Displacement

Sometimes the scale of things in China is astonishing.  Like the stuff of science fiction.  The Three Gorges Dam is one such example.

32 hydroelectric turbines, a series of five locks, plus an elevator which can lift a boat in nine minutes.All together, the thing looks like the fucking Death Star.This huge pyramid is an example of what was sunk at the bottom of the Yangtze. 
I found this statue representing the river itself rather grotesque.  The red and white line across this painting represents where the bridge stands now, across the Xiling Gorge (the first of the Three Gorges.)  An epic panorama of the nearby mountains.  The back of the dam, receding into the mist.
Although not the tallest or widest dam in the world, building of the dam was the single biggest dam project in history.  The ostensible goals were threefold:

1. Power generation
2. Improved navigation
3. Flood control

However, because of the rising water levels behind the dam, 1.3 million people had to be relocated to higher ground and countless ancient Chinese sites were flooded.

It’s interesting to note that Dr. Sun Yat-sen who first suggested building a dam across the Yangtze back in 1919.