Like the Great Wall or, more recently, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River it's a classic imperial project, still possible under China's one-party system.

NPR: River Has Long Reflected China's Glories, Sorrows

However, some of those projects, such as the gigantic Three Gorges project on the Yangtze River, due to start generating power in 2009, have created a separate set of environmental problems.

FORBES: Pollution And Prosperity

Authorities also said that no damage was observed at the massive Three Gorges Dam, located on the Yangtze River, several hundred kilometres east of the epicentre.

ECONOMIST: China