"The Centenary Moment of the Communist Party of China" Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Diversion Nullah Helong

Beijing, November 6 (CNBC) -- The Voice of China of the Central Radio and Television Corporation and the National Radio and Television Station jointly launched a special report, "A Moment in the Centenary of the Communist Party of China." This issue is launched: Helong, a diversion nullah of the Three Gorges Project of the Yangtze River.

On the morning of November 6, 2002, the diversion nullah of the Three Gorges Project of the Yangtze River was successfully completed, which created conditions for the initial storage of water in the reservoir, the opening of permanent locks and the generation of power by the first batch of units. At that time, the Central People's Radio broadcast live at the construction site of the diversion nullah of the Three Gorges Project in Yichang, Hubei Province.

David, host of the Central People's Radio: Now you can hear that the rumbling loader carrying large stones is heading towards the embankment...

The diversion nullah is a section of the "artificial Yangtze River" excavated to solve the navigation and overcurrent during the Three Gorges Phase II Project after the interception of the river in 1997, with a total length of 3.7 kilometers and a width of 350 meters. However, the narrow river channel, smooth bottom, high flow rate and large drop make it world-class in the difficulty of intercepting the flow. Standing at the construction site of Helong, Zheng Shouren, who was the chief engineer of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission at the time, was the most worried.

Zheng Shouren: Like three generations of our Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission, some people have been engaged in the survey and hydrological scientific research and design of the Three Gorges Project for a lifetime, and finally they have not seen the Three Gorges Project. We are very fortunate to be able to personally participate in the construction of the Three Gorges Project, and in our generation we can build it and make it work. The Three Gorges Project is no small matter, it must be carefully designed, if it is because of some mistakes in your design that have an impact on the project, we are not good enough to explain it to the people.

Zheng Shouren still remembers many years later that when the diversion nullah was successfully closed, the sun overhead seemed to struggle to clear the clouds and illuminate the construction site brightly.

Command site: Report to the chief, and the diversion nullah interception is completed.

Nearly a thousand kilometers away, Three Gorges migrants who moved from Yunyang, Chongqing to Jinshan, Shanghai, also listened to the live broadcast of the diversion nullah Helong.

Immigration Representative: I got up very early this morning. At today's exciting moment of interception, we are particularly happy to see that the project is progressing so quickly, and we feel that it is worth making some sacrifices for the century project.

Lin Yishan, who served as director of the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office and consultant to the Ministry of Water Resources, was 91 years old that year. Hearing the news of Helong's success, he said happily that Chairman Mao's wish for many years had finally come true.

Lin Yishan: In 1956, the chairman specifically met with me, and when he met me, he said, "Oh, the King of the Yangtze River" came, and he shook hands, and this "King of the Yangtze River" came from here. Chairman Mao attaches great importance to water conservancy, and on this occasion, he finally said that the Three Gorges can no longer be seen, and that one day when the Three Gorges are to be built, the comrades of our Party will "never forget to tell Naiwong about family sacrifices."

After the successful completion of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project diversion nullah, the water of the Yangtze River will be vented downstream through the 22 diversion bottom holes of the built Three Gorges Dam, and the navigation of the Three Gorges has since become "ships passing through the locks, and the river water passes through the dam". At the same time, this is also the third time that China's hydropower people have successfully intercepted the flow on the main stream of the Yangtze River, and the construction of the entire Three Gorges Project will henceforth enter the final stage of tackling tough problems, and the century dream of a "high gorge out of ping lake" is just around the corner.

Producer: Gao Yan

Planner: Wu Junshan, Li Qian

Chief Writer: Feng Huiling Bai Jiege

Speaker: Changyue

Coordinator: Zhu Xingxiao, Wang Zehua

Producer: Li Xiaodong