Better communications are required to help entrepreneurs

In November, on my way from the downtown to Shuanglang, a township in northeast Dali, the once bustling highway around Erhai Lake looked cold and cheerless. There were few cars or buses carrying tourists on the road. My cab driver, who comes from Dali's Xizhou township, told me vehicles used to jam the road, but now his work and income have halved compared with the peak period.

Hoteliers once believed that they would be able to reopen when a project to prevent sewage from entering the lake was completed. The work was scheduled for completion by the end of June.

However, on March 30, the local government announced that an ecosystem recovery and wetland construction project would be launched to restore the lakeside. As a result, hundreds of hoteliers and local residents were forced to relocate, turning their expectations into frustration.