三斗坪 SAN·DOU·PING

We live in two worlds - order and chaos. In the world of order, we plan, reflect, and think about what to do next. In the world of chaos, things happen, we get things done, yet unpredictability persists. In one world, we like to think we are in control. In the other, we mingle together with increasing complexity, conflict, and uncertainty. ---David Spangler 31st Jan:   I went to the town office for a road pass as the whole area had been under lockdown for days. 8th Feb:     A friend called to tell me that two officers from the town office were identified as suspected cases, and taken to hospital.    Everyone else from the office, as well as police officers in town, was in quarantine in their respective homes. "Fun Part"   While the town office had been working 24*7 to contain the virus, they failed to thoroughly check all their own officers. Only when two officers started coughing did the office find out that the husband of...

Cheer Up, Yichang! 

Two days before the Lunar New Year, a doctor friend alerted me to the novel coronavirus since I was not too far from Wuhan. But she also said that, if infected, I might have mild or even unnoticeable symptoms, and could recover without medication. Her call set my mind at ease despite others from out of Hubei later called to express their concerns based on what they were informed of from various channels.    At the same time, I visited a few friends and relatives nearby, including one cousin who came back from Wuhan a few days before my visit (of course I asked him about it, he said he checked with a doctor and all seemed fine).  Based on what I saw, I felt that the locals all seemed relaxed about the seemingly severe situation---continuing shopping for the festival, family gathering, and playing Majiang.   Everything started to change on the 24th (one day before the Lunar New Year). At lunchtime, a friend in my town sent me a picture of a notice released by t...

大水来临时· When the river approaches the watermark 下面的一切都成了从前· Everything below becomes the past 从前的一切都成了留言· And everything from the past is a note 我在这里· I am here 没有了起点· Without a starting point --- 《出三峡记》· Out of the Three Gorges Still Life (2006 film) Relevant links:  Me and Tide  (in Chinese)* Thirty Years of the Three Gorges Emigrants   (in Chinese)* The story of Three Gorges Emigrants：A Dam and Millions of Migration Behind It  (in Chinese)*  * LingoCloud Chrome extension provides instant translations of Chinese Webpages into English

Sandouping is a town located on the right (southern) bank of the Yangtze River, best known as the location of the Three Gorges Project hydroelectric power station, which is the world's largest power plant.    The predecessor of today's Sandouping, the village of Huangniupu (黄牛铺, "Yellow Cow Post Station") was established during the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor in 1496. Sandouping District was created in March 1949 and transformed into Sandouping Town in February 1984.    Sandouping used to be a small fishing village until it was selected to be the site of the Three Gorges Dam. In 1999, at the peak of the construction, over 40,000 workers lived in Sandouping. At the time, special permits were required to enter the town. Six out of nineteen Sandouping's villages are populated by families that have been resettled from the areas flooded by the waters of the Three Gorges Reservoir, or, earlier, the Gezhouba Reservoir.   Benefited from the Three Gorges Project, t...