While on board we passed through the new ship locks at the Three Gorges Dam. The people of China are so very proud of this project. This is the world’s largest dam. It’s nearly 4 times the size of Hoover Dam. The construction took 15-18 years. It is substantially complete now – I think there is just one more turbine to install. They have had to relocate the people that lived and farmed along the river. I’m not talking about just a few people having to be moved. The government relocated 1.3 MILLION people. There are whole cities that have been flooded and are still under water. The government gave all the people money to relocate. They had a choice of moving to another area or moving into a new condominium project. The government virtually gave them the condo and a pension. Of course the pension is not really enough to live it up on but most manage to get by. Many of the people find ways to supplement their pension by selling local products to tourists. There are a lot of “hawkers” on the streets trying to push their wares. The farmers had 2 acres of subsistence farming on the edge of he YANGZIE River. The government gave them a new condo to live in, $1500 cash and a family allowance of $13.00 a month. We were shocked – they were happy.