"Ja Hkawn still remembers the day all the residents of a nearby village were forcibly driven across the river by the local authorities. It was in late May 2010. The villagers of Mali Zup were given just three days to pack their belongings. She saw the villagers carrying their possessions on their shoulders and rounding up their livestock. As they headed to their “new place” across the river, their footsteps were heavy. Some shed tears as they left. In April of the following year, Ja Hkawn, who was then a resident of Tang Hpre village, faced the same fate as her Mali Zup neighbors. The whole village was forced to move to a new place—Aung Myin Tha, 8 miles to the south. The reason for the forced relocations: to make way for a mega-dam to be built by China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), now known as State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC). “I’ve never liked it here—I long to go back to my village,” Ja Hkawn said. She misses her old village located at the confluence of the May Kha and Mali Kha rivers; life is hard in Aung Myin Tha, as the new location is not arable, but built on rocky red soil. Once a landowner with several acres on which she grew seasonal vegetables, the 53-year-old Kachin woman now—like many others—scratches out a living as a vendor with the support of local NGOs, selling organic soap, local snacks and T-shirts emblazoned with the slogans “No Dam” and “Long Live Irrawaddy” to tourists in Myitsone. One of Kachin State’s major landmarks, and a must-see for visitors to the area, Myitsone is the point at which the confluence of the May Kha and Mali Kha rivers gives rise to Myanmar’s lifeline, The Irrawaddy River. The confluence is recognized by the Organization for World Wildlife Conservation as a place of biodiversity and natural heritage. During a recent visit there, The Irrawaddy witnessed a busload of Chinese tourists visiting the area..."