92,000 relocated for largest water diversion project in the world

DANJIANGKOU, Hubei - It was an unforgettable day for 59-year-old Tang Mingrong, one among the tide of people relocated to make way for the world's largest water diversion project, the South-North Water Diversion Project. On Tuesday she was made to leave her home as well as the 1.07 hectare orange orchard around it - a patch she had worked on for years.

On Dec 20, the resettlement of about 92,000 residents was completed in Central China's Hubei province, according to local authorities.

Having lived near the Danjiangkou reservoir, Tang, from Jiangkou village, said she had moved three times due to the project. The first time was in 1958, when she was six, the second time in 1985. This time she will relocate to a 180-square-meter new home in Zhaojiagou resettlement site in Liangshuihe township.

Tang observed a few traditional rituals associated with moving home. She put burning charcoal and a lump of dough in a brazier, which she will carry to her new home, to ensure good fortune in the future.

"I got up at 5 am to prepare this." She is hopeful the act will usher in luck in the coming year.

Tang said on the morning her family moved to the new residence, she quarreled with her 37-year-old son, because she wanted to take her 38-year-old bed to the new house.

"My son said it was too old, but it contains memories of my past life.

"We, five brothers and sisters, have all moved and are drifting further and further away from our hometown, little by little."

Tang said moving home all these years has made drastic changes to their lives.

"At first, we lived along the river, surrounded by mountains, it was hard to know the outside world."

Tang's new home is near the town and access to urban facilities is much easier. She has bought an air conditioner, a refrigerator and a washing machine.

"Maybe I could become fashionable in my old days," Tang says with a smile. "Although we made a sacrifice, it was for the sake of the people still suffering water shortage."

Fourteen families were relocated to the Zhaojiagou resettlement site. They need not worry about moving again.

This was the final segment of relocation for the water diversion project's middle route, with 330,000 people having been relocated in Hubei and Henan provinces.

The massive water diversion project is designed to take water from China's longest river, the Yangtze, to feed the drought-prone areas in the north, including Beijing and Tianjin. Water will flow northward through three routes - eastern, middle and western.

E Jingping, head of the office in charge of the project under the State Council, visited the last group of relocated people on Dec 20 and said the government will do more work to support them.

The South-North Water Diversion Project is set to commence operation in 2014.