The fact that China and the world can no longer ignore each other may be the one source of optimism. If these problems are to be managed, collaboration will be crucial. And no one in the developed world should criticize China without taking a hard look in the mirror. The nation has risen by making products for overseas consumption, and there's nothing foreign about the materialistic dreams of average Chinese. An American criticizing China's environmental record is like an addict blaming his dealer.

In Shifan, one of the dam-relocation communities, I joined a family for the first meal in their new apartment. The father was a moderately successful businessman, and he proudly showed me the finished home. It was full of fashionable possessions: a karaoke machine, a 45-inch television, a bed that came with a telephone in the headboard. Most impressive was the lighting system in the living room. A massive chandelier contained nearly three dozen bulbs, and rows of blue lights had been inlaid along the ceiling to evoke the sky. Red bulbs were hidden in alcoves ("They give a warm feeling," said the father). Everything could be flicked on and off by remote control.

For lunch they invited relatives and friends, and throughout the meal everybody complained about the dam. Compensation for lost homes had been too low; promises hadn't been kept; cadres had embezzled. They worried that they wouldn't be able to do business in the new community. "These are very serious matters, and people are upset," the father said to me. All told there were 65 bulbs in that room, and every single one was turned on.