China's Heilongjiang Province (13 images)

Tourists visit the National Wetlands Park of Fujin in Fujin, a frontier town in China's northern Heilongjiang Province on August 3, 2013. China is facing a serious shortage of water that it fears could derail its booming economic growth. Ponds and marshes are drying up as land is reclaimed for agriculture and industry, while reservoirs and dams disrupt the flow of rivers. With China's wetlands in trouble and under increasing threats, the government will establish 68 new pilot national wetland parks and step-up protection of the valuable natural resources. UPI/Stephen Shaver

A new road under construction cuts through a massive rice farm in Fujin, a frontier town in China's northern Heilongjiang Province on August 3, 2013. China's frenetic economic boom and aggressive urbanization are shrinking the country's farmland at an alarming rate, scientists and government officials say. China supports 22 percent of the world's population with just 10 percent of the world's total farmland, which is causing alarm among its top leaders. UPI/Stephen Shaver

Members of Northern China's Hezhen ethnic minority perform a traditional welcoming dance at a park in Fuyuan, a frontier town in China's northern Heilongjiang Province on August 4, 2013. The Hezhen are among China's vanishing ethnic minorities as development and urbanization pressures compete with traditional ways of life. UPI/Stephen Shaver

Tourists visit the National Wetlands Park of Fujin in Fujin, a frontier town in China's northern Heilongjiang Province on August 3, 2013. China is facing a serious shortage of water that it fears could derail its booming economic growth. Ponds and marshes are drying up as land is reclaimed for agriculture and industry, while reservoirs and dams disrupt the flow of rivers. With China's wetlands in trouble and under increasing threats, the government will establish 68 new pilot national wetland parks and step-up protection of the valuable natural resources. UPI/Stephen Shaver