The arrival of Yellow River water Saturday excited people of Tianjin, a north China port city, which has been hit by several water crises.
Mayor Li Shenglin and numerous Tianjin residents rushed to Jiuxuan Gate to welcome the arrival of the Yellow River water. Li called on local people to cherish water resources and take various measures to protect and make good use of the water from the Yellow River.
The project to divert water from the Yellow River, the second longest river in China, into Tianjin went into operation on October 13. This is the 6th time that China has re-directed water from the Yellow River into Tianjin, an important economic center in north China.
The water was diverted at Weishan Gate in Dong’e County, east China’s Shandong Province, and flowed into Tianjin from a distance of 580 km.
The project will send 1 billion cubic meters of Yellow River water to Tianjin in more than four months.
(People’s Daily 10/22/2000)