Celebrating Six Decades of Vital Water Supply: Jiangxi's Dongjiang River Sustains Hong Kong's Growth

Special Anniversary Campaign Explores Water Source Conservation Efforts in Sanbai Mountains

GANZHOU, China, July 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In a symbolic ceremony held on July 23 in the pristine Sanbai Mountains of Jiangxi Province, journalists and cultural leaders from across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) received commemorative water bottles containing samples from the Dongjiang River source. "The water tastes as pure today as it did six decades ago," participants noted, highlighting the remarkable consistency of this vital water supply that has sustained the GBA region since 1965.

Journalists from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) gather for a commemorative photo at the Guardian Stone in Jiangxi's Sanbai Mountains.

The media contingent from Hong Kong stood in reflection before the Guardian Stone at the Siyuan Pavilion, describing the Dongjiang as "the lifeline that has supported Hong Kong's development for 60 years." The moment was part of a special anniversary campaign A Stream of Clear Water Flows to Hong Kong, which brought together more than 20 prominent journalists and cultural figures from across the GBA. Organized by the Cyberspace Administration of Ganzhou, the four-day ecological tour through Anyuan, Xunwu, and Dingnan counties spotlights ongoing water conservation efforts while documenting the historic water supply journey through multimedia storytelling.

Journalists engage in a heartfelt conversation with local forest ranger Gong Longshou.

Upon arrival in Ganzhou, the delegation traveled to Anyuan's Sanbai Mountains, a protected ecological sanctuary where a strict logging ban has preserved the Dongjiang River's headwaters for the past six decades. Since its launch in 1965, the Dongjiang-Shenzhen Water Supply Project has delivered over 30 billion cubic meters of freshwater to Hong Kong. Data from Hong Kong's Water Supplies Department confirms that Dongjiang water consistently meets China's stringent Grade I surface water quality standards, with 820 million cubic meters supplied to Hong Kong in 2024 alone—fulfilling approximately 80% of the city's freshwater needs.

The engraved vow on the Guardian Stone—"We must protect the source of the Dongjiang River"—struck a chord with the visiting GBA delegates, who share a collective reliance on the crucial waterway. A conversation with Gong Longshou, a Sanbai Mountains forest ranger with over 40 years of service, gave visiting journalists a firsthand look at the community's long-standing commitment to ecological protection. After witnessing the source of this six-decade lifeline, the journalists from Hong Kong expressed a renewed interest in returning to further document the region's natural beauty and conservation efforts.