Talk:Three Gorges Dam

navigation

I wrote most or all of the section on navigation on the article on another large wiki.

I am going to port that here. George Swan 18:51, 18 April 2008 (CDT)

which maps?

I prepared half a dozen maps. Opinions please on which ones fit best. George Swan 18:51, 18 April 2008 (CDT)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

I'm not keen on any of them, sorry. They either don't show the Yangtze at all or else they show every single stream in China so you can't see what's going on clearly. I have some other Public Domain maps that cover China, I'll try to make one up sometime later today. Derek Harkness 00:58, 19 April 2008 (CDT)

My first attempt based on a Public Domain map sourced for the CIA factbook. I've cleaned off all the cities that are not pertinent to this article and marked on the location of the Dam wall with red type. The map could be cropped down to about half it's current size if you wanted to concentrate just on the Yangtze River area rather than the whole of China. Derek Harkness 09:34, 19 April 2008 (CDT) Derek Harkness 09:34, 19 April 2008 (CDT)

I like that one, but do crop it - mostly on the left, though, with some on the right and top, and a tiny bit at the bottom. I'd keep most of China (maybe lose the bit up near Harbin). I think we should leave a certain amount of the surroundings of China (e.g. Japan) so people can figure out where on the globe the portion we're displaying is. J. Noel Chiappa 10:53, 19 April 2008 (CDT)

Derek, I concur, yours is a beautiful map. We should use yours. Can I ask you how you made it?

Cheers! George Swan 20:05, 19 April 2008 (CDT)

How about this one:

Derek Harkness 07:39, 20 April 2008 (CDT)

That's almost there, but I think we can lose a tiny bit more off the top, 15-20%? I don't think we need all that stuff up there. Say in the Hokkaido-Sakhalin gap? You'll lose part of the Balkash caption, and will have to wipe that probably (no loss); and the same thing for the Ganges (ditto). Although I see we've lost the N and part of the E in Nepal - you could either push that edge out a teeny bit to get the N back, or wipe the rest of the "EPAL" - either way would be fine, I think. Looking good! J. Noel Chiappa 08:23, 20 April 2008 (CDT)

I didn't have this problem when I took my first look at your first map, but when I looked at the second I originally thought the name "Yangtze" was a lake, paralleling the river. The Yangtze is a river with lots of nearby lakes. Could the label be larger, or in a different color? Or leave of the label altogether, after removing the other rivers? Feel free to say it is too much work. George Swan 17:11, 20 April 2008 (CDT)

New version now up. You'll have to clear your browser cache and refresh the page to see it (ctrl+shift+R in firefox). I've tidied up the left hand edge a bit. I've also cropped down the north edge. I don't want to crop further on that edge as you will loose Russia which I think is an important key for understanding the geography of Asia if you aren't familiar with it already. This has also had the effect of putting the map into the Golden Ratio. I here what you say about the text for "Yangtze". It's normal cartographic practice to use the same colour for the river names as you do for detailing the river it's self. If I changed the size or colour of that lable, I'd have to change all the other water features on the map too. Remember I didn't draw this map. I just cleaned it up. I can't redraw the whole thing. Derek Harkness 10:05, 21 April 2008 (CDT)

Hmm. I hear your point about Russia... I'd have thought Mongolia and Japan would do it, but you may be right. (And I guess people might not know where Mongolia really is - but then again, do they really know the geography of Asian Russia that well?) Dunno, I'd still crop it on that side as I suggested before, but this is OK. J. Noel Chiappa 15:47, 21 April 2008 (CDT)

Okay, thanks for the explanation. Cheers! George Swan 16:15, 21 April 2008 (CDT)