For the last decade, the elephant in the living room of China's relationships with the countries through which the Mekong River flows has been the growing number of dams built on and planned for the Lancang River – as the Mekong's headwaters in Yunnan are known.

The river - which in February was at half its normal level for that month - is a source of food and livelihood for the 65 million people living in its basin in Yunnan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

On Monday, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva met with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue, telling Hu that residents of the lower Mekong region were concerned about the river's recent low water levels and were uneasy regarding the lack of clear information about China's dams on the Lancang, according to a Nation report.

Despite Abhisit's polite request for better information, Thai officials came to China's defense, saying that the recent low levels in the lower Mekong basin – the lowest in half a century – were primarily due to a drought in Laos. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said that rain in Laos normally accounts for 35 percent of the Mekong's water supply and that only four percent of the river's total water was held behind Chinese dams.

China currently has three dams operating on the Lancang, with a fourth at Xiaowan scheduled to commence operation in 2012. If completed, the Xiaowan hydropower station will be the world's tallest dam, rising almost 300 meters and capable of retaining 15 billion cubic meters of water.

Plans for a protest outside the Chinese embassy in Bangkok next month by residents of the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai suggest that residents of China's neighbors downstream may become increasingly vocal about the impact they feel Chinese dams are having on the river.

The Bangkok protest will be timed to coincide with the first Mekong River Summit, organized by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and scheduled to be held in the Thai beach town of Hua Hin from April 2 to April 5.

The conference's theme, "Transboundary water resources management in a changing world" is slightly undermined by the fact that the MRC's membership only includes Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, with Myanmar and China only participating as "dialogue partners".

It is difficult to imagine China making concessions to protestors, governments or anyone else for the time being. The Bangkok Post is reporting that a letter sent last month to Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong by the Chiang Rai provincial government demanding the release of water from Lancang River dams was rebuked by Qin, who said the water was needed in Yunnan for agriculture during the dry season.

In addition to the protest related to the Mekong's current low levels, some Thai villagers will also attempt to deliver a petition to China seeking compensation for flooding in 2008:


In May 2009, the United Nations said China's plans to eventually build eight dams on the Lancang "may pose the single greatest threat to the river". China, however, is not the only country building dams on the river. Laos has plans for 23 dams on Mekong tributaries and the Mekong itself to be finished in the coming year, with Vietnam and Cambodia also planning dams of their own.

Lancang River image: news.china.com.cn

China should push forward the building of a third Eurasian land bridge connecting Shenzhen and Rotterdam, Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong told the China Daily yesterday.

The 15,000 kilometer proposed transport corridor would pass through 17 countries – in China it would pass through Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan before entering Myanmar and passing through Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey before continuing into Europe.

Qin said the rail and road network would stimulate trade and by providing an alternate route to Europe would also promote China's energy and economic security.

Qin was in Beijing with other Yunnan officials for meetings with the central government to discuss a proposal to help Myanmar build more than 300 kilometers of road and rail to link Yunnan's rail network with South Asia's highway network.

If built, the proposed land bridge would join the two existing transport routes across the Eurasian continent - one spanning 13,000 kilometers from Rotterdam to eastern Russia and the other covering 10,900 kilometers connecting Rotterdam with Lianyungang in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

Qin said that a branch line for the third land bridge extending from Turkey through Syria and Palestine into Egypt would also facilitate the transport of goods manufactured in Guangdong's Pearl River Delta to African markets by cutting 6,000 kilometers off of the Guangdong-Egypt sea journey.

Scholars first raised the idea of a third land bridge two years ago, but no progress has been made - despite only needing to add approximately 1,000 kilometers of new highways and railways to existing transport infrastructure.

The proposed land bridge's main obstacles are disinterested national governments and cumbersome border crossing procedures, analysts said.

Image: China Daily

Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) has ordered provincial health authorities to be vigilant in preventing the H1N1 influenza virus – which is slightly misleadingly being referred to as 'swine flu' (猪流感) in international and domestic media – with a focus on international travelers to the province, according to a Dushi Shibao report.

Travelers on international flights to Kunming Wujiaba International Airport that show any flu-like symptoms will be subject to "close observation" by provincial hygiene and medical staff. Dogs trained in sniffing out diseases have already been deployed at the airport to inspect luggage.

