Worst drought in a century hits southwestern China

The worst drought in a century has been ravaging China’s southwest provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou and the region of Guangxi, leaving 20.5 million residents and 12.6 million heads of livestock with insufficient drinking water.

A farmer carries pails to transport water from a partially dried-up pond at the outskirts of Yingtan, Jiangxi province.

Since 1517, when records began in the small Chinese village of Xiazha, there has always been water in its three wells.

This spring, however, the wells dried up.

“I’m 83 years old, I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Yang Kuanren, a villager in Xiazha, in Guangxi province. “Not a single drop of water can be seen in our wells. For hundreds of years, we have relied on those wells for irrigation and drinking water and we do not know what to do.

“It is time to start planting the fields, but the earth is so dry we cannot even plough it.”

Three enormous water reservoirs that normally feed the village, and its neighbours, which usually hold enough water to irrigate 5,000 acres of land, have also run dry.

A local farmer looks at dying crop in the field in Shihuitang village of Shiping County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 24, 2010

Nearby villages have started drilling new wells, but there is little water to be found, even several hundred feet below ground.

In Guizhou province, many distillers of Maotai – the national alcohol drunk at banquets – have stopped production due to a shortage of spring and tap water.

Huangguoshu falls_China’s most famous waterfall

Asia’s biggest waterfall, Huangguoshu, has been reduced to a trickle. More than 90% of the rivers and reservoirs downstream have dried up.

In Yunnan province, some villagers are traveling for up to three hours to try to find water in valleys.

The normally sub-tropical south of China saw its rainy season evaporate this year, with the average temperature in Yunnan two degrees higher than normal, and rainfall at only half the usual level.

Children wait to collect water distributed by local government in drought-hit Dazhuyuan village, on the outskirts of Kunming, Yunnan Province

Yunnan is the source of several of Asia’s biggest rivers, including the Yangtze and the Mekong and almost a billion people living downstream could be affected as they dry up. The Mekong is at its lowest level for 20 years. Over five million hectares of forests have withered or been ravaged by fires.

As the drought continues to grip, ethnic minority groups preparing for a water-splashing festival in April are now considering alternatives.

Boats are seen stranding on crackled bed of the Chirui Lake in Shiping County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 24, 2010

现实版蜗居: 北京”蚁族”生活纪实

北京唐家岭"蚁族"聚居区有很多这样的“牵手楼”

他们生于“80”后，不同于一般的“青年农民工”“流动人口”，也不同于先前的“北漂族”“校漂族”。他们受过高等教育，他们找不到“合适”的工作，他们经常处于失业、半失业的困境; 他们主要聚居于城乡结合部的“聚居村”，他们是有如“蚂蚁”般的弱小强者,他们在国内城市有过百万之众.

尽管现实如蚁，梦想成蝶，他们依然在城中苦打苦，在都市里漂泊，在漂泊中奋斗，又在奋斗中迷茫…

唐家岭的一天

“蚁族”最头疼的一个问题——交通！！这就是车站，将近几万人每天早上从这里上车。这里有十多条公交路线，可每辆车开到这里的时候已经是人满为患。想挤上去么？

清晨起雾了，唐家岭听不到一声鸡叫，倒是哐哐啷啷的公交车叫醒了北京海淀区北五环外这个不起眼的村庄。7点后，巷口不断拥出一群群脚步匆匆的年轻人。破旧的公交车准时进村，一停下立马陷入人群包围，站在门口的售票员一边用力将人往车门里塞，一边高声嚷着“再挤挤，再挤挤。”同时，出村公路上，那些没挤上公交的人，有的三五成群地步行上班，还有一些则骑着自行车直往村外冲刺。

传说中“世界上最壮观的挤车场景”: 唐家岭位于北五环，正常上班都会一个小时到两个小时左右，而这么多人每天早上都在等待到本站时满满的车，每辆车平均能再上四五个人，而且下面有专门配备的人把上车人往门里推，要不然车门关不上啊！

