Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

China

China is almost finished with the Three Gorges Dam, it’s biggest construction project since the Great Wall. The Dam, btw, is visible from every satellite in space.

The dam is a mile and half long, creates a reservoir 370 miles up the Yangtze River, delivers the equivalent of 18 nuclear power plants worth of power and…and…is huge!

It is so huge, it takes three blogs to write about the whole thing.

The dam will already flood out more than 1.2 million people. At least that flooding is planned.

China is sensitive to flooding. In 1975 the Banqiao Dam failed causes other dams to fail and eventually more than 230,000 people were killed….and no one found out for nearly 20 years!

There are already cracks (surface cracks, say officials) in the Three Gorges Dam. There is no affect on the stability and besides super glue is waterproof, isn’t it?

This dam is the largest in the world – twice as much concrete was needed as the Itaipu Dam in Brazil, the world’s largest until this puppy is finished.

China is proud of this monster, and barring any disaster, rightfully so.

Yep, the Siberian cranes, Chinese river dolphins and huge Chinese sturgeons may have to make an adjustment or two (get a life environmentalists!) but China expects a five fold increase in freight tonnage moving up and down the Yangtze, the world’s third longest river.

Vehicle manufacturers and other producers in Chongqing will also benefit from the ease of transport.

The dam will make a dam difference in China. The question is, is it worth it?

What do you think?

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.