Huge controversy surrounded the construction between 1994 and 2006 of what was the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Three Gorges Dam. Spanning China’s 1.4-mile wide Yangtze River in the Hubei province with twenty-six state-of-the-art turbines, the dam has been heralded by the Chinese state as a symbol of China’s modernisation and engineering prowess. It supports China’s economic development by supplying over ten percent of its electricity. However, over 1.3 million people were deliberately displaced as part of the Gorges flooding project that created the dam’s 660km-long reservoir. Hundreds of archaeological sites, initially above and below ground level, were lost under the reservoir’s water. Questions remain as to whether the dam – as a source of renewable energy – benefits the surrounding environment, or depletes it by causing, for example, landslides and the death of fish species in the Yangtze. Supporters argue that the Dam’s deepening of the river has made the Yangtze easier for large ships to navigate and has reduced the risk of flooding downstream. As the only other viable Chinese energy source continues to be non-renewable coal power, the hydroelectric power generated by the dam may be the lesser of two evils.