Miyun Reservoir

About 40% of the water Beijing uses every year comes out of the Miyun-reservoir, an hour and half-drive north of Beijing. But the reservoir is visibly drying up. Large islands with pale banks and trees now are exposed to the the sky, where a couple of years ago they still were covered with water. The waterlevel in the Miyun-reservoir now is only 25% of the total capacity it can hold.

A huge $ 50 billion network of canals, dams, tunnels and bridges under construction should divert precious water from the south to the needy north.

But experts warn that this huge South to North Water Diversion-project will not solve China’s structural waterproblems.