dangerous smog battles the economy in china - top air purifiers

Xingtai, China-
Liu Shui, a power plant worker, likes to ride a bicycle in his hometown of Hebei province, pursuing his hobby of photography.
But in this city of steel mills and cement mills, when Liu tried to photograph ducks on the park lake, the opposite coast was hidden in the thick fog of air pollution, so strong, it is likely that the United States will respond urgently.
"I want to shoot the blue sky, but now there are more and more smog days," said Liu, 43 . ".
Xingtai, with a population of 7 million, is a major example of China's national challenge to balance its growing economic growth with a strong desire to raise incomes and the growing demand for citizens to protect public health.
The problem became so serious that Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening ceremony of last week's annual meeting of the National People's Congress that the dirty air was too big to ignore.
"When we declare war on poverty, we will resolutely declare war on pollution," Li told the delegates of an agency that basically exists and approves everything China has decided by the unelected Communist leadership.
In a country notorious for toxic air, according to the daily rankings that Beijing began publishing last spring, Hebei province has seven of China's 10 worst air-quality cities.
At Xingtai, this has always been the top of the chart, where factories that rarely use modern pollution control dump a lot of dust
In 2013, the pollutants discharged from the air reached the national air quality standard for only 38 days.
The smog here sometimes floats to Beijing, leaving the capital shrouded in a disgusting haze that depends on the wind and may float to neighboring countries and even the United States.
But heavy industry centers are under pressure from the party to keep production, and power plants and factories often find ways to hide pollution from environmental activists and inspectors who are trying to get emissions records and monitor anti-pollution
Pollution control.
China likes to promote to international organizations that have the toughest environmental regulations in the world.
It may be true, environmental activists say, but factories and government workers tend to ignore the laws.
"We have enough money and technology to solve this problem," said Ma Yun, director of Beijing in June. "but law enforcement is still weak --
The Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs, which frequently quarrels with Chinese bureaucracy, has allowed it to enforce the law.
In China's richest cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, where few people wear masks and no fire-fighting facilities, air pollution is an unavoidable hot topic.
To reduce the risk of lung cancer, heart disease and other smog-related health problems, masks are becoming more common.
In Xingtai, few residents wear masks or change their daily lives, although smog often reaches more than 20 times what the World Health Organization thinks is safe (WHO).
"I know we are the worst in China," said housewife Hao Renfei with a smile . ".
She took her 2-year-
In severe smog last week, when the old niece went out for a walk, Chinese authorities advised people to stay inside, especially young and old people, wearing masks outside.
"But no one in my family is sick because of smog.
We used to call it fog, "said Hao, 46.
"We never thought about leaving.
It is still a great city.
"Like millions of other smartphone users in China, she checks air quality levels every morning.
Center of China smog
Extended vocabulary is the reading of PM2.
5, for small particles emitted by power plants and other polluters who are easy to enter the lungs. Most U. S.
City record pm2.
Density below 20 micrograms per cubic meter.
Xingtai Chang Chao 500-
Rich experience in the United StatesS.
Only during the forest fire
She, 23, said: "I was still shocked even after a year of checking, but I felt helpless and uneasy. wearing.
Have 3,500
Xingtai is one of the most famous astronomers in China in the 12 th century.
"Now we are famous for the air and usually you can't see the stars," she said . ".
In the past decade, Taihang Mountains in neighboring Shanxi province have also disappeared from sight. Yang Zongying, a 55-year-old taxi driver, complained that it was due to heavy industry.
Last month's Chinese New Year was the quietest year ever, but Yang said he welcomed the new ban on fireworks and firecrackers to reduce smoke emissions and occasionally limit the use of vehicles.
"The smog is so thick that I sometimes stay at home because driving is too dangerous," Yang said . ".
Environmental activists say only regional cooperation between several provinces can reduce the smog that has angered residents of the capital and reduce international tourists.
Such coordination requires instructions from the top party leaders of China and practical implementation at the local level.
But there are signs of progress. The state-
Hebei Hengshui power plant, which Liu controls production, has reduced two major pollutants
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides
He said it was below the national minimum last year.
"In the past, the measures to protect the environment were not strict, but the government is now more strict," Liu said . ".
"Our data is monitored 24 hours a day.
"Hebei promises to cut the annual production capacity of steel and cement by 60 million tons by 2017, and the annual coal consumption is 40 million tons lower than the level in 2012, Xinhua reported, officials who allow steel or cement production to exceed the quota are fired.
National officials will increasingly judge from the perspective of pollution reduction rather than giving priority to economic growth, Xinhua said.
