The 6th Cross Pearl River Swimming event will be held on the afternoon of July 16. 2,000 swimmers will participate in the campaign promoting the efforts that have been made in cleaning GuangZhou’s “Mother River.”

High-ranking officials from Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhaoqing will be joined by amateur swimming enthuists in swimming the 800 meters traversing the river. The swim, starting from Sun Yat-sen University Pier and ended at Xinghai Concert Hall across the river, is not only a marker for the abilities of regional governments and officials to contain damages done and to showcase acheivements made, the participants themsleves will be tested. They must pass a profeciency test by swimming for 2,000 meters in 80 minutes.

The event, like it has been in the past, is a photo opportunity for governmental officials who would like to prove the effectiveness of their efforts in improving The Pearl River and its canal’s water quality. According to government data, the water quality has improved greatly this year even including extenuating variables, like low precipitation and low upstream flow rate. Peculiar smells and major pollutants have been removed from most canals in the city. The water quality of the river has reached Level III in July, an above average level in the country’s water quality evaluation standard.