唐家岭的一天开始了，这个村庄的住民奔向了主城，为着衣食，为了理想。他们不是农民工，而是刚毕业不久的大学生。

2010年1月5日早晨8点半，在零下16°的低温下，一个女孩终于在唐家岭站挤上公交车

2008年初，北京大学博士后廉思着手对这一特殊人群进行研究。一年后，廉思和他的调查小组拿出了一份厚厚的调研报告。他们将栖居在北京唐家岭、小月河、马连洼等地的低收入大学生群体，称之为“蚁族”, 仅北京一地就有至少10万“蚁族”。其实，目前在上海、广州、西安、武汉等其他几个高校云集的大城市，也都同样存在大量“蚁族”，主要分布在城乡接合部，大多从事销售、文员、电脑编程、保险营销等工作，全国“蚁族”总规模则预计在百万以上。

这就是唐家岭的路，每当雨雪过后，走在路上鞋都会很脏，夏天雨水大的时候，如果穿的不是拖鞋或者凉鞋，就要在脚上套上个塑料袋。

“要是半小时之内的路程，我通常都不坐车，走着去”，来自湖北的刘成良没出门，窝在303公寓专心誊改他的创业计划。他与村里人基本上没什么联系，“除了房租和水票”。据唐家岭村统计，该村村民只有3000多人，而前来租房的大学生却多达4万—5万人。

上午9点过后，唐家岭又暂时恢复几分北方村落的面貌。有狗从正街破烂的街面上不紧不慢地跑过，一个骑自行车的小贩响着铃铛慢慢驶过。偶尔透过街角还没正式开张的餐馆窗户，有时可以看到三两个迟起的年青人，衣着整洁干净地从窗下走过。休息时，这些年青人最常去的地方是网吧。

晚上7点后，当晚是平安夜，唐家岭街头魔法似摆出了好多盛装的水果摊。下班的年青人开始返村，不少人停在水果摊前饶有兴致地挑选苹果，小贩们吆喝得更起劲了。

已近22时，刘成良搭上一辆公交，打算连夜给女朋友送一个苹果去，“平安夜一定要吃苹果，并许一个愿，会很灵的”。

2010年1月底，北京唐家岭一角。

寻梦唐家岭

从北京北四环向北，坐公交要倒两趟车，花上一个多小时，就可以到达唐家岭———这个北京五环以外、与昌平接壤的小村落。

“我刚来的时候，既庆幸又担心，庆幸在北京还能找到这么便宜的房住，担心的则是环境确实太差了”，刘成良前年10月来到北京，曾在酒吧歌舞厅做过活动策划。

北京唐家岭村“蚁族”的居住环境

唐家岭到处是村民自建的“握手楼”。楼高一般2层—5层，站在楼内走廊，很容易看到对面楼里的光景。村里八九成的租客，都是刚毕业不久的大学生，村民将房屋隔成10平方米—15平方米的单间，根据不同的厨卫配置，每间每月收取300元—800元的房租；有的干脆建得像大学宿舍，设有公共的洗衣间和卫生间。

这张是上下铺的，类似寝室，但夏天时会比寝室难过上百倍

这张是稍稍干净一些的

而这张简直有点像天堂了

北漂几年后，刘成良和高中同学阿峰取得联系。阿峰从中国地质大学毕业后，在广州一家公司做事，由于不堪忍受公司内部复杂的办公室政治想辞职。刘成良于是劝阿峰来北京，“我当时住在三环以内的地下室，就介绍他来了唐家岭。”初到唐家岭，阿峰挺失落的，一切又得从头开始。

奥运前，刘成良被国家工商总局招去做了安保人员，朝九晚五，包吃包住，除了每月工资1200元稍有遗憾外，工作也不繁重。后来，他的工作调整为专门负责信访接待安保。今年7月，他又辞了工。

那时，阿峰已找到一份稳定的工作，月薪涨到了3000元- 4000元，在女朋友的要求下，阿峰搬离了唐家岭，但已提前交付一年房租，房东不肯退，于是刘成良接下了这个15平方米的单间。他说，现在就算闭着眼睛，也能摸清在外人看来迷宫般曲折幽深的胡同。

刘成良很快在上地中关村一带的一家小公司找了份策划的活。工资不高，平均1200元/月，“跟刚毕业的大学生差不多”，据他自己打听，住在这里的大学生，60%—70%都是月工资1200元-1500元，干的也多是销售、电脑编程、软件测试、文员或者电脑推销员等活。

2010年1月4日，北京唐家岭。甘肃青年顾振宇和广东青年王虎同在北京上地软件园上班。由于距离公司近，他们合租在唐家岭，每日骑自行车上班。顾振宇喜欢弹吉他，王虎正与远在广州的女友视频网聊。

