Beijing-based Sina.com ran a poll as part of the package, asking readers how they felt about the impending loss of so many cultural and archeological treasures. Of the 561 votes received by Feb. 7 (the poll has since vanished), 56.5 per cent of respondents did not think that flooding the ancient sites was a good idea. Just 22.8 per cent supported the plan, while the others were undecided or unconcerned.

Sina.com displayed photos of some of the area’s famous landscapes that will be damaged forever when the Yangtze waters rise behind the dam in June 2003. The display included views of two of the three gorges (Qutang and Wu), Baidicheng, Zhangfei Temple, Mingshan Ghost City, and the old county towns of Fengjie, Yunyang and Zigui.

Sina.com said the Three Gorges reservoir area has become the world’s biggest excavation site, with hundreds of archeological teams from around the country working day and night to salvage what they can from 120 sites along the river. The teams are going flat-out, attempting to accomplish in 18 months work that normally would take 50 years, Sina.com said.

Officials in charge of the operation have said that, at best, the teams will be able to excavate just 8 per cent of the archeological sites, Sina.com reported. The area with known archeological treasures is spread over 25 million square metres, and the officials have estimated that only 1.9 million sq metres will be excavated in time.

“They are well aware that, painfully and with deep regret, they will have no choice but to give up most of the sites,” Sina.com said.

The Beijing government has put one billion yuan RMB (US$120 million) into the race to save the relics. “That amount can only save just one-tenth of the historic sites and relics,” Yu Weichao, curator of the Museum of Chinese History, was recently quoted as saying. “The rest of them will be forced to go under water.”

Mr. Yu led a group of 500 archeologists and anthropologists to the Three Gorges area in 1994 to conduct a survey of the relics. In a recent report, China Daily said the team made finds dating back to the Stone Age, the earliest known period of human culture:

“Yu and his fellow researchers have found 60 archeological sites linked to the Old Stone Age and 80 to the New Stone Age, both of which suggest our forefathers lived in this area more than 100,000 years ago. The finds prove the existence of a culture different from that of the Yellow River valley, long known as the cradle of Chinese civilization. ‘In other words, the Three Gorges area too is a birthplace of our civilization,’ says Yu.”

[For the full report, see “Relics fear death by water“, China Daily, Jan. 23, 2002.]

[Photograph of Shibaozhai Temple © Ben Sandler. Not for use without permission. Contact ibenibeni@yahoo.com. To see more of the photographer’s pictures from the Three Gorges area, go to www.holdingground.com.]

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The Sina.com poll results (as of Feb. 7):Question: Do you think it is a good idea that so many historic cities, towns and villages along the Yangtze River, containing invaluable archeological ruins and cultural relics, will be inundated due to the construction of the Three Gorges dam?

	No. of respondents	%
Yes	128	22.8
No	317	56.5
Undecided	101	18.0
Don’t care about this issue	15	2.7

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