A meandering green river quietly extends far into a building complex, with reeds and willows alongside, swaying amid Beijing's autumn breeze.

Wang Juli, a network company employee bought a two-bed-room apartment in the building complex with a river winding through.

"I think Beijing is really lacking in water and waterscapes, which makes lots of citizens dream of being close to water. For me, I spent more than 900,000 yuan (about US$108,000) for my 100-square-meter apartment, one eighth more than the average price of the apartments with the same area in another place, only for the river landscape," Wang said.

Beijing now has dozens of commercial building complexes with a variety of water landscapes and all sold well, despite their comparatively high prices.

However, land developers still have problems developing resident communities with water landscapes, because natural riverside or lakeside land must be preserved, and digging canals and lakes is expensive, considering the high price of water.

Today, Beijing's water price is 4.07 yuan per ton, while citizens of south China's metropolitan Shanghai only spend 2 yuan for every ton of water.

"The difference in water prices reflects the different water resources status of different areas. Beijing's high water price demonstrates a fact that the city is very much in need of water," said Wu Jisong, director of the Water Resources Bureau under the Ministry of Water Resources.

Currently, Beijing's annual per capita water supply volume is less than 300 cubic meters, one eighth of the country's average level and one-32nd of the world's average level, making the city one of the world's most water-scarce cities.

Statistics released by the Ministry of Water Resources show that in 2008 when Beijing holds the Olympic Games, the city will consume more than four billion cubic meters of water for its industry, agriculture, daily life and ecological use.

A source at the Ministry said if the city's population stays at around 18 million in 2008, water supply could still meet demand, through recycling waste water and diverting water from other provinces.

Two reservoirs, namely Miyun and Guanting, are main water sources for Beijing's daily water consumption, which is 890 million cubic meters annually. However, this summer, the two reservoirs only have 500 million cubic meters available, due to the lack of rain.

On Sept. 26, 2003, about 50 million cubic meters of water flowed from Cetian Reservoir in north China's Shanxi Province to Guanting Reservoir of Beijing, for temporary relief of the city's water shortage. "It is the first time Beijing has received a large volume of water from other provinces," said Wu Jisong.

Later this year, the middle route of China's south-to-north water transfer project will be started. The world's largest water diversion project is expected to divert one billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze, China's second longest river, to Beijing in 2008.

Wu Jisong said saving water is another important issue. Beijing is expected to save about 2.7 billion cubic meters from now to 2008, through adjusting industrial structure and advanced water-saving technology.

By 2005, Beijing's sewage disposal rate will reach 90 percent, meaning the city can produce one billion cubic meters of recycled water every year.

"Recycled water could be mainly used for building artificial water landscapes and restoring the local ecology," said Wu Jisong.

Nowadays, China's new middle class can not be only satisfied with waterscape apartments, but go to bars, tea houses and restaurants that boast waterscapes.

Houhai lake, one of several natural lakes, is surrounded by new bars and restaurants, making it one of the most popular destinations for professionals to gather after work.

"Sipping a cup of coffee alongside a tranquil lake has become a trendy entertainment in the city. But for sure, the city needs more waterscapes," said a bar manager at Houhai.

Wu Jisong said Beijing will further restore its ecological environment, revitalizing more dried up rivers, diverting more water from the Yangtze and more efficiently saving water.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2003)