Ecology of China. Chinese cities. Which one should you choose to live in China? The cleanest and cheapest city in China
More from an eco-project in China.
Eco-city Tianjin is a Chinese green city of the future.
China, which has been increasingly claiming leadership on all possible fronts in recent years, has begun implementing a large-scale urban eco-project - Tianjin Eco-City. If everything goes according to plan, then the ambitious futuristic idea, which so far resembles footage from science fiction films, will become a reality in 2020.
The project, developed by Shanghai-based Surbana Urban Planning Group, will be implemented on an area of 30 square kilometers, located 45 km from Tianjin, 150 km from Beijing and just 10 minutes drive from the famous Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone.
The bold vision, based on the latest green technologies, will become a model for China's eco-cities of the future. Designed for 350 thousand residents, “green Tianjin” is planned to be divided into seven functional zones - each with its own unique architecture, design and eco-zest: Life sector, Eco-Valley, Wind sector, Sun sector, Earth sector, Urban sector and Eco -Corridors.
The thematic approach to different areas, according to the architects, will bring people closer to nature and help to better understand and appreciate the environmental, social and historical heritage of the city. The creation of a miracle settlement is quite possible, but the preservation and development of the original eco-message depends on the residents themselves.
Sector of Life: I prefer not noisy ones, I prefer one-story ones
The real green heart of the project with low-rise buildings immersed in lush greenery, almost literally, from head to toe. There will even be greenery on the roofs!
Eco-Valley: And maybe on Sireneva, or maybe on Kashtanova
A kind of green ridge, which is an 11-kilometer artificial canal running along the city, a sea of greenery and numerous public recreational facilities. It is also a communications system, with the help of light rail transport connecting all areas of the city.
Solar sector: Their affectionate names make it brighter
The administrative and public center of the eco-city, located near the water. It houses municipal and commercial institutions, as well as an impressive floating stage. The architects plan to place the streets in such a way that the sector of the Sun turns into a kind of giant sundial.
Urban sector: There are central, high and important streets
The business heart of the city with compact high-rise buildings interconnected by multi-level air bridges, allowing rational use of vertical space, minimizing dependence on motorized transport systems. The main requirement for the Urban sector is the optimal use of usable space to speed up business communications.
Earth Sector: Cherry, Pear, Green, Cool
The complete opposite of the ultra-urban business center. The Earth Sector is a kind of suburb, a residential area designed similar to a rice field. Stepped architecture with numerous terraces allows you to fill the space with greenery as much as possible.
Wind Sector: It’s as if they are leading me back to childhood
This is an old village, Qingtuozi, with a small lake and one-story buildings, in which echoes of ancient fishing settlements can still be heard. Preserving the general spirit of naturalness and naturalness, the architects will turn it into a recreation area.
Eco-Corridors
The four eco-corridors running through the city are self-contained zones where plants and animals can live peacefully without human intervention. Each eco-corridor will display the nature of one of the four seasons.
Green independence
By using solar, wind and water energy, the city should become completely independent of non-renewable energy sources, on which the life of almost all modern cities depends. It also provides for the use of rainwater, wastewater treatment and recycling, and seawater desalination. An emphasis on landscaping, sustainable development and a green public transport system will help minimize carbon emissions.
China stands out among the most attention-grabbing countries on the international stage. This country has made a powerful leap forward in economics and technology. China's policies are also under close scrutiny. But the ecology of this country occupies a special place. It is not only destructive for China, but also a threat to the entire world.
Threat to the world
Environmental problems of the People's Republic of China (PRC) are a source of increasing tension in the sphere of solving global world problems. The third in territory and the first in number, the ecology of which has become a threat to the world, destabilizes both the political and economic international situation.
Environmental issues are very important for China itself. This area is the most disadvantaged in the world. The country occupies a leading place in the emission of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Residents of the northern provinces are experiencing an acute shortage of water, as rivers, seas, and groundwater are polluted. Deforestation, devastation of land resources, increasing morbidity rates among the population - all these are characteristic features of China. The country's ecology is in dire straits. If nothing is changed in the near future, the consequences will be catastrophic for the inhabitants of the entire Earth. Russia, as a close neighbor of the PRC, will suffer first. This will affect the regions of the Far East and Siberia.
Factors affecting the environment
The country's leadership faces the difficult task of solving pressing environmental problems. The threat did not arise out of nowhere - it is a consequence of the too extensive industrialization carried out by China. The environment is suffering. Natural resources are being exploited to the limit of what is possible. The problem is complicated by the demographic factor, the scarcity of nature for such a population size and the mistakes of the country's leadership when they adopted the policy of a great revolutionary leap in all areas related to the environment. Economic modernization has increased all environmental costs.
