But Fengdu will be blown up six years earlier and a new settlement developed high on the opposite bank of the river, a move to ensure no-one remains in the ``ghost town''.

``The destruction of the buildings will also guarantee security for navigation ofthe river and for fishermen,'' said Xu Bendong, director of the resettlement bureau in the neighbouring town of Fuling.

A dike has always protected the ``royal palace of hell'', as well as a multitude of Buddhist and Taoist temples constructed on the heights of the town since the seve nth century.

The legend associated with the town goes back more than 2,000 years, when the names oftwo residents, Yin and Wang, were confused with ``Yinwang'', the Chinese name for ``king of hell'', and they became celebrities in Fengdu.With their frightening creatures busy roasting the damned, the restored sights of Fengdu became the premier tourist attraction in the Three Gorges.Despite the rising waters, the town intends to safeguard its principal source ofrevenue. On the opposite bank, cranes are contructing the new town where Fengdu residents will live. ``My future apartment will cost 35,000 yuan ($3,700),'' said a souvenir seller at the entrance to the ``palace of hell''. ``The state doesn't take responsibility for this sum.'' Those who don't have the means to pay the difference in the price of resettlement with state compensation must be content with ``inevitably smaller homes than those they have to leave,'' the trader added.

The Three Gorges dam, which will be the biggest hyrdo-electric plant in the worlD, Will create a 632 square kilometre reservoir, forcing the resettlement of 1.2 millionpeople.

-- Agence France Presse