The vast yet inaccessible underground waters in southwest Yunnan Province represent the front lines of China’s freshwater crisis. Two openings in the earth, Shi Dong and Nan Dong caves, where the Yang Liu River slips into and out of the shadows, mark the point where a fluvial region rich with surface streams meets an unusual geologic formation of soluble rock layers known as a karst landscape. It is also a fateful human dividing line, a place where China’s challenges with water scarcity, land use, and pollution come into clear focus.
Video
Hidden Waters, Dragons in the Deep
Video by Brian Robertshaw; edited by Aaron Jaffe for Circle of Blue.A look at what is commonly considered the greatest Karst landscape on earth, and its secret waters that flow underneath.
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