Photo provided to China Daily

The video was recorded by Yang Yong, a veteran explorer, in his many trips to the heart of Qinghai province, the origin of three of China's most important rivers: the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and Langcang River (known as the Mekong River in the Southeast Asian countries downstream).

"You can see clearly more waterways are now surrounded by crescent-shaped dunes," Yang says in the video.

"More lakes and rivers have given way to the desert."

A recently released watershed survey conducted by Chinese government agencies shows more than 28,000 rivers have vanished in China, because of the nation's decades-long economic development, accounting for half of the entire water resources once owned by this country (based on 1950s figures), Zhou says.

By referring to ancient books and mythic rituals, Zhou hopes to highlight the cultural and humanistic significance of rivers.

In his study on Lake Dianchi, the largest lake in Yunnan, Zhou found the local government had tried to channel upstream water from the Niulan River to alleviate the pollution of Dianchi.

"But nobody was aware of the importance of protecting the upstream river of the Niulan River. It was polluted already, and the project, though ambitious, has not worked well."

Government decisions about development are based on scientific studies and analyses of statistics, Zhou says.

But maybe that's not enough. When they don't pay adequate attention to the humanistic elements, there is the risk of heading to the wrong direction, he adds.

"We are so used to sacrificing our people's benefit for urbanization and development, and now we are reaping the consequences."