Asia Today vs. Yesterday Silk Road, Grand Canal and the Three Gorges Dam

What was the significance of the Silk Road?

Silk Road 2nd century B.C.: The Silk Road "opens" for commercial trade of silk and other goods The Silk Road is a great East to West trade route and vehicle for cross-culture exchange. Led to cultural borrowing and diffusion. http://gallery.sjsu.edu/silkroad/history.htm

What is a canal. What are 2 examples we talk about this year What is a canal? What are 2 examples we talk about this year? What is their purpose?

Grand Canal of China

History of Grand Canal Grand Canal Video Link  The Grand Canal is 1,776 km (1,103 miles long) Building began in the 5th Century (400’s) and was completed in the 7th Century (600’s) It was built for transportation between North and South China. Trading and Controlling the region (Military) Led to Cultural Diffusion Grand Canal Video Link

Yangtze River Location Yangtze is the world's third longest river, flowing for 3,400 miles from the Kunlun Mountains in Tibet to the East China Sea.

History of the Yangtze The Yangtze river is important to the cultural origins of southern China. Human activity was found in the Three Gorges area as far back as 7 thousand years ago, initiating debate over the origin of the Chinese people. The third longest river in the world, the Yangtze stretches an impressive 3,900 miles across China before reaching its mouth in the estuary near Shanghai.

Agricultural Connection Rice planting is an Extremely important Commodity Irrigation is Widely Used About a quarter of the 207 tributaries that flow into the Yangtze River are so seriously polluted that the water is unfit for irrigation

People are beginning to have more control in business in China Traveling Cargo Ships Farmers to Market Travel Tours China has had a Command Economy, however that is transitioning into a Market or a Free Enterprise Economy. Command – Government controls the economy Market – the market or people control the economy. People are beginning to have more control in business in China

Economic Uses Ship Channel Tourism Hydroelectricity

What are 3 benefits of dams?

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam (Simplified Chinese: 长江三峡大坝; Traditional Chinese: 長江三峽大壩; Pinyin: Chángjiāng Sānxiá Dà Bà) is a Chinese hydroelectric river dam which spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei province, China.

Construction of the Dam Notice Scale

Link to Video of Building the 3 Gorges Why Build the Dam Flooding Flooding Example-The great flood in 1931, which took the lives of 145,000 people, inundated an area the size of New York State, submerged more than 3 million hectares of farmland, and destroyed 108 million houses. In the flood of 1935, 142,000 people were killed. Hydroelectricity Link to Video of Building the 3 Gorges

HydroElectricity It is the largest hydroelectric river dam in the world, more than five times the size of the Hoover Dam. The dam, with its 26 generators, will produce 85 billion kilowatts of electricity per year, nearly one-ninth of China's present power needs.

Effects on Humans & Environment More than 1.3 million people had to move. They loss Culture and Homeland they had for Centuries Scientists estimate that annual catches may be reduced by one million tons due to the decline in fresh water and sediment reaching the sea. Three Gorges Video Link

Resources http://encarta.msn.com/map_701517763/Yangtze.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangtze_River#History http://www.oattravel.com/gcc/general/default.aspx?oid=146465 http://larouchepub.com/other/2006/3322_three_gorges_dam.html  http://www.flickr.com/photos/tims/150285440/in/photostream/ http://travelchinaguide.com/river http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Pollution_turning_Chinas_Yangtze_river_cancerous.html