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A flood of change

At an increase of 200 feet and rising, China's Yangtze River flows forever altered by the building of the massive Three Gorges dam. Among the results: relocation of about 2-million people and a new economy along the waterway.

YANGTZE RIVER, China - Dozens of tourists stood on the skillet that was the roof of our cruise ship, holding up 10-yuan notes and marveling at how the gorge through which we had just passed matched the currency's etching.

Or almost matched.

The view from the ship was a bit less dramatic, because the bill's image had been created decades earlier, before the Three Gorges dam downstream raised the water level by nearly 200 feet.

By the time the dam is completed in 2009, the water will be nearly 350 feet higher, turning the once-towering cliffs to mere hummocks. Tourists holding up their 10-yuan notes then will more likely feel disappointment than delight.

We were sailing the Yangtze aboard the Yun Jin, part of the Sunshine Tour Group's domestic line that more than made up in price (about $50 for first-class rooms) what it lacked in comfort (bring-your-own toilet paper). The two-day trip sped us from Yichang through the first of the Three Gorges on a hydrofoil, then put us on an overnight cruiser to Fengjie and back.

Though the scenery was spectacular for a first-timer, there was a sense of having arrived after the party ended.

"The peak was before 2003," our tour guide said, a bit snappish in the mid-May heat. "That was the last time you could see the real Three Gorges. People tend to believe the New Gorges are not as good as the old ones."

Despite that, our boat, with 220 rooms on four decks, was packed with Chinese tourists, a testimony to the nation's growing wealth. The tour company is also fighting to keep interest alive in this cruise by developing several side trips.

One reportedly popular outing takes visitors up a tributary of the Yangtze where their small boats are towed over rapids by men wearing little more than loincloths. (We took a pass on this.) The biggest attraction now, however, is the dam itself.

Our guide, a young woman who never forgave us for nearly missing the cruise ship at our transit point in Badong, said she handles several hundred visitors on dam tours each day. Then she started spewing out statistics about the monumental dam:

- Seventeen years to construct it.

- Nearly 1.5 miles wide and more than 600 feet high.

- 26 generators producing nearly 90-billion kilowatts of power, or one-ninth of the nation's total.

- Official total cost of $21.7-billion, "well below estimates," the guide said. (What she did not say is that Western experts believe the dam's cost will far surpass that figure.)

But how can you quibble over yuan when you're face to face with a massive concrete wall that has put a plug in China's longest river? First proposed in 1919 and pushed through against strong opposition in 1992, the dam has meant relocation for nearly 2-million peasants and round-the-clock jobs for 20,000 workers.

The sheer scale of the project is hard to comprehend on the official tour, which stops at the base of the dam as well as at a gift shop and overlook tower on the top. A model of the dam and lock complex at the gift shop gives viewers an idea of the project's scope. Photos show that construction workers framed in enormous concrete pipes look like flyspecks.

It's easier to gauge the impact of the project when you travel the river above it. With the higher water level, more ships can now navigate the upper reaches of the Yangtze. When the dam is completed, 10,000-ton vessels will be able to travel all the way from Shanghai to Chongqing, 900 miles inland.

The water those ships will be traveling on is swift, muddy brown and sprinkled with garbage, including an abundance of flip-flops, apparently lost by those living near or working on the river.

Signs along the cliffs mark the river's eventual height at 175 meters - about 575 feet. Everything below that sign will be submerged. Abandoned towns, producing orange groves and active coal mines along the river's edge, are doomed to extinction.

On one cliff, our tour guide pointed out ancient rock carvings that have been relocated from their original location several hundred feet below, to avoid their being lost. Later, visiting a shrine in Xiling Gorge, we saw another archaeological rescue project: two corpses dating from the 16th or 17th century and unearthed during the dam construction. The woman, encased in a glass coffin like Sleeping Beauty, still had her long black hair pulled up in a bun.

Cruising through the Three Gorges may once have been peaceful. But now, with the whole landscape in transition, the impact is unsettling.

The natural beauty of the mist-shrouded cliffs around one bend clashes with an enormous new city perched on the ridge around the next turn. Built within the last decade to house peasants displaced by the dam, these cities have become instant slums, grimy with pollution and largely reliant on river tourists for their livelihood.

Fengjie, at the western end of the Three Gorges, is one such city. Built on the mountain above the now-submerged old town, the city comes to life when boats arrive at the docks:

Hawkers selling fried fish, spicy shrimp and clusters of golden loquats line the hundreds of steps leading up to the city. Low-built men with muscular calves offer rides up the steep staircase in bamboo chairs carried on their shoulders. Rows of souvenir shops jam the city's streets, with vendors competing aggressively for business.

We were told that there had been considerable opposition to the flooding of the original city of Fengjie, which had archaeological sites dating back 2,000 years.

In response, the Chinese government broadcast Fengjie's demolition live on nationwide TV.

GETTING THERE: Reaching Beijing from Tampa Bay requires at least one change of planes, typically in the New York area or Chicago, and a 21-hour journey.

THE RIVER TRIP: Numerous agencies, in the United States and in China, book versions of the Three Gorges cruise. Among those in the United States:

- Pacific Delight World Tours, of New York City; Call toll-free at 1-800-221-7179 or visit the Web site at www.pacificdelighttours.com Companies based in China include:

- China Odyssey Tours, part of Shanhu International tours, is an official Chinese government organization in operation since 1987. It can book any of four private companies that operate more than 40 ships. This company's Web pages are helpful and include not only maps of various parts of China but also a currency converter. The Web site for the Yangtze cruises is www.chinaodysseytours.com and click on "Yangtze Cruises." - Yichang Three Gorges, China International Travel Service, is an agency based in Yichang. It offers six itineraries, depending on direction of travel and length of trip from four to nine days. Contact Michael Wu at YangtzeCruise@hotmail.com find answers to a number of frequently asked questions at www.china-tourism.org - Travel China Guide is an online agency that has a comprehensive Web site at www.travelchinaguide.com

- Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or 727 892-2996.