Over the summer, the whispers here in China have grown into media articles which have blossomed into reports of official policy. “China’s central government is warm to big dams again.” Projects on the Jinsha River that were put on hold, are free to continue, and big hydropower is the prominent answer to China’s promises about cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

While China has long been the country with the largest number of dams, it is now, reports suggest, the country with the largest installed hydropower capacity, and the government hopes to double this capacity by 2020. To meet this capacity, practically each and every planned dam on China’s major rivers and large tributaries will need to go forward, immediately (see maps on this site). While these projects may result in less carbon been poured into the atmosphere from China, they will also mean destruction of pristine western China plateau valleys, the drowning of China’s grand canyons, and wave after wave of forced displacement of poor and minority farmers and herders.

Maling River, GuizhouFor the past three weeks or so I have been in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, where I have been preparing China Rivers Project’s next research project: “China’s Rafting Industry: How far will it grow?” One of CRP’s objectives is to get more folks in China interested in rafting/kayaking, and simultaneously to increase their awareness of rivers and interest in protecting rivers. While there is a lot we can do with the trips we organize, in recent years we have heard rumors of hundreds of small rafting companies setting up operations on short stretches of river in eastern China.

Two nights ago I spoke at a bookstore in Guangzhou, an event sponsored by Guangzhou-based Zhi Tour which leads educational, enlightened tours here in China. Last Descents partners with Zhi Tour to book multi day river trips. It was my first time giving such a long, formal talk in Chinese, and I wrote out the whole talk （这里可以看中文）and nervously practiced it a few times in the days preceding. But at the event, which took place in a nice room in one of Guangzhou’s more well-known bookstores, I scarcely glanced at my notes. I have told my story many times in English, and it came out easily in Chinese as well.
 

I am back from vacation and today I will be speaking about China Rivers Project at the biggest bookstore in Guangzhou, the giant city in southern China previously known to westerns as Canton. Smog clings to this city like a hungry ghost, green construction awnings claw at the sky, and there is the constant throb and clang of exploding growth. But here, there is also a current of intellectual freedom. The Scottish-Chinese couple graciously hosting me moved here three years ago because the schools are far better than those in western China. And people here are curious, cultured, and I hope, eager to expand their horizons.

Dancers, Buddhist Festival, Nu RiverLast night I got invited to a banquet by my host here in Kunming. I haven’t done a Chinese banquet in a while, and the evening served as a solid reminder of banquet etiquette, and how unnatural it comes to me. My host here in Kunming, Teacher Zhao, is a professor of cultural relics, which in his case means he is somewhere between an ethnologist and an antique dealer. At the Yunnan University research station at the northern end of the Nu River valley, where I met him in 2005, his research interests were antiquated household equipment like wooden churns and grindstones. He helped write the Nu Prefecture gazetteer on cultural relics, attends antique auctions on weekends, and likes to spout aphorisms about ethnic minorities that only I seem to question, such as, “For the Nu people, if you can walk, you can dance, if you can talk, you can sing, if you can drink, you can do anything.” (Banquet rule #5: it is best to smile politely at everything your table captain says.)

Lisu Women, Nu RiverOur season on the Jinsha River is drawing to a close. With the tragic earthquake in Yushu, its unclear if we will run trips on the Tongtian River this summer. Possibly, Last Descents will be organizing a trip to benefit earthquake reconstruction.  But we still have no idea if infrastructure will be able to support our ecotourism efforts. Stay tuned for more information on our summer plans...

Meanwhile, the Nu River continues to make headlines, as in today's article in the Global Post (with a nice quote from our China Program Manager, Travis Winn, who met with the reporter while traveling in the Nu River Valley over the Chinese Spring Holiday).

I am just back from our second trip on the Jinsha River this season. This time, all of our guests were Chinese, including a well to do Hong Kong businessman who is linked with The Nature Conservancy China, and his family. While quite new to wilderness travel, these folks were highly intelligent, eager to learn about the river, and quick to have fun rafting. As we shared our experiences around a campfire on the last night of the trip, it was gratifying to hear the young folks on the trip – age 13 to 19 – talk about how experienceing the Jinsha made them realize that they personally wanted to get more involved in conservation efforts.

Travis and KristenWhile in China, I've been spending a lot of time working and playing with a remarkable team of river guides. These folks include Jane Chipman of Colorado, a skilled kayaker, cowgirl, and banjo player, who started learning Chinese last year while working for a water treatment company in Beijing. Also on board is Bob Wojtalik, a man of many talents including welding, rowing, fire fighting, with a seasoned poker face. Li Weiyi, from Guangzhou, is a former real estate company manager who completely changed her lifestyle to become, as she likes to call herself, "China river girl." Tan Jian Zhong is a logger turned rower and climbing guide from Kunming, who rocks a mean wok and enjoys rave reviews for his singing.

The leader of this odd little family, Travis Winn, is my partner on China Rivers Project, and also the owner of Last Descents River Expeditions, a whitewater rafting company registered here in China as of 2006.

Great Bend of the Jinsha (upper Yangtze) RiverOur recent trip on the Jinsha was a great success, though bittersweet due to the changes we witnessed on the river (see my last blog post). I've posted some pictures that Last Descent's guide-cook-truck packing mastermind-tenor Tan Jian Zhong took on the trip on my flickr account (with his permission of course.)

Three Parallel Rivers - by Ge A GenYesterday, March 25, was the last day of our recent 10-day trip on the Jinsha River. In the morning, all 17 of us sat in a circle on a broad, sandy beach, sheltered from the wind by a giant chunk of limestone. We were about 5 kilometers from the Ahai Dam site, where our trip would end. Each trip participant said a few words about their experiences rafting the Jinsha, bringing smiles and laughter, and also some tears.

Li Weiyi, manager at Last Descents River Expeditions, told the group how last year she quit her high power job at Wangke, China’s largest real estate company, to join the Last Descents Team. At the time, she wondered how long she would enjoy roughing it on the river. This was her fourth trip, and with sudden emotion, she explained how this time, it felt like she was visiting a very close, dying friend.