Latest Three Gorges Dam Stories

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydro-electro project, opened again to tourists this week -- on the condition they don't bring canned drinks, video camera or, bizarrely, umbrellas. And only 1,000 people are allowed on to the 185-meter (600-ft) dam a day and they can only stay for 20 minutes within a stretch of 500 square meters above the floodgates, Xinhua news agency said. The 2,235-metre-long dam in the central province of Hubei opened to tourists...

By Chris BuckleyBEIJING -- China will consider countries downstream as it weighs controversial proposals to dam a river that flows from the country's remote southwest into Southeast Asia, an official said on Thursday.On Wednesday, a Kong Kong-based newspaper controlled by the mainland said Chinese experts had recently completed an official environmental impact study of the 13 tiers of dams and hydro-power plants proposed for the untamed Nu River.But the Chinese-language Wen Wei Po said the...

By Chris BuckleyBEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese plans to turn an untamed river into a hydro-electric hub have sparked a war of words about national priorities as the government rethinks the balance between economic growth and environmental protection.Officials and experts in Beijing debated at the weekend a plan to harness the Nu River in southwest Yunnan province with a chain of up to 13 hydro-power stations amid signs of revived official favor for the project.The whole project, which could take...