Rivers less traveled

American Travis Winn believes western China's rivers are bridges - but ones in danger of being swept away by the currents of development in the region.

The 24-year-old, who has undertaken 15 of China's 42 major documented "first descents" (initial river explorations) since exploration began in 1985, is now working to connect people with watercourses and one another.

"In the process of getting to know these rivers and getting to know Chinese people, one of the things you see really quickly is most of these rivers are being developed, mostly for hydropower projects. Plans have been drafted to build dams on all of these rivers, which would turn them into reservoirs," he says.