Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River
256 pages, 6 x 9
8 page color insert
Paperback
Release Date:16 Mar 2011
ISBN:9781610911603
Hardcover
Release Date:08 Apr 2010
ISBN:9781597265515
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Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River

Nature and Power in the People’s Republic of China

Island Press

China’s meteoric rise to economic powerhouse might be chartedwith dams. Every river in the country has been tapped to powerexploding cities and factories—every river but one. Runningthrough one of the richest natural areas in the world, theNujiang’s raging waters were on the verge of being dammed when a2004 government moratorium halted construction. Might the Chinesedragon bow to the "Angry River"? Would Beijing put localpeople and their land ahead of power and profit? Could this remoteregion actually become a model for sustainable growth?

Ed Grumbine traveled to the far corners of China’s Yunnanprovince to find out. He was driven by a single question: could thislast fragment of wild nature withstand China’s unrelentingdevelopment? But as he hiked through deep-cut emerald mountains,backcountry villages, and burgeoning tourist towns, talking withtrekking guides, schoolchildren, and rural farmers, he discovered thatthe problem wasn’t as simple as growth versus conservation.

In its struggle to "build a well-off society in an all-roundway," Beijing juggles a host of competing priorities: health carefor impoverished villagers; habitat for threatened tigers; cars for agrowing middle class; clean air for all citizens; energy to power newcities; rubber for the global marketplace.

Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River is an incisive look atthe possible fates of China and the planet. Will the Angry Rivercontinue to flow? Will Tibetan girls from subsistence farming familieslearn to read and write? Can China and the United States come togetherto lead action on climate change? Far-reaching in its history andscope, this unique book shows us the real-world consequences ofconservation and development decisions now being made in Beijing andbeyond.
R. Edward Grumbine chairs the Masters in EnvironmentalStudies Program at Prescott College, Arizona, USA, and also teaches inthe undergraduate Environmental Studies Program. He is the author ofGhost Bears: Exploring the Biodiversity Crisis and editor ofEnvironmental Policy and Biodiversity.

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Highest Good

Chapter 2: The Frontier and the Middle Kingdom

Chapter 3: Under the Jade Dragon

Chapter 4: Old Mountains, Young Parks

Chapter 5: In the Land of Twelve Thousand Rice Fields

Chapter 6: Into the Great Green Triangle

Chapter 7: The Dragon Meets the Angry River

Chapter 8: China 2020

Chapter 9: Conservation with Chinese Characteristics

Notes

References

Acknowledgments

Index

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