FOREWORD: For journalists chasing the China story, capital Beijing and financial hub Shanghai are the obvious staging grounds for tracking the rapid changes in the country and the challenges it faces. The 660-km stretch of river towns and cities behind the Three Gorges Dam, however, has been an interesting alternative for me since I paid my first visit there in June 2003. The major themes - economic sustainability, environmental worries, the thirst for energy, the destruction of historical and cultural heritage - are all here, framed against the backdrop of millions of ordinary Chinese struggling to cope with the powerful political and natural forces beyond their control. Would all the sacrifices be worth it in the end, as China successfully uses the Three Gorges Dam to tame and harness the power of the Yangtze River? Or would the dire warnings about the controversial project materialise with tragic consequences? No one is quite sure for now. The photographs on this website, taken over five trips between 2003 and 2008, represent perhaps the opening chapter of a dramatic story that is just beginning to unfold.