While the Chinese media has focused intensely on the diversion canal portion of the Three Gorges Project, Yichang, the city closest to the dam area, appears to be as relaxed and calm as usual. 

In this 2,400-year-old city, old and new buildings stand side by side. Parts of the city look like one big construction site with massive redevelopment and expansion projects going on. 

Tourists from home and abroad are plentiful in town to take a final look at scenic spots along the Three Gorges before the damp winter weather sets in. Chopsticks and plastic bowls in hand, food lovers sample various dishes and snacks from the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai at street-side food stalls. 

Young people visit the posh pubs and open-air karaoke venues. Newlyweds are photographed in front of the lush meadows in the city's several spacious squares. 

Groups of senior citizens perform the so-called Bashan Dance in parks near the Yangtze River in the misty mornings. 

The locals do not generally talk about the dam project, but when asked, they cannot hide their excitement. 

'I read Three Gorges Evening News every day to keep track of the progress of the dam project,' said Yang Zirong, a vendor of soft drinks and snacks in southern Yichang. Yang used to be a farmer in suburban Yichang but came to the city with his children who work here. He cannot bear spending time at home, so he took the vendor job as a pastime. 

'You may say the project is none of my business, but you are wrong. The project has made Yichang known to more people from other parts of our country and has attracted an increasing number of visitors from home and abroad. Surely, that's good for my small business,' said Yang. 

'Thanks to the Three Gorges Project near Yichang, the city has sped up its economic growth with more and more new jobs,' said Li Jinfa, a local government clerk. 

'Investments are coming into the city; people living here are becoming more and more open-minded,' said Li. 

'Yichang is still backward economically when it is compared with the coastal cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen. But the Three Gorges Project and the beautiful scenery along the Yangtze River have made it an internationally famous tourist destination, second only to Wuhan and Chongqing, as I see it. So we must be prepared for new opportunities,' said Li.

Since several water control projects such as the Geheyan Dam and Gezhouba Dam were constructed and put into operation over the past two decades, Yichang has been a city of migrants and newcomers with few people who know its earlier history. 

2002-11-07
Source: China Daily