同室兄弟

两三个月后，刘成良因种种原因再次失业。每月加上水、电、暖气等共800多元的房租，让他感到吃力。一个下午，刘成良到村里网吧发了一则求合租的信息。

10月的一天，有个电话打进来，问他是否找人合租，刘成良同意让对方过来看看。没几天，戴着厚厚眼镜的荣忠辉，背着更简单的行李，敲开了这间公寓的门。

23岁的荣忠辉，黑龙江铁力人，2005年，他考上黑龙江石油大学。大学毕业，全班30多个同学，1/3有关系或成绩特别好的人顺利签约，成绩中下等的则基本都没戏。荣忠辉自己也去参加过两三次毕业前招聘会，人山人海，等挤过去，人家早就说不要。毕业离校时，班长帮他在派遣证上随便填了个当地国企，他就算“正式签约生”了。

7月底，荣忠辉和一个同学结伴来到北京应聘，第一次差点受骗。其后又找到过两份工，都是月薪1500元左右的工作，都是在上地中关村一带做销售，要么卖芯片，要么推销电脑硬件，但都干不长，最长一次是干了两个月。

“被子是隔壁女孩送的，枕头也是，褥子是我花40块钱买的，”宅在公寓休息调整的荣忠辉，指着床上的全部家当有些发愁：北京骤然降温。临近过年，出去找工作看来也不是一个好时机。除了看小说，游戏仍是他的最爱。村里共有四五家网吧，家家生意好得不行。

合租显然让两人都轻松不少。在唐家岭合租非常普遍，男女合租也比较常见，甚至还有出租床位的。“最挤的一间，我曾见过两对情侣合租”，荣忠辉比画，“那个单间比我们的还小”。

一名女孩在菜市场买下一小块猪肉。居住在唐家岭的年轻人大多自己买菜做饭，尤其周末，既节俭，又能改善一下生活

理想和现实

12月23日下午，一身穿黑夹克的男人站在巷口海侃：“我就一农民，可我这里住的全是大学生，有几个搞电脑编程的，月收入还过万呢。”这是村里一位有着两层楼的房东。另一房东则小声叮嘱租客：“水费、垃圾费加起来一月10块，不算在房租内，能避开联防队(你)也可以不交”。

要想避开这一俗称“水票”的费用基本不可能。“每个月总有几天，联防队突然就两头夹击，一队在街口守着，一队在村内各巷道巡视，见一个拦一个，拿不出当月交钱的凭证，就得重新买，”凡被拦上了，大多数人还是会选择交钱，以前为这个也曾发生过打人事件。

刘成良歇下手里的活，自己动手做晚饭，同时给女友发了条短信。在一张矮桌上，刘成良熟练地切着萝卜丝，没有锅，他用一个电饭煲来炒菜，用筷子作锅铲。“我喜欢北京的文化氛围，这里很包容，发展机会多。”

他有一个创业计划。“就是想办一个网络超市，不卖实物，只充分发掘、展示人最有价值的部分，比如写信就是一个单独栏目，里边可以有各种各样的信件，还有旅游、见闻、甚至炒菜、读书等等栏目。”眼下，他最希望寻找到的投资方，在他心目中，一个是柳传志，一个是马云。

比大多数唐家岭租客幸运的是，刘成良曾有过两任女友，目前正与第三任女朋友谈恋爱。生活不定，爱情也飘忽。去年他与第二任女友分手后，忽然发现自己怎么也不会笑了。

今年5月的一天，他在脖子上给自己挂了个大大的纸牌，上写“请保持微笑”几个大字，然后一脸颓丧地站在了川流不息的王府井街头。很快他被警察带走，3小时后放人，他发觉自己居然又能笑了。刘成良不准备回老家过年，对着狭小却收拾整洁的公寓，他说想留在北京不走了：“来北京，就是为了有所作为。”

22岁的贾鑫来自河北衡水。两年前来到北京在一家电脑公司做起了电脑维修员，月薪1200元，2010年初他独自租了一间不足10平米单间，房租每月380元，他平均每天要为2-3名客户维修电脑，最晚时要工作到凌晨1点多。女友由于工作和路途等原因，则租住在和平门附近。墙壁贴满了从活动中拿回的美女海报，他最大的愿望是能挣够钱和女友结婚，继续留在北京发展。

蚁族春节守蜗居 热剩饭当“年夜大餐”

人物：小周

身份：唐家岭“蚁族”

