DIFFICULITIES AND HOPE

Ding Guangyan, 26, and 380 other farmers moved to Huigang Township in Zaoyang City in the fertile valley formed by the Hanjiang River, a tributary of Yangtze, in August.

With the resettlement compensation granted by the government, he built a two-story home, but life was harder than he had expected.

"Before we moved here, we were not worried about food as we grew rice and vegetables ourselves, but now we have to buy them in the market.

"Everything is expensive," Ding says. "We have to wait until next year to plant on the new farm."

But he has one achievement: he married a girl from a neighboring village 100 days after he moved.

"We have similar customs and accents to the villagers here," Ding says. "People here are all warm to us."

For a 64-year-old migrant surnamed Li, her hopes lie in her grandson and granddaughter.

"My husband and I are old. We have spent more than 6,000 yuan in the last three months. Who will care us after the government compensation runs out?" she asks.

But she enjoys seeing the children get a good education.

"The school is near our new home and has better teachers. My children are happy to study there," she says. "I hope they can enter university and live good lives."

Internet commentators have called for the construction of a museum to commemorate the migrants' sacrifice and contribution to the water project.

"Everyone's name should be carved so that those benefiting from the project remember them," said a post on the dahe.cn, a website run by the Henan Daily.

The proposal was widely supported. "Each individual migrant should be cared for and respected," said a post from "Memory of the Central Plains."

Ding agrees. "Our sacrifice is worthy as it is for the need of the country."

He plans to find a job in southern Guangdong Province after the Spring Festival to support his parents who will start doing farm work next year.

"As long as we can see hope in the future, we are ready to move."