The River At The Center Of The World
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''The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time'' is a book by
Simon Winchester Simon Winchester (born 28 September 1944) is a British-American author and journalist. In his career at ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Winchester covered numerous significant events, including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal. Winchester has ...
. It details his travels up the
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
river in China and was first published in 1996. Viewing an ancient
Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...
scroll drawn by Wang Hui gives the author the inspiration on how to structure his book. He starts his journey in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, at the Yangtze river's delta, and makes his way upriver to the headwaters. At the same time, his narration also makes a journey back in time, writing about contemporary times in Shanghai and
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, and writing about events that date back increasingly farther in cities upriver. He makes the travel with a companion — a Chinese woman who is referred to in the book only as ''Lily'' to protect her identity. The chapter titled ''A New Great Wall'' is devoted to the
Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...
, then under construction and fully operational as of 2012.


References

1996 non-fiction books Books about China Books by Simon Winchester British travel books Henry Holt and Company books English non-fiction books American travel books Yangtze River {{china-book-stub