发廊前筒灯一如既往的旋转，小卖铺老板把对联贴上，除夕的唐家岭已不见往日的车水马龙。十来平方米的小屋是小周在唐家岭的家，他住这里已经4年多。父母离开老家开小卖部，弟弟在西藏当兵。妹妹已结婚。在小周心里，家乡已成为回忆。这个春节，小周在想“我的希望到底在何方”。

炸鲫鱼自制年夜饭

2006年，小周从一所民办大学拿到法律专业文凭。毕业后在一家软件公司工作，直到去年3月辞职准备司法考试。过去几个春节，他都随女友回老家。去年春节两人大吵之后，小周一人回京。

睡到自然醒，打开电视机，让屋里热闹点儿”。旁边的电脑上，游戏画面闪动。小周不耐烦重复的操作，一支笔抵住键盘上的“F2”。“这样就算人不在，也能玩儿”，对于小周而言，玩的不是游戏，是寂寞的时光。累了就睡，饿了就吃。

除夕早上，小周买来鲫鱼和豆腐。油炸后放在碗中。足够一连吃上几天。煮上剩下的半袋饺子，炒点前天没吃完的米饭，成了他自感丰盛的“年夜大餐”。

看小虎队唱老歌回忆童年

靠在床头看春晚，小虎队的“回归”勾起他的童年记忆。“海风在我耳边倾诉着老船长的梦想，白云越过那山岗努力在寻找它的家……”小周陷入惆怅，回忆起小学的美好时光。

祝福短信发完，春晚曲终人散。小周久久没有睡意，在电脑上玩起“斗地主”。小周说，热闹的庙会也难使他提起兴趣，过年对他没有太多特殊的意义。新年这几天就“窝”在屋里，哪也不去。

不想加入年后求职大军

去年9月，小周参加了司法考试。床边桌子上还堆满书本，多是司法考试、法律辅导、公务员考试材料。为了这次考试，他辞了工作，一心一意做准备，他说“只想背水一战”。

考试顺利通过的消息没让小周高兴多久。今年1月15日，北京市律师协会规定，自1月18日起，人事档案不在北京所属人才机构指定地的人员，将无法获得在北京申请做实习律师的资格。

制度的突变，让小周的前途蒙上阴影。小周和朋友感慨，经历了一圈磨练，又重回到起点。“再找工作，必须结合未来事业的打算”，小周不打算年后立即加入求职大军，想先清楚未来的方向。而这个方向到底是什么，自己一片迷茫。

小周说，想离开，但不知道去哪儿。大连、青岛、天津，都是他想去的地方。但要真正落脚也无比艰难。希望不知在何方。

一名年轻人在琢磨彩票号码。唐家岭的彩票销售站不乏年轻的面孔，部分“蚁族”努力奋斗的同时也希望有捷径可走，但对他们来说，好运气和“好爸爸”一样，从来没有出现过。

“Ant Tribe”: Struggling college graduates in China

On a freezing cold day with a temperature of 3°F, a member of the “Ant Tribe” boarded a bus in Tangjialing on her way to work in central Beijing

They sleep in boxy rooms crammed into dingy low-rises and spend hours commuting to work on crowded buses as part of a trend of poorer white-collar workers being forced to the fringes of China’s wealthiest cities.

Some say these struggling college graduates who swarm out of their cramped accommodations and head to work in the urban sprawl each morning are reminiscent of worker insects in a colony. Not surprisingly, they are often referred to as China’s Ant Tribe (Chinese pronunciation: yǐ zú, Chinese: 蚁族), after the title of a recent book by sociologist Lian Si.

Lian Si's "Ant Tribe", a book documenting struggles of jobless or underemployed college graduates in China

The growing ranks of ‘worker ants’ poses a policy challenge for Beijing’s city leaders as high property prices and dim career prospects thwart the ambitions of many graduates for a comfortable middle-class lifestyle.

In Tangjialing, a dusty suburban Beijing village laced with dirt roads, college-educated software technician Kong Chao typifies the spartan existence of many such graduates.

Muddy road from Tangjialing to work

“This is hard, but there’s no other way,” said Kong, 24, who is relatively fortunate as he has a toilet and cooking area in his cramped room and doesn’t have to share with other tenants.

Kong pays 550 yuan ($81) a month in rent, about 10 percent of his monthly wage. A similar room in a central area of Beijing would eat up most of his salary.

