Since 2003, factory construction has erupted all around Yanglingang. Today the little fishing village is surrounded by power plants, paper-making factories, and chemical plants. The water that flows beneath the fishing boats is the same wastewater discharged from the factories, and the air that fishermen breathe is the same acrid, chemical-tainted air polluted by the factories. On the south bank of the Yanglin River, the power plant’s smoke stacks send down drifts of white ash on to the fishing boats. On the north bank, paper factories discharge high volumes of wastewater, containing pulp that clogs up the fishing nets. In the last few years, eleven out of thirteen cancer patients have died in Yanglingang village. In March 2007, 55-year-old Li Shuzhong was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. After surgery and treatment, he can no longer work and is still on medication. Facing the invasive disease in his body, he is helpless.