to think it would all be gone. I can only imagine how the people whose lives, pasts and religious symbols, would be wiped out by progress. Our area was recently wiped out by mother nature through floods, I now think I have just a small idea of how these people must feel. I was given no choice by God, they were given no choice by their government. I hope the three gorges dam will be worth the pain it has and will cause the people of China. History is a precious thing to loose.

Sent by Karla Pashby-Fuller | 4:24 PM ET | 06-18-2008

I did the trip this spring on a Chinese cruise ship. I am sad that I didn't do the trip earlier. As a note the number 3 is not lucky, but the number 4 sounds very similar to the word for death (someone who doesn't speak Chinese would not likely hear the difference, it is only a matter of tone), which is why the number four is considered "unlucky." This is so true that Chinese people will pay extra for a phone number that doesn't have the number 4 in it.
Doing the trip on the Chinese cruise ship opened a different door than doing in on a western cruise. The tourism value was incredible, there were stops all along the way where we were taken to see various shows and what I would describe as "tourists traps." Although the people seemed "happy" enough it seemed apparent that they are in a desperate situation with the only means of supporting themselves being to sell food, trinkets, etc., to tourists.
No one I talked to on the cruise ship seemed at all disturbed by the dam or the results of the dam, with the exception of on Chinese man who had traveled the area some 20 year earlier and the two other Westerns on the trip.
The water level is currently at about 150 meters, and the signs for the high water level read 175 meters, there is still more that will be lost! However, the cruise is still well worth doing if you are traveling to China, though I am quite sure it was a far more impressive scene before the dam was built. As an aside, I didn't find the dam all that impressive!

Sent by Thomas Avery Garran | 7:24 PM ET | 06-18-2008