Pollution in cities
China leads the world in terms of the number of polluted cities worldwide. The ecology of 495 of the largest cities is in a state of environmental disaster, and only five of the five hundred largest cities have air quality within international standards. The top ten most polluted cities in the world included seven Chinese: Shijiazhuang, Chongqing, Jinan, Lanzhou, Urumqi, Beijing, Taiyuan.
The coastal zone of Tianjin is rapidly going under water. On average, a decrease in the glacial area of the highlands is observed by 2.5 mm/year. According to forecasts, in a maximum of fifty years, China's ecology problems with permafrost will lead to a peak point: the area will decrease by ten to fifteen percent. This will increase the number of floods and other disasters. Sea level will rise significantly.
Struggle
The PRC today is simultaneously trying to do two opposite things: preserve and destroy nature. But there is hope that common sense will prevail and China at the government level will begin to pursue a privileged policy for the preservation and enhancement of natural resources. Every year, a change in mass consciousness towards harmonious coexistence with nature is becoming more and more clearly visible, especially among the intelligentsia.
Significant attention is paid to environmental protection, protection of cultural values and human resources from negative anthropogenic impact and unfavorable ecology. The photos in this article show how neglected China's ecology is. But even they cannot convey the full scale of the catastrophic destruction of nature. A way out of this situation may be environmental regulation, which represents established standards for permissible discharges and emissions of pollutants into the environment, limits on the generation and disposal of waste, permissible physical impacts on nature, etc.
The price to pay for extensive industrialization
It sounds terrifying, but more than fifty cities of the PRC, one might say, are going underground before the eyes of their residents. This is due to continuous subsidence of soil and excessive consumption of groundwater. If you look at the environment in China by city, the scale of the problem will become obvious: only one percent out of a hundred can be considered to have a normal environmental situation.
Under many cities, especially Beijing, craters have formed that are the largest in the world. The same situation is in Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Xi'an. China's lakes are evaporating, rivers are drying up, seventy-five percent of the forests have been cut down, and the topsoil is turning into desert. These deserts fill the cities of China with sand, which even reaches neighboring countries. All this is the price to pay for too powerful a technological breakthrough at the expense of natural resources and unbridled consumption.
Such a big, small Earth
For example, meat and steel are consumed twice as much here as in the United States. Most likely, the desire to catch up in all directions and overtake the United States has resulted in major environmental problems for the PRC.
The cities bordering Hong Kong have already become ruins - these are places of discarded electronics. The world is waiting for radical decisions from the PRC. The People's Republic of China is not a closed system. Her problems with the environment are ultimately the problems of the whole world, which is only large at first glance, but in fact the planet Earth is small and vulnerable.
How does China solve problems?
Ecology and ways to solve its problematic issues are among the top priorities for the Chinese government. The authorities in Shanghai, for example, have already spent more than twelve billion dollars on wall repairs. In a hundred years, Shanghai went underground by as much as three meters! The surface of the city of Cangzhou has sank two meters and forty centimeters in thirty years. In this city, the hospital went an entire floor underground and, instead of the required three, began to have two above the ground. Roads, bridges, and walls of houses are also destroyed. Eighty-five percent of the arable land in the north of the country requires irrigation. Peasants drill wells up to three hundred meters to extract water.
All existing environmental organizations in China are developing and implementing a number of life-saving measures to solve the environmental problem. The ministry is no longer hiding it when it says that in the near future China will face the problem of environmental migrants, the number of which will exceed one hundred and fifty million. There is hope that the country will cope with the imminent catastrophe.
Eco-cities
Eco-city projects already exist and are planned to be implemented soon. This is actually an achievement of NTP. If everything goes as planned, then China will turn into a paradise with environmentally friendly and beautiful cities. The first eco-city is already being built one hundred and twenty kilometers from Beijing. It is being built according to a joint project by Singapore and Construction is planned to be completed in 2020.
China is implementing a plan to improve air quality worth up to $290 billion. This plan includes modernizing polluting factories, creating clean energy sources, and addressing pollution from cars. I want to believe that everything will work out for this country. Moreover, China wants to host the winter year. If the country's ecology does not improve, this is unlikely to be possible.
China is the first country in terms of population and the third in terms of territory. It is not surprising that this country is so heterogeneous. In the north and south, west and east, everything is different: dialects of speech, culture, cuisine, and even the appearance of the inhabitants. To understand China and its culture, it is not enough to visit one city. After all, historically, China, as a united and free country, has not existed for so long. China had extensive contacts with nomadic peoples, Europeans and other peoples of Asia. All this was reflected in the modern appearance of cities. People visit China, as a rule, for business purposes or for tourism. Be that as it may, there are 10 cities that you need to visit to understand China and get into its spirit.
