China’s Yellow River Blues

NPR is doing a five-part series on the contradictions and challenges of the Yellow River amid China’s rapid economic transformation. In ancient times, the river inflicted harm on surrounding populations in Northern China, its floods killing over 1 million people throughout the years. Now, the situation is working in reverse. China’s rapid economic development is threatening the country’s “mother river”. The contradictions of China’s development are ever present on the Yellow River; the need to create jobs to sustain economic growth is leading to more pollution, and the need to use water for industry and for the booming cities is draining the river. These statistics illuminate the immense challenges even further:

• Northern China has 43 percent of the population, but only 14 percent of the country’s water supply;
• 400 of China’s 600 cities lack an adequate water supply; and
• 4 billion gallons of wastewater are dumped into the Yellow River every year

The articles in the series look at pollution of the river, water shortages in northern China, the cultural significance of the river, and what the government is doing to remedy the problems. To see the main page of the series, click here.