Xingtai city plans to cut pm2. 5 by 2017.
The company says five levels have fallen by 30%, which requires more than 2 million tons of coal consumption to be controlled.
But the mayor of Xingtai city did not mention pm2. 5.
His annual work report has been reduced recently.
Ma of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs warned: "These plans involve some issues that have not been considered in the past, but implementation will be very difficult . ".
Ma said that anything really needs to be done. the National People's Congress, government officials and industry leaders can't just cooperate, but supervise each other and build a system that puts everything under public supervision.
"If more information can be disseminated and shared with the public, it will help build confidence and engage people more," Ma said, he spent a lot of time trying to get the pollution records that the factory should maintain and disclose according to law.
Despite growing anger over pollution, some of which prompted protesters to block the proposed plant, many Chinese responded by buying masks instead of asking the government to make changes.
Ma accused the Communist Party of limiting civil society in an effort to stop organized actions that might challenge government authority.
"In the long run, China needs to provide more space for communities and non-communities
"Government organizations should develop," he said . "
"Now they are still so weak that they can't play the role of mobilizing people.
"In Xingtai, a cleaner way is that Yang Xinmin used to worry that shutting down contaminated factories would be worse than keeping them open because it would have an impact on the work, but not anymore.
Xingtai authorities shut down a few
In recent months, hundreds of plank factories have been burning coal in polluting small boilers without modern pollution control that is routinely used in the West.
"If all the board factories are closed, many people will lose their jobs --
But I noticed that the air quality was worse than it was 10 years ago . " Three months ago, due to pollution, he had to send 60 workers home from a factory he founded 10 years ago.
Gas arrived in Yang village outside Xingtai last month, so he hopes to re-opening.
"I don't want to be a 5-year-
The health of daughters and other children.
"Of course I like the blue sky," he said . "
"It's a shame to do the worst thing in China," Yang added . " He hopes officials will also punish major polluters of heavy industry.
The biggest one here is Delon Steel, one of more than 100 heavy industry factories
Thousands of small factories-
The ring in Xingtai City
In December and January, Delong was fined $16,000 for excess emissions, a small amount compared to $1 a year. 5 billion.
In his traditional medical clinic near Deron chimney.
Liu Jianping's treatment of more and more residents' diseases may be smog
He said.
"Because of pollution, anyone with money has left," Liu said . ".
"I want to cure the people, so I can't move away.
"Meng Caiping, an insurance marketer, came to Liu's clinic and complained about chest discomfort. She said it was caused by smog.
She is attracted to an intravenous antibiotic, a popular treatment in China that is often used to treat minor illnesses that may not be needed.
"I didn't see enough sunlight, and we didn't have our crops," said Meng, 50, who said that there was less and less harvest on the home corn plot.
Chinese scientists have warned that continued smog could hurt China's food supply, but Professor Meng has revealed one of the reasons why the problem is difficult to stop.
At home, Meng and her neighbors burn raw coal for heating and cooking instead of burning less coal
The Ministry of the environment urged the use of pollution-molded coal balls.
"I know it's bad, but it's cheap," she said . ".
She also expressed doubts about the necessary reforms to stop pollution.
"It's too difficult to solve this problem fundamentally because the government relies on these factories," she said . ".
Expensive air purifiers sell well in richer cities, but sales in Xingtai are still poor, said Jiang Jinbo, chief salesman at Gome's electronics mall.
"As air pollution is getting worse or people are becoming more aware of the harm of bad air, our sales are likely to increase.
The money they pay is worth it, "he said.
Green indoor plants, here to reduce smog
Effect, fill the entrance to several offices of Xingtai Environmental Protection Bureau, where few people wear masks.
Sheng Hailong, deputy director of the air pollution department, explained that air purifiers are too expensive.
"We have done a lot of work on reducing the smog in Xingtai, but it is a development issue that takes time, as it is in the United States," he said . ".
Yang Fuqiang of Beijing
Senior Advisor to the United States Committee on Natural Resources ConservationS.
The environmental group said Beijing could achieve the WHO's air pollution guidelines by 2025 at the earliest.
"It is painful for local governments and people to slow GDP growth, but this action is more serious than before," he said . ".
"The Hebei government understands that they need a new, more sustainable way.
Zhao Yulin, a geography student at Xingtai University, said young people must take more action against smog than just jokingly saying "we are the best in the worst category . ".
But Zhao, 22, found at least one glimmer of hope in the cloud: a lasting career.
"I should have a job in the future," she said with a smile . ".
"I hope I can contribute to solving our pollution problem.