Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2003 09:00:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Benjamin Sandler" <ibenibeni@yahoo.com>
Subject: All eyes are on the River
To: Everyone

Hello to everyone from Wushan (Three Gorges), China...

And sorry that the last message had to be so brief. As of today in Wushan, the SARS-imposed ban on cyber-cafes has been lifted. I had to wait a longtime to use this computer (which incidentally just deleted everything after I had finished - twice). Many young boys have been deprived of their simulation war games for quite some time now. And I too have missed the convenience of easy communication.

The two Chongqing reporters who were held with me at the police station in Yunyang are fine. I spoke with them, and they were released shortly after I was. I felt responsible for their detainment, and they felt the same way. In the end it was nothing. Their photographs were not confiscated. The police were worried that I too was a reporter, and they were aiding me. If I was a reporter, and they were helping me in some way, the story would be completelydifferent.

These are not the only reporters that I've come across this time in the Three Gorges. You could say the area is crawling with media. At first, the pomp and circumstance over the closing of the Three Gorges Dam's sluice gates was cancelled due to SARS. Government jubilee took a backseat to the national health crisis. But now, at least on Chinese television, SARS is taking second place to the rising reservoir. Reporters are camped out at the mouths of the gorges doing time-lapse photography, on docks, and in the old towns to document how all eyes are on the river.

All eyes are indeed on the river... This is big, bigger than big! One last impression to save for
memory, one last glimse so as not to forget, one last chance to have a story for the next generation, and the next... Where were you when...? And one last chance to appreciate and honor a river that has sustained life, and upheld civilizations long ago vanished. All eyes are fixed on a moment in history, this moment.

Everywhere, people are pointing at ghosts. They're showing eachother memories underwater, or significant piles of rubble yet to be submerged. Many are enjoying the company of family on the flattened spot where there old home used to be, playing cards, chatting, or just staring at the encroaching water level.

As waterfalls shorten their plunge, cornfields sacrifice their last yield, unfinished archeological
digs fill with water, trash and debris lift from the ground to the surface of the reservoir, the pace of
life here continues. Yes, life goes on. Some are happy, and have benefitted greatly from their
resettlement. Some are sad, miss their old homes, their old cities, or the old way of life. Many are
angry, angry that promises have been broken; their compensation is too small, or non-existent, their new home is too small, or non-existent.

To quote Dai Qing from the title of her compilation of essays on the potential effects of the Three Gorges Dam, "The River Dragon has Come!" It's swallowing what it can right now, but it will not be satisfied. Next comes the third phase of forced resettlement. What is to come is not yet known. The government is optimistic, and the media totes the party line. Third phase relocatees are worried that all of the funds for relocation have been spent. They fear they will get nothing for their contribution to powering the turbines of a dam with exclusive benefits.

This is all for now, thanks for allowing me to share my experience here with you.

Take care,
-Ben