Up the Yangtze- The river that erased her past will write her future

Up the Yangtze is a film that documents the lives of people in Hubei, China that are being affected the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze river. Specifically, it follows "Cindy" and "Jerry", both of whom received employment on a cruise ship that served wealthy tourists. These characters came from completely different worlds, Cindy from a self-sufficient farming family and Jerry from a background of prominence. While on the boat Cindy was a shy worker, whose main reason for working was to be able to send money to her family who was being displaced by the building of the dam. The area her family was living in, afforded them the opportunity to grow their own food, but since they have to move they now have to pay for food. Helping her family was her primary reason for working, even though she preferred to go to high school. Jerry on the other hand is arrogant and his primary motivation, was having money and making the most tips. He was not a humble or modest worker, which is what his employers wanted so due to his arrogance, he was fired from the cruise ship. The yangtze was transformed by "the biggest hydroelectric dam and history" and placed many families in a major economic crisis. Jerry and his family, will more than likely survive this change, but the same cannot be said for Cindy, she and her family will have battles ahead.