Three Gorges Residents Making Plans for New Life in East ChinaLi Shimin, one of the more than 800 former Three Gorges villagers resettled in east China's Jiangsu Province, is confident about his new life and has many plans for it in Chetan Village, Dafeng, where he now lives.Li told his new neighbors that he will buy a machine for his wife to make noodles and a truck for himself to transport goods to earn money for their family. He also dreams of running a factory of his own when he has enough money and he is confident that his dream will come true. Li's family and over 800 other Three Gorges villagers left their former homes in Yunyang County of Chongqing Municipality on August 24 and arrived at their new homes in eight villages in Dafeng on Monday (August 28). Like other former Three Gorges residents who settled down in the other 10 provinces of China, they left their former homes, 2,000 kilometers away, to pave the way for the construction of the gigantic Three Gorges dam project which is expected to be completed around 2009. They were happy to find that their new homes are well facilitated with water, electricity and other household utensils and daily life necessities. They were also warmly welcomed by the local villagers. The local government has allocated a certain area of farmland, equal to that of local farmers to each of the new residents. Some local villagers are entrusted to provide meals for the newcomers for at least three days. Li Chengrong, a 16-year-old girl, was enrolled into a local normal school in Dafeng and she was also exempted 21,000 yuan (US$2,530) in tuition fee. Wu Wenquan, a former villager of Fengjie County of Chongqing who resettled in Jiashan County of Zhejiang Province, used to be a skillful grower of orange trees. The local government has exempted him from paying the farming taxes for three years. He plans to attend some training courses to grasp more skills and he expects to be successful in farming and in doing other businesses in future. Pan Guangyao, also from Fengjie County, was deeply impressed with the fast-growing economy and good education available in the coastal area. He said he was happy that his two children will have good opportunities to study, and he will have more chances to do business. According to a related plan, a total of 70,000 rural people will leave five counties in Chongqing to resettle in Shanghai and 10 provinces including Zhejiang, Shandong and Guangdong in three years. From 1993 to the end of 1999, 230,000 people have been relocated to higher elevations in the Three Gorges area. A total of 1.13 million people will be relocated by 2009. |
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