Since the beginning the civilization of China believed the wellbeing of humanity depends on harmony with nature. But in China’s rush to modernize in the late 20th century, the environment was devastated.
This is Xiang Lake in Zhejiang. For a thousand years it sustained the communities round it: but it was drained by developers, dug out for brick clay… and by the 1980s the lake was gone.
After the development, the lake gradually turned into a small stream. The lake almost disappeared, but the tile and brick factories flourished.
It's just one small story among so many in China between the 1950s and the 1980s, nature destroyed in the name of material advancement
But when the brick factories closed, the local people lobbied to restore the lake …And they did… the woods were replanted, the wildlife came back… and now the lake even has a tourist trail.
The Story of China's REFORM & OPENING UP(Ⅰ): THE WILL OF CHINESE PEOPLE
The Story of China's REFORM & OPENING UP(Ⅱ): CHINA GOES GLOBAL
The Story of China's REFORM & OPENING UP(Ⅲ): DESIGNED IN CHINA
