The Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River is the most ambitious feat of engineering ever undertaken in China.
Along with the project's benefits in the form of hydroelectricity and flood control, however, comes a terrible cost.
First and foremost, there is the social dislocation of people whose families have lived within sight of the Yangtze for generations. More than one million people from the city of Chongqing alone will be forced to move as their houses are demolished, turning some areas into what one resident called a 'war zone'.
Perhaps more worrying, there is the impact on the environment to consider.
Some critics of the ambitious project say that flooding the reservoir will create 'toxic soup' and 'a septic tank' from the leftovers of the many factories and chemical plants that were destroyed to make way for the dam.
On the other hand, mainland officials have pinned their hopes on the project creating a surge in prosperity by linking China's poorer western regions with the booming eastern coast.