Yunnan hygiene bureau chief Chen Juemin (陈觉民) told reporters yesterday that the province was ready to take any steps necessary to prevent the spread of H1N1 into Yunnan and to contain it should it enter the province.

"However much money is needed, the government will spend that much", Chen said.

Chen did not announce any concrete measures that will be taken to prevent the entry of H1N1 influenza into Yunnan.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a phase 4 alert for the global H1N1 influenza outbreak, the phase before pandemic levels. According to WHO:


While no cases of H1N1 have been announced in China, the SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003 is still fresh in the minds of many. So far this week, Asian travel and airline stocks have been hit by concerns that the virus could spread into Asia via international air travel – which was one of the main vehicles driving SARS' global spread.

International travel by local residents to high-risk areas was blamed for a cholera outbreak in villages near the city of Yuxi, 90 kilometers south of Kunming, in late January of this year. The outbreak infected at least 47 people before being contained.

Image: news.kunming.cn

Yang Liping to unveil new dance and music production
Yunnan native and dancer Yang Liping (杨丽萍) will unveil 'Yunnan Sound', her newest dance and music production, at the Yunnan Art Institute's Experimental Theater on May 7 and 8, according to a report on en.kunming.cn.

Yang, known best for her rendition of the Dai peacock dance and her popular touring show 'Dynamic Yunnan' has reportedly focused on making instruments of everyday objects from around Yunnan and incorporating them with traditional instruments and music from Yunnan's ethnic minority groups.

Three on trial for Yangzonghai Lake arsenic pollution
Three top executives from the chemical company deemed responsible for the majority of arsenic pollution in Yangzonghai Lake are currently standing trial in the people's court of Chengjiang County. The trial, which began on Tuesday, is expected to conclude today or tomorrow.

Chengjiang Jinye Industry and Trade Co Ltd CEO Li Dahong, general manager Li Yaohong and production manager Jin Dadong are charged with contaminating Yangzonghai Lake, which was previously the source of drinking water for 26,000 people.

According to Kunming environmental officials, the lake's arsenic level has been reduced from 0.128 mg/liter to 0.111 mg/liter since September. Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) has estimated that it will take three years to reduce the lake's arsenic concentration to safe levels, which is projected to cost approximately 4 billion yuan (US$600 million).

On a related note, the Kunming government just announced that it will spend an additional 280 million yuan annually on protecting the city's drinking water supply.

South Asian Gate proposed height raised to 333 meters
The planned height of the South Asian Gate (南亚之门), a skyscraper that will tower over Kunming upon its completion, has been raised to 333 meters. The building, which will be the highest in all of Yunnan province, was originally scheduled to be 316 meters tall, with more than 70 floors.

The multipurpose building will be home to Kunming's highest concentration of Grade A office space, plus a 5-star hotel, high-end residences, commercial space and leisure/entertainment facilities.

Kunming to go 3G in June
According to a Kunming Daily report, Kunming is one of 28 second- and third-tier cities in China in which 3G mobile phone licenses will be issued in June of this year. 3G licenses were reportedly to have been issued in first-tier markets including Guangdong and Shanghai yesterday.

Another billion dollars to be spent cleaning Dianchi
Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) convened a meeting with the Dianchi Lake Water Pollution and Treatment Work Group in which he emphasized that the six major engineering projects aimed at improving the lake's water quality must be fully implemented according to the schedule approved last year.

Spending this year on cleaning up the lake – China's sixth-largest freshwater lake – will total approximately 9.2 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion), adding to the billions of dollars that have already been spent in futility on addressing the lake's environmental degradation over the last two decades.

Security wall destroyed by club-carrying mob
More than 200 men armed with clubs destroyed a security wall surrounding the Yangguang Huaerzi residential development near the Xiba River yesterday. For reasons unknown, the mob of men appeared suddenly at the development, quickly destroyed approximately 100 meters of the wall surrounding the development, then reportedly 'disappeared in a flash'.

According to reports, three security guards were injured by the mob and one journalist's camera was destroyed.

Shaolin monks can eat lufu
Dushi Shibao is reporting that Kunming's favorite new neighbors, the Shaolin monks, are able to eat the pungent local snack lufu (卤腐), a type of fermented tofu. 太板扎了噶!

Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) asked India to open a consulate in Kunming during a meeting with Indian Tourism Minister Ambika Soni in New Delhi last week, according to Indian media reports.

Direct flights between Kunming and Kolkata, capital of eastern India's West Bengal state, were launched in late 2007, but visa regulations and lack of a Kunming consulate make it difficult for Chinese living in southwestern China to visit India.

In order to obtain a visa, applicants must go to India's embassy in Beijing or its consulates in Shanghai and Hong Kong. For people living in Yunnan, it's often easier to skip the Kunming-Kolkata flight and fly to nearby Bangkok where there is an Indian embassy and more flight options to India.

While meeting with Qin and a delegation of Yunnan officials and entrepreneurs last Wednesday, Soni invited the visitors from Yunnan to invest in India's tourist infrastructure and called for closer cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit, the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the West Bengal Tourism Directorate, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation and Travel Agents Association of India Eastern Chapter to "build a mutual bond on tourism practices, exchange and understanding."

Indian tourist visits to China are roughly quadruple the number of Chinese visits to India.

Despite being landlocked, Yunnan has plenty of water, including the headwaters of the Yangtze, Mekong and Salween Rivers. It is also home to nine large lakes, with Kunming's Dianchi Lake (滇池) the biggest of the group.

Dianchi Lake is also famous for being heavily polluted – to the point where its water is unfit for industrial use. Yunnan's polluted lake club has recently added a new member – Yangzonghai Lake (阳宗海) – which the provincial government announced has heavy levels of arsenic in its waters. Yangzonghai is now officially considered unfit for drinking, swimming in or fishing in.

The arsenic discovery came during a snap inspection of enterprises operating in the Yangzonghai basin 45 kilometers east of Kunming, with eight companies found to be engaging in illegal polluting practices. Yunnan Chengjiang Jinye Industrial and Trade Co Ltd (云南澄江锦业工贸有限公司) has been named as the main polluter.

The company allegedly failed to build the legally required treatment facility for its wastewater, with years of accumulated arsenic seeping into the local water table. Yunnan Communist Party Secretary Bai Enpei (白恩培) and Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) have pledged to take "decisive action" to remedy the situation.

As recently as 2002, Yangzonghai had been noted for having water clean enough for drinking and swimming – a stark contrast to the environmental devastation of nearby Dianchi Lake. In February of this year, Kunming Communist Party Secretary Qiu He (仇和) visited Yangzonghai, warning local enterprises that the lake must not become a "second Dianchi".

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Sailing in Kunming

Yunnan province announced plans this week to spend 30 billion yuan (US$4.29 billion) over the next three years addressing the pollution of Dianchi Lake, China's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the largest lake on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

Qin Guangrong, governor of Yunnan, described the cleanup work on Dianchi as 'top priority' for building a modern Kunming – which borders the lake on its northeast - according to a Xinhua report. Qin said the project consists of six sub-programs, including pollution interception along the 29 rivers that feed into the lake, plus "ecological protection, dredging, and others". Several wastewater treatment plants will also be built under the project.

Also part of the plan is a scheme to resettle approximately 30,000 lakeside residents in an attempt to restore wetlands in the area by 2010, the report said. Yunnan has spent billions of dollars on reducing pollution in the 300-square-kilometer lake with little to show for it in terms of results. China's major lakes, including Dianchi, Taihu and Chaohu, are suffering from algae blooms that are destroying the lake ecosystems by depleting the water's oxygen content. The central government aims to return the lakes to their 'original state' by 2030.

The announcement by Governor Qin follows recent commercial interest in cleaning up Dianchi. Last year Hong Kong-listed property developer Shui On Land announced that it intended to "thoroughly restore" Dianchi as part of its Caohai Urban North Shore project. The project will dedicate 87 hectares to a mix of high-, medium- and low-density housing and 29 hectares to cultural infrastructure including museums, theaters, an amphitheater and an "artist's community".

According to a Shui On press release, the plan involves a short-term strategy of creating a lake "cell" isolated from the rest of the lake and filling it with clean water. Once the lake has reached a level of recreational cleanliness, the lake cell and the lake will be combined.

Related articles:

Dianchi Lake slimed by blue-green algae

Property giant Shui On moving into Yunnan

Sailing in Kunming

Yunnan's water woes: Dams and Dianchi

Kunmingers increasingly concerned about environment