A much more mature and wiser group says it is ready to challenge the Lancang River next year. It will be the first time rafters have challenged the length of the river.

Lancang River is the Chinese name for the Mekong, which is nearly 5,000 kilometers in length and the world's eighth longest.

Inexperienced Chinese rafters lost 17 lives in their campaign to conquer the Yangtze and Yellow rivers in the 1980s.

Having learnt lessons from the past, the surviving rafters have taken every opportunity to improve their skills and accumulate experience.

In 1998, they successfully conquered the length of Pearl River without incident, helping the country gain confidence in rafting again.

So far, the Sichuan provincial adventure association has only invited rafters from four countries to try a section of Lancang River.

Ding Kai, a rafter since the age of 17, said he will take on the river even if it means he has to quit his job as a food company manager.

Ding and other Chinese rafters have devoted nine years to plan the expedition.

"We have spent a few months each year since 1995 studying the river from close by and collecting information," Ding said.

At present, the proposal of rafting along Lancang River still awaits the approval of the country's relative administrations, he said.

Qin Da'an, a retired pilot in his 50s who survived the Yellow and Pearl river expeditions, wants to join the Lancang River team.

Once a witness to the bodies of two colleagues who died in a section of the Yellow River near an ice-covered mountain, he believes the journey must be done.

"They died because the icy water running from the mountain into the river froze their hands and they could not grasp anything to save themselves after they dropped into the water," Qin said.

The retired pilot added that the issue of environmental protection is also stressed among the rafters now.

"We have adopted eco-friendly ways to deal with the rubbish we produced since we rafted along the Pearl River," he said.

According to Wei Xing, official with the State Sport General Administration in charge of water sports, the administration is now supporting the sport of rafting as long as rafters' safety can be guaranteed.

"Once safety guaranteed, rafting can do good such as arousing people's desire of getting intimate with nature and awareness of protecting the environment," he said.

The rafters have opportunities during their adventure to discover part of the rivers that is suitable for tourists to do raft, which can also help the western China explore its tourist resources, Wei said.

And the rafters can be good examples of environmental protection for the public as they carefully deal with the rubbish they produced, Wei added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2004)