The Holiday 3 Gorges

Arriving at the three gorges dam, you have to be impressed by the scale of the thing and although it is not the place here to give you the details, suffice to say, that it was originally thought that it would supply 10% of China's energy needs. However, while it does supply Shanghai, Chongqing, Beijing and Guangzhou with electricity, those percentages have had to be revised and scaled down to 4%. That, nevertheless, is not because the dam is not doing its job, but rather because China's energy needs today are vastly different from when they were doing the original thinking. Of course, when I think of those needs, my mind drifts back to some of my earlier posts on geopolitics.
China is very much aware of its energy needs, virtually excluded from the Middle East, indeed, possibly totally excluded should the west get its way on Iran, losing out increasingly in Central Asia to the "smooth" operators from the west, abroad it is to Africa and to some extent South America that China looks and at home, while the importance of the Yangzte should not be played down, it is Xinjiang that is crucial due to the oil and natural gas there. The environmental consequences for the Yangzte have been well documented and for the uighur population of Xinjiang the portents are ominous.

The picture above is of the main dam going upstream.