Pictures: China May Shelve Plans to Build Dams on Its Last Wild River

Ethnic Lisu villagers attend Easter service at a Protestant church on the bank of the Nu River in Lawu Village.

Lisu villagers, some dressed in traditional clothes, watch performers in Zilijia Protestant Church at an Easter celebration where representatives from different villages take turns performing Lisu songs and dances.

Qian Yi Qiu, 40, a Lisu villager works in his rice terraces overlooking the Nu River in Lawu Village.

A Lisu villager sits on a bed by a fire in her home on the bank of the Nu River in Wei La Ba Village.

Pu Yi Na, 60, (right) and his wife, Du You Lan, also 60, stand outside their homestead in Cileng, where they raise pigs on the the banks of the Pula River, a tributary of the Nu River. The two have lived in the area their whole lives.

Wu Guiying, 53, an ethnic Nu shepherd drives her goats up into the mountains on the bank of the Nu River close to her home in Xingta Village.

Youngsters play pool and gamble in Bingzhongluo. In remotes parts of Yunnan, like the Nu River valley, there are few job opportunities.

A private hydropower station spills water into the Nu River near Yabiluo. The Yunnan government has banned new small hydro plants on the river's tributaries.