Happy Chinese New Year!

This year’s Spring Festival fell on February 14^th, 2010. The Spring Festival, usually celebrated over a period of 15 days, is the most important holiday in Chinese culture and millions of people flock home to be with family. The eve of the Chinese New Year is customarily celebrated by reuniting with one’s family, eating dumplings or rice cakes, catching up with relatives, and setting off firecrackers. For millions of migrant workers all over China, the few days of the national holiday represent the only time to see one’s children and parents, sometimes even one’s own spouse, left back in rural villages.

For some however, the pilgrimage home also represents the stark difference between the distribution of resources in urban and rural areas. On February 13^th, Xinhua News Agency reported on one region in particular, in southern China, that is currently experiencing severe drought. According to the report, after the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council’s Spring Festival Celebration, Premier Wen Jiabao immediately flew to the drought region to show support for the local residents of Hechi, in Guangxi Province.

Beginning in August of 2009 the region, which has been designated as a key recipient for central economic aid, has experienced high temperatures with little rainfall. The result has been the depletion of water storages, the interruption of local river flow and water scarcity for residents, agriculture and livestock. Compared with the previous year, per capita water availability dropped by 60%. In response, 385 water distribution stations were built to provide water to drought-stricken areas. Currently, water is distributed by car and each resident receives 20 kilograms of water per day. Local residents expressed to Premier Wen that for the New Year’s festivities, this amount was enough. In contrast, according to the American Water Works Association, the typical indoor daily water usage in a United States single-family home is 262.3 liters.

Upon leaving, Premier Wen stressed the importance of ensuring the distribution of clean, safe water not only for residential use, but also to ensure use for livestock, local agriculture, and production. The region’s primary agriculture products include rice, corn, silk, and soy. The premier also expressed that the long term solution to the region’s water scarcity problems had to be connected to the planning water system infrastructure including, reservoirs, irrigation systems, and water storage tanks.

Premier Wen’s New Year’s Eve visit to the drought-affected areas in Guangxi Province not only moved local residents, it also represented the national concern over water scarcity issues and the need to improve rural water infrastructure.

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