From Linda Butler's Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake
Between 2000 and 2003, photographer Linda Butler traveled to China eight times to document the Yangtze River as well as the impact of the Three Gorges project on the villages and towns along the river. Her stunning images, presented in her book Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake, reveal not only that impact, but also the natural beauty of the river itself.
Completed Bridge, Yichang, 2002
Thirteen new bridges were built across the Yangtze in the 400-mile stretch between Yichang and Chongqing, several are more than a mile in length. The new bridges and roads are changing the region from a transportation system dominated by boats to one that relies on automobiles, trucks, and buses. The barge in the foreground was transporting coal from a mine east of Yichang to an electrical power plant upstream.
All photos by Linda Butler © 2004. All rights reserved.
Three Gorges Dam Overview, San Dou Ping, 2001, composite
In 2001, the Yangtze flowed through this diversion channel from left to right while the dam was being built. Two "coffer"