"What a great thing it is and how could I miss this grand occasion," said Zhang.

While China on Friday formally started its ambitious and long-planned scheme to divert water from the country's longest river, the Yangtze, to its thirsty northern regions, Zhang's village, situated right on the water diversion route, treated the day as a major festival.

The Shandong provincial government sited the project's launching ceremony near Beiguiping as it is the village closest to the starting point of a major canal to be built. The canal will stretch 89.9 km to the provincial capital of Jinan and will cost an estimated 1.263 billion RMB yuan (US$152 million).

Seconds after Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji gave the order at 10:15 a.m. in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, preset explosives were detonated and thundering blasts rocked the snow-covered field outside Beiguiping village. Columns of earth erupted tens of meters high, signaling the start of trenching.

Amid a gun salute and cheers from the crowd, thousands of doves were released into the sky and more than 100 heavy excavators started roaring simultaneously.

"We thank the central authorities for showing great care for our province," said Shandong Governor Zhang Gaoli, also director-general of the Shandong provincial headquarters of the water diversion project.

Shandong, which has long suffered a water shortage, was hit by the worst drought in a century this year.

"But this grand project is also a major test for us," the governor added.

Lying on the project's eastern route, Shandong is responsible for building a total of 1,191 km of water diversion canals. The overall construction work, including canalling, tunnel digging and river course expansion, will need 11 billion yuan (US$1.33 billion) in investment.

Zhang, the villager, believes it will be worth it.

"Owing to the severe drought this year, people in my village had to buy water from elsewhere for irrigation, and suffered huge losses," said Zhang. "We'll benefit so much from this project."

Zhang Zongquan, a farmer from another nearby village, had brought his little nephew to the construction site early in the morning.

"Today I just come here to cheer for the project," he said. "But if possible, I would also like to participate in it and contribute my share."

Wang Xuejun, manager of the Shandong Water Conservancy Engineering Company which is in charge of canal construction, said he believed the whole project would have a bearing on the prosperity of the entire Chinese nation.

"We will try our best to do an excellent job and build a top-quality canal," Wang added.

A similar ceremony was also held on Friday in neighboring Jiangsu province beside the Tonghe River, one of the water sources for the diversion project.

"As the main provider of water to be diverted to the north, Jiangsu will give full support to the construction of this project," Liang Baohua, acting Jiangsu governor, told a crowd of several thousand at the ceremony.

Wang Fenglan, who lives in Tonghe village on the river bank, said the local people also felt happy to see the project launched.

"While giving the northern people access to water from the Yangtze, the project could also help us get rid of the threat of floods and guarantee happy lives for us," she said.

Jiangsu will spend 7.2 billion yuan (US$867 million) in cleaning local rivers for the scheme and enlarging 86 km of existing river courses.

China's south-north water diversion project will be the biggest of its kind in the world costing a total investment of US$59 billion. Once completed, it will also provide an ample water supply for the country's capital Beijing, host of the 2008 Olympics, and the industrial mega city Tianjin.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2002)