Via Shanghai Daily:
OVER 3,500 people who swam across the Pearl River, the third longest in China, have so far shown no symptoms of vomit or fever, local sources said.
They plunged into the river in the southern city of Guangzhou on Wednesday afternoon to show to the public that the once-polluted river is clean enough for a swim.
However, some of the swimmers said that the water is still muddy. “Under the water, I could not see things half a meter in front of me. And my eyes were uncomfortable,” said a swimmer whose surname is Fan. [Full Text]
See also a Time Magazine report on the “politics and perils of swimming in China’s Pearl River.” Also this Christian Science Monitor report from late last year on officials backing out of the planned swim, and a China Daily report on a study linking the Pearl River to cancer. For background on the $5b effort to clean up the Pearl River, see the original People’s Daily announcement in 2002,
Technorati Tags: China, Pearl River, water pollution
