Deng stands on a horse-drawn cart as it moves along a street in Tuokou town, now submerged by water. On market days, he used to help load and transport goods between docks and the market and could earn up to 200 yuan per day. Photo: Kuang Huimin

Christians sing carols on November 17, 2013, in front of the ruins of a church which was pulled down in Tuokou for the construction of a dam. Photo: Kuang Huimin

Yu Jian'an, 82, drinks at his home, which still has many of his family's pictures from Tuokou town. Photo: Kuang Huimin

A resident carries wood from a demolished house in Tuokou town in November 2013. Photo: Kuang Huimin

Buddha statues are laid before a site where a new temple is being built in Tuokou. Photo: Kuang Huimin

Thousands of migrants who moved to a newly built town in Central China's Hunan Province are still struggling to adapt to their new environment. Occasionally they are haunted by memories of their old homes, left submerged underwater weeks ago.

They had lived peacefully for generations in Tuokou, a centuries-old town by the Yuanjing River in the city of Hongjiang. But things began to change when it was announced a hydrogen power station would be built 3.5 kilometers downstream in 2003.

The town of 30,000 people had to be relocated. Five years ago the construction of the dam officially started, and the residents were asked to move to higher ground.

Many complained that the construction of houses in the new area cost about 300,000 yuan ($48,870) per house, but they had only received about one third of that in compensation.

The sense of loss intensified as February 8 approached, the date at which the dam would officially start to store water.

Tang Yuelian, 88, said her memories of the old town are still vivid. "The streets were always busy and entertaining. On market days, several opera troupes would come and give performances," Tang said.

Some also felt uncertainty about their future livelihoods. The water drenched their farmland, as well as the emerging gold washing and sand mining business. But young people seem less worried as many of them have started searching for futures in other places.

Lying where two rivers meet, and very close to Hunan's border with Guizhou Province, Tuokou was a prosperous area thanks to trade along the river in oils and wood. After water is stored up, the province's largest hydrogen power station will commence operations.

Global Times