IT IS SOMETIMES called the “Everest of rivers” owing to its extreme topography. One section of the Yarlung Tsangpo falls 2,000 metres over a stretch of 50km (31 miles). But what interests Chinese officials is the river’s hydropower potential. On December 25th Xinhua, the state-run news agency, reported that China had approved plans to build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows from Tibet into India and Bangladesh (see map).
The Economist
