China

Toxic Tap Water Spurs Panic Buying in China City

Sun, 2014-04-13 16:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A man pushes a shopping cart filled with bottled water after reports on heavy levels of benzene in local tap water, in Lanzhou, Gansu province, China. (Reuters photo)

phys.org - April 11, 2014

Tap water in a Chinese city was found to contain excessive levels of the toxic chemical benzene, prompting residents to rush to buy bottled water, state media said on Friday.

Tests conducted on Thursday and Friday showed that tap water in Lanzhou, the capital of northwestern Gansu province, had as much as 200 micrograms of benzene per litre, 20 times the national limit, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local environment authorities.

Benzene is an aromatic, colourless liquid and a basic raw material used in the petrochemical industry. Human exposure to the chemical increases the risk of cancer and other illnesses.

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China - Typhoon Haiyan Information

Sun, 2013-11-10 01:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Cây cối, biển quảng cáo đổ, xe tải lật... là những cảnh tượng diễn ra ở đảo Hải Nam, phần lãnh thổ đầu tiên của Trung Quốc hứng siêu bão Haiyan gây ra sau khi đổi hướng đột ngột.
http://www.tienphong.vn/the-gioi/656026/Bao-Haiyan-hat-vang-xe-tai-o-Trung-Quoc-tpol.html

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Chinese citizens losing patience with air pollution consequences

Tue, 2013-10-22 16:14 — admin

PBS Newshour - aired October 21, 2013 - www.pbs.org

China's tremendous growth has transformed the lives of its citizens but it has also come with a cost: significant air pollution. The major industrial city of Harbin shut down when smog levels reached record levels. Jeffrey Brown talks to Evan Osnos of The New Yorker about the ramifications of China's air quality problems.

[Read video transcript here]

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Tons of poisoned fish clog river in China's Hubei province

Mon, 2013-09-16 13:44 — gl

Dead fish being cleared from the Fuhe River. Stringer/AFP/Gettyimages

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Chinese Police Fired on Tibetans Marking Dalai Lama Birthday

Mon, 2013-07-15 23:29 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The incident took place as crowds gathered to commemorate the Dalai Lama

bbc.co.uk - July 9, 2013

Chinese police opened fire on Tibetans who had gathered to mark the Dalai Lama's birthday, injuring several, rights groups and reports say.

The incident happened in Daofu in Sichuan province on 6 July.

A crowd had gathered at a mountain to mark the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's birthday with offerings and incense, when police used tear gas and opened fire, the reports said.

China's Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the reports, Reuters said.

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China’s Next Chapter: The Infrastructure and Environmental Challenge

Thu, 2013-07-04 21:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

mckinsey.com - June 2013

McKinsey’s Jonathan Woetzel explores China’s huge infrastructure program and the country’s plans to build sustainable urban clusters for hundreds of millions of its people.

“It’s safe to say that China has had the single-biggest buildout of infrastructure in the history of mankind,” says McKinsey’s Jonathan Woetzel. “And clearly still more to go.” Indeed, despite the progress resulting from hundreds of billions of dollars in investment over the past 15 years, the efficiency of China’s infrastructure still lags behind that of developed countries by decades.

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China Admits Existence Of Cancer Villages In Report, As Pollution Concerns Mount

Sat, 2013-03-02 14:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Retirees do Taichi during their morning exercise on a hazy day in Fuyang city, in central China's Anhui province, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. Air pollution is a major problem in China due to the country's rapid pace of industrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in car ownership and disregard for environmental laws. (AP Photo)

huffingtonpost.com - by Dominique Mosbergen - February 23, 2013

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China Is Building A Huge Eco-City Where No One Will Need To Drive

Mon, 2012-11-12 16:58 — Maeryn Obley

Imagined car-free 'Great City'. © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

Image: Imagined car-free 'Great City'. © Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

businessinsider.com - November 2nd, 2012 - Alex Davies

Outside Chengdu, in central China, a 78 million square foot site has been determined for an unconventional sort of construction project. It will be a city built from scratch, for 80,000 people, none of whom will need a car to get around.

The "Great City" is a plan for an ambitious urban center designed to limit its residents environmental impact by producing clean energy, reducing waste, and promoting public transportation over individual car use.

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MSN's The Cities Issue

Sat, 2012-08-25 11:57 — Maeryn Obley

cities issue logo

Image: The Cities Issue logo.

foreignpolicy.com

Our special issue dedicated to the cities of the future has its eye squarely toward China, because the cities of the future are increasingly going to be speaking Mandarin -- even more than you realize. It's no longer news that China has embarked on the largest mass urbanization in history, a monumental migration from country to city that will leave China with nearly a billion urbanites by 2025 and an astonishing 221 cities with populations over 1 million. But this isn't just about size: It's about global heft.

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Glowing Pollution Sensor Equipped Kites Replace Beijing's Stars

Mon, 2012-07-09 12:24 — Maeryn Obley

submitted by Albert Gomez

good.is - Julie Ma - July 6th, 2012

Urban air quality in China has been miserable for years, but the issue really came to the foreground in June when China’s vice minister for environmental protection put foreign embassies on blast for publishing national air pollution data online. The U.S. Embassy, whose hourly Twitter updates on Beijing's air quality have helped spread awareness of the dangers of pollution among the Chinese public, was the likely target of the criticism.

With the Chinese government’s resistance to letting air quality information circulate freely, two graduate students from Carnegie Mellon and Harvard are taking things into their own hands: literally.

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