Yangtze River
We went on a cruise in the Yangtze river. When we reached the dam it looked small but is really huge. It is the largest dam in the world and is 1.4 miles long. It was made to control flooding but also makes 40% of China?s electricity. It could power 4 or 5 New York Cities!!!!! It costs 25 billion dollars.
There are locks and a ship elevator. The ship elevator is not done yet and our boat was too big to go through it. It was a lot of fun going through the locks. First, you sail into the lock. Then they pull the plug and the water drains to the point where you can go to the next lock. There are five locks but we only went through four of them because the water level has not raised to its full height.
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Because the dam blocks water it will flood many waterfront towns and villages. That will cause 1.3 million people to move!!!! Some are unhappy but most are glad because the government gives them bigger houses with running water and other things.
It was really fun going on the cruise in the Yangtze River, and seeing the dam was a big highlight.