“You see what a crowded city Beijing is,” he said. “We younger people all come to seek work. But we can take it.”

Di Qun, one of the "ants" in Tangjialing, rests in his cramped room.

The rising number of graduates living on the edge of poverty in China’s biggest cities could become a socio-economic challenge for the Chinese government.

“When they’re 26, 27 or 28, they’ll say ‘I need to buy a house’, because that means eligibility for marriage,” said Tom Doctoroff, a Shanghai-based consumer trends author. “If the time comes to get married and you can’t buy, that causes anxiety.”

The population of 20-something jobless or underemployed college graduates struggling to live on the cheap has been estimated by the state-run China Daily newspaper to reach about a million, with 10 percent in Beijing.

Early Morning Breakfast in Tangjialing, Beijing

PROPERTY CONUNDRUM

Surging property prices have been at the crux of the problem.

Over the past 12 months, cheap lending has ramped up real estate demand by families and speculators, causing prices to rise by around a third in some cities and turning the possibility of owning their own home into a distant dream for many young couples.

With China’s property sector crucial for the broader Chinese economy, accounting for nearly a quarter of fixed asset investment, authorities have been at pains to balance the needs of economic stability with those of ordinary citizens.

Provincial and municipal governments are being urged to provide more land for affordable housing, and recent indicators suggest China will tighten its monetary policies after opening the taps during the financial crisis, which could alleviate the country’s property market bubble.

In January, property prices in 70 cities across China rose 9.5 percent from a year earlier. The eighth consecutive year-on-year rise added to worries of a real estate bubble.

Crowds waiting for the bus to work

GLUT OF STUDENTS

The ants’ story began a little over a decade ago, in 1999, when the Chinese government launched an ambitious plan to boost university enrollment by 30% annually. At the time, the country’s factories were suffering from the Asian financial crisis. Planners believed a rise in college rolls would help China transition from a largely export-driven, low-wage manufacturing economy to a more balanced one populated by upwardly mobile white-collar workers.

Undergraduate enrollment quintupled to 20 million students by 2008; last year 6.1 million Chinese earned diplomas, up from 1 million in 1999. But it soon became clear there weren’t enough suitable jobs for these freshly minted graduates. Beijing has slashed college enrollment growth to 5% annually.

Due to the glut of job seekers and the financial crisis, companies in popular cities such as Beijing have slashed monthly wages from between 50 to 100 percent to below 2,000 yuan in some cases, workers say.

Some experts suggest the government should divert young professionals into second-tier cities such as Chengdu and Xiamen to take pressure off Beijing and Shanghai.

LIVING IN FARM HOUSES

For now, educated workers live in tiny rooms carved out of lean-to farm houses or in low-rise flats outside urban job centers because they cannot afford to rent a private flat.

In the evenings in Tangjialing, whose population has swelled to 50,000 from 3,000 before the rise of “ants” about two years ago, tenants hang laundry, socialize at greasy diners and use cheap Internet cafes.

“They’re mostly from other parts of China, so their parents aren’t at their side to help,” noted Mou Jianmin, who follows the trend as head of a cultural promotion firm in Beijing.

Room-sharing by struggling graduates is common

In Wuhan, home to a cluster of universities, recent graduates live eight to 10 in a flat in low-rise apartment buildings without heat or hot water, said Swedish-born Maria Troein, who studies and teaches in the central China city.

“I wouldn’t call it desperation, but there’s definitely some anxiety,” she said.

“There’s a dream. (But) the ant people really can’t afford to have it,” Troelin added, referring to the goal of middle-class prosperity many “ants” pursue amid the squalor.

With millions of migrant workers having been laid off from coastal manufacturing hubs during the financial crisis, Chinese authorities have been trying to create more jobs in China’s less developed interior to absorb this surplus labor, with increasing numbers of workers choosing to stay at home.

One pressure valve, however, may be to encourage graduates to move to cities in China’s hinterland where they would have a better chance of buying their own home and could contribute to the government’s efforts to stimulate these local economies.

For now, though, in Tangjialing, many residents such as high-tech company salesman Li Xingshen, want to stay and claw their way up. Li recently traded a 200-yuan room for a more comfortable 500-yuan one with a private toilet.

But this modest step up is all he can afford for now.

“If I lived in an actual flat, that would cost 1,000 yuan, then I’m out of money,” Li said.