"Bird's Nest"
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
The plaza fronting Beijing's "bird's nest" Olympic arena will feature one of the world's longest and tallest water sculptures. About 80 billion gallons of water will be diverted from a neighboring province for the Games.
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Lush Life
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
A worker cleans up with recycled water near the Grand Hyatt in parched Beijing.
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Water Sport
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
A water truck worker sprays some newly planted Chun trees alongside Olympic Park in Beijing.
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Bound for Beijing
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
The Xidayang Reservoir, located southwest of Beijing, is about 2,746 square miles and is at 30 percent capacity. The water in the foreground is being funneled from the reservoir into pipes bound for Beijing.
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Balancing Act
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
Peasants carry water from a spring. Because Beijing needs their water, villagers in Shijiayao don't bathe.
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Mother and Daughter
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
Village matriarch Li Feng Xian, 91, wants Shijiayao's story to be told—and that its inhabitants be brought water. Here, she is tended to by her daughter.
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Parched Times
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
This canal in Hebei Province, near Xidayang Reservoir, offers evidence of the prolonged drought and water diversions. Originally dug to carry off water after heavy rains, it now serves as a garbage dump.
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Working the Land
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
A man and his wife, who have worked these fields for 70 years, plant tobacco.
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Hiking for Water
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
Yan, who goes by just one name, says there is not enough water in Shijiayao to take baths. And in the summer most years, villagers have no easy access to water, so they have to walk about six miles and carry the water back by donkey to their villages.
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Ice
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
A government water researcher holds some ice he found at the bottom of a cliff not far from a crumbling section of China's Great Wall.
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Spoiled
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
Located about a two-hour drive from Beijing, the water in the Guanting Reservoir is too polluted by industrial and human waste to drink. Its water is, however, used to help ease shortages at scenic spots and industries in the capital city.
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Road's End
Photo by Michael Christopher Brown
A rough mountain road becomes pavement when leaving Hebei Province and entering Beijing.
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