Time and Tide

October 18, 2015 10:11 AM

Life behind the Three Gorges Dam

The major themes of the China story - unprecedented socioeconomic change, environmental crises, the thirst for energy, the destruction of historical and cultural heritage - are all here, framed against the backdrop of millions of ordinary Chinese struggling to cope with the powerful man-made and natural forces beyond their control. Would the huge sacrifices be worth it in the end...

Photo-Essay, over time, by Singaporean photo-journalist Chua Chin Hon
posted by infini (5 comments total)

In somewhat related news China now has the world's largest middle class, surpassing the United States
posted by humanfont at 10:27 AM on October 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is a really great photo essay, putting human faces to the numbers. I hope the author will continue documenting how this enormous project continues to have major environmental, climate, and socioeconomic impacts.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 1:18 PM on October 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Of course there's a lot of rubble and trash and whatnot in the photos, but I gotta say that the photos of the "Jade Emperor" (I guess it's an unfinished hotel?) in Fengdu is pretty neat.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:31 PM on October 18, 2015

In somewhat related news China now has the world's largest middle class, surpassing the United States

That statistics relies on your acceptance of the idea that middle class is defined as having double the median income in your particular country, which pretty much guarantees the result it found. Last time I checked the average family income in China was $2,000 US, so double the median is likely south of 3k annual.
posted by Lame_username at 1:47 PM on October 18, 2015

Re: comparing what's middle class in China vs the US, I found this article (Forbes, sorry) actually informative.

The rule of thumb I found convincing: "one third of your income is available for discretionary spending".
posted by xthlc at 6:44 PM on October 18, 2015