Dam open, with strings attached

BEIJING - China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydro-electro project, opened again to tourists this week - on the condition they don't bring canned drinks, video cameras or, bizarrely, umbrellas.

And only 1000 people are allowed on to the 185m dam a day and they can only stay for 20 minutes within a stretch of 500sq m above the floodgates.

The 2235m-long dam in the central province of Hubei opened to tourists for the first time last year, from July to September - the Yangtze River's main flood season.

But authorities opened the tourists' floodgates early this year because the dam's expected completion next month would boost tourism, the Xinhua news agency said.

- REUTERS