An American in Chengdu, China Finds Trial and Tribute in Water

by Matt Forney, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Damon's experience highlights a peril of environmentalism in China today. The Communist Party recognizes that festering rivers, denuded mountains and skies without stars have become a political liability, but it still restricts ordinary people from pressuring for change. Instead, it has tried to clean up the country through fiat. That often leads to political struggles, with different government offices vying to protect or exploit scarce resources.

Ms. Damon persevered, and is now one of China's most sought-after environmentalists. Several cities have asked her to build similar parks, and the State Environmental Protection Agency offered her an office to work from as she coordinates work across China. "I guess in the end they realized that I'm just an artist who is nuts about water," she says.

The park she designed pumps water up from the city's river, then lets gravity stream it through pollution-absorbing plants like hyacinth, papyrus and duckweed; trickle it over mini waterfalls; and finally return it to the river noticeably cleaner than when it left. Barefoot children dash through the park's grass by day, lovers stroll its pebbled paths at night, and most people in Chengdu have seen television features introducing Ms. Damon as the woman who proposed the park.