Reporting from Baoding city, Hebei province, Reuters‘ Beijing correspondent Chris Buckley captures the conflict provoked by the Olympic plan to show off Beijing as a green, leafy city with drinkable tap water and sparkling fountains by draining neighbouring provinces that are suffering from a decade-long drought. “For the country, it’s a good thing,” said Shi Yinzhu, a local sheepherder interviewed near the 100-metre wide canal that has displaced over 30,000 people outside Baoding city. “It will bring water to Beijing so everything runs smoothly. But for us here, they had to pump away underground water to dig the canal and we’ve lost a lot of land too . . . Sometimes you wonder if they need all the water more than us here.” Author/environmentalist Dai Qing is also quoted saying there have been problems with the scheme that weren’t anticipated. “But the fundamental one is they don’t have enough water in northern China to begin with. Why should they pay such a heavy price for Beijing?”

Read the full story at www.reuters.com

Other Recommended Reading:

‘Thirsty dragon at the Olympics’, by Dai Qing (New York Review of Books 06/12/07)

‘Where will Beijing get its water?‘ by Yi Yongyong (Science Times 02/08/07)