In the long history, we always remember that the mother river of the Yangtze River, which gave birth to the Chinese nation, not only gave life to life, but also became a great disaster and challenge for mankind at some times.
Since ancient times, whenever a summer rainstorm comes, a sudden whirlwind storm blows wildly on the surface of the river, and the river floods, and the rolling torrent ruthlessly devours all life, and countless lives are on the verge of life and death.
In the face of this monstrous wave, people's hearts are full of awe, and they have to imprint the fear of the river in their bones for a long time. Generations of ancestors have tried their best in this never-ending battle, but they have never been able to defeat nature, and in the end they can only reluctantly give in to nature.
It was not until 1988 that a rare catastrophic flood swept through the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Raging storms and raging rivers and turbulent rivers, more than 60 bustling cities were instantly plunged into dire straits.
When the flood gradually subsided, it left behind a devastated homeland, more than 4,000 lives came to an abrupt end, and what is even more tragic is that the entire disaster area suffered huge economic losses of up to hundreds of billions of yuan.
In the face of such a heavy blow, people have deeply reflected on it, and after drawing the lessons of history, they have finally made up their minds and strengthened their convictions: We must build a magnificent project to completely eliminate the threat of this flood that endangers the people of the country and ensure the safety of people's lives and property.
As a result, the world's largest water conservancy project, the Three Gorges Dam, was born in this context.
Looking back at that tumultuous era at the beginning of the last century, it was a time of crisis. The Qing government was extremely corrupt, the country was poor, the people were poor, the social order was chaotic, the ruling class was incompetent, and the people were panicked.
At this critical moment of life and death for the country, there is a patriotic leader with foresight who has stepped forward, and he is the great revolutionary pioneer Mr. Sun Yat-sen.
With a vision beyond time and space, Dr. Sun Yat-sen gained insight into the crucial importance of flood control for the long-term and stable development of the country. As an intellectual with deep patriotic feelings, he ignited a blazing flame in his heart to save the country and the people, and in his "Strategy for the Founding of the People's Republic," he specifically expounded on the foresight and sagacity of the construction of the Three Gorges Project, hoping that with this move, he could eliminate the floods that had brought endless suffering to the country and the people at the root and safeguard the safety of the people's lives and property.
Unfortunately, due to the country's weak economic strength at the time, the turbulent political environment, and the lack of deep understanding and firm determination of the ruling class on this issue, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's grand blueprint could only be temporarily shelved.
In this way, the great idea of the Three Gorges Project was never put into practice in that stormy era.
Until the 90s of the 20 th century, with the prosperity of New China, the comprehensive national strength became stronger and stronger, and the people's living standards gradually improved, this once unattainable dream once again attracted the attention of the world.
As a result, many scientific research workers and engineering and technical experts have made concerted efforts to forge ahead courageously and fearlessly for the launch of the Three Gorges Project.
After 12 years of meticulous preparation and rigorous construction, full of the sweat and painstaking efforts of the majority of laborers, in 2003, this magnificent Three Gorges Project finally stood proudly on the bank of the Yangtze River, solemnly guarding the lives and wealth of the people in the Yangtze River Basin.
Gazing at the majestic figure towering over the Yangtze River, the majestic momentum of the Three Gorges Dam is truly shocking. With a total length of more than 2,000 meters, it is like a giant dragon permanently crawling on the river, and with its tenacious and powerful body, it firmly controls the important waterway of the motherland.
And its height of nearly 200 meters is even more soaring into the sky, which makes people awe-inspiring.
When the flood peaks and torrential rains pour down and the river swells, the hinterland of the Three Gorges Dam can hold up to 39.3 billion cubic meters of water. This figure is truly staggering, and it fully demonstrates the extraordinary magnanimity of the Three Gorges Dam.
Given its sheer size and all-round capabilities, it has been praised by the international community as "the world's largest dam".
In fact, the responsibility of the Three Gorges Dam is also unprecedentedly significant. Its core mission is to protect the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, protect the lives and property of hundreds of millions of people along the river, and prevent them from being hit by floods again.
As a world-renowned mega project, in addition to its main function - flood control, it also bears the heavy responsibility of shipping and power generation. In particular, its power generation capacity is as high as 800 billion kilowatt hours per year! This strength undoubtedly contributes to the unparalleled importance of meeting the power needs of various cities along the Yangtze River and strongly supporting the energy supply pattern of the mainland.
Not only that, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam has also helped to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, greatly reduced the emission of harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, and contributed to the cause of environmental protection.
There is no doubt that the Three Gorges Dam is a great project with multiple functions in one.
Time flies, time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the Three Gorges Dam has stood on the Yangtze River for 20 spring and autumn. In the past 20 years of operation, the Three Gorges Dam has made outstanding contributions to the country and the people, and has also reaped rich economic benefits.
According to authoritative data released by relevant authorities, the total revenue of the Three Gorges Dam has reached 413 billion yuan. These revenues come from two main areas: one is the income from power generation, and the other is the income from tourism tickets.
The Three Gorges Dam is known worldwide for its strong power generation capacity. The data reveals that it can provide up to 800 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which is undoubtedly an astonishing astronomical capacity.
Although the feed-in tariff is relatively low, relying on such a large amount of power generation, it can generate extremely considerable power generation income for the country every year.
At the same time, the Three Gorges Dam has attracted many domestic and foreign tourists because of its majestic and magnificent scenery, and has become an important tourist attraction in China. The influx of tourists has also brought considerable ticket revenue to the Three Gorges Dam, amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan per year.
However, it is obviously too superficial and one-sided to evaluate the value of the Three Gorges Dam only from the perspective of economic benefits. We must not lose sight of the more crucial fact that the completion of the Three Gorges Dam has successfully prevented another catastrophic loss in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Back in 1988, the devastating catastrophic flood brought nearly one trillion yuan of direct economic losses to the country, not to mention the countless precious lives lost.
Without the impregnable Three Gorges Dam as our strong backing, the entire Yangtze River and its vast area would fall into the merciless hands of the flood every time a raging flood peak raged, and the consequences were unimaginable!
When the Three Gorges Dam was launched, hundreds of millions of people in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River enjoyed an unprecedented sense of security. In this historic and vibrant land, people have lived under the haze of floods for generations since ancient times, and every year in the hot summer, there is a breath of fear and anxiety.
However, from the moment the Three Gorges Dam stood majestically, all of this changed dramatically. It is like a majestic and firm watchman, always standing on the Yangtze River, always defending the safety of the lives and property of the people on both sides of the river.
Since then, we can no longer see the grandeur of the floods, and we can no longer hear the grief and cries of the destruction of our homes, and the Three Gorges Dam has become an eternal haven in people's hearts.
In addition, the completion of the Three Gorges Dam has not only successfully resisted flooding, but also greatly adjusted and optimized the mainland's energy structure. It can generate a huge amount of clean electricity every year, greatly reducing the dependence on fossil fuels, thereby reducing the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from the source, and making a great contribution to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development.
More importantly, the Three Gorges Dam has witnessed and demonstrated the growing comprehensive national strength of the mainland. As the world's largest water conservancy project, the completion of the Three Gorges Dam has brought together the wisdom and hard work of countless scientific researchers, fully demonstrating the outstanding strength of the mainland in the field of infrastructure construction and large-scale projects.