Beijing
Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China. This is the first city to visit in China. For tourists, this is a great way to get acquainted with the symbols of China: the Great Wall of China and the Imperial Palace. For businessmen, there are many tempting offers here: markets for clothing and equipment at very low prices. Many traders speak Russian and help with shipping goods to their homeland. Here you can make business contacts, because there are many foreigners from Europe and America in Beijing. Also, the Chinese in the capital have a good command of English.
Tianjin
Tianjin can rightfully be called the industrial heart of China. It is one of the most polluted cities on the planet. It gained such popularity due to the high concentration of industrial plants, nuclear power plants and all kinds of factories in this city. This city is of little use for tourism. Although, there are several parks, a huge Ferris wheel, zoos and amusement parks. This city is valuable for business trips. Here, from March to November, all kinds of exhibitions are held: machinery, cars, technical equipment and many others. Such exhibitions will help to establish business contacts and get acquainted with technical innovations in China.
Chongqing
This incredible city in the mountains is simply teeming with Russian-speaking students. The fact is that there are several universities here that work on exchange with higher education institutions from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. This city is also the third largest in size and area in China. It is little known, as it is located in the center of the country, in a mountainous area. There is beautiful nature and relatively clean air here. There are also brand stores and Chinese counterfeit stores at cheap prices.
Chengdu
This city is located near Chongqing. Both cities are part of the mountainous Sichuan province. Chengdu is a must-visit for those who love mountain tourism, river kayaking and simply active recreation. Chengdu also has one of the best zoos in China. There are a huge number of pandas living here, which you can see and photograph.
Shanghai
Shanghai is the eastern capital of China. This is a huge port city that is known throughout the world. There are many foreign companies in Shanghai, as well as tourists. Walking through the European quarter, it is difficult to believe that you are in China. Here the population speaks fluent English, which greatly simplifies communication.
Hangzhou
There is a proverb in China: “A happy person should be born in Suzhou, live in Hangzhou, and live in Guangzhou.” This proverb conveys a brief message that Hangzhou is the most picturesque city in China. The main attraction of the city is Lake Xihu. There are many legends and myths about this huge lake. Due to the fact that Hangzhou is surrounded by mountains on three sides, it has a mild climate and clean air. Hangzhou is the capital of Chinese green tea. Tourists can visit tea plantations and attend a real tea ceremony. This city is easily accessible from Shanghai, just an hour away by high-speed train.
Guangzhou
This is the southern business center of China. Guangzhou, as well as Tianjin, hosts annual exhibitions of all kinds of Chinese goods. There are cheap markets, like in Beijing. Guangzhou is also a hot subtropical city. There is beautiful nature here, palm trees and banana trees grow. Guangzhou has a developed network of clubs, bars and restaurants. The Chinese claim that Guangzhou has the most delicious cuisine.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is considered a special administrative region of China. It was a British colony for a long time, which affected its culture. Hong Kong is located on several islands, with ferries running between them. Also. Hong Kong has a developed metro network. Prices in this city are much higher than in China itself. But here there are not only real branded goods brought from the USA and Europe. In Hong Kong you can visit Disneyland, a huge Buddha statue and many unusual museums. Hong Kong is also famous for its own “Avenue of Stars”, where there is a statue of Bruce Lee.
Liuzhou
Want to see China from the inside? Then you need to go to a provincial town like Liuzhou. It is not a bustling metropolis like Shanghai or Hong Kong. But here you can feel the real atmosphere of China. There is no need to be afraid, the city is not cut off from civilization. There are many shops, public transport, squares and parks. Liuzhou is distinguished by clean streets, the absence of large crowds of people and gorgeous nature.
Sanya
Beach lovers should visit the city of Sanya. It is located in the south of China, on the island of Hainan. There is a developed network of hotels of different levels and prices, white sand beaches, tourist bars and restaurants. Sanya can be an excellent alternative to visiting other beach holiday centers.
A visit to China will definitely be remembered for a lifetime. The Chinese are very friendly and hospitable, they adore people with European appearance. Don’t be surprised if ordinary passersby on the streets take pictures of you or shout “Hello”. All this is a manifestation of their friendly attitude towards visitors and a desire to make new acquaintances.
Image: Reuters
According to the World Health Organization, more than half of the ten most polluted cities in the Middle Kingdom are in Hebei province, in the east of the country, near Beijing. It is home to the metallurgical industry and coal-fired steel mills. The dirtiest air in China is in the city of Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital.
This WHO ranking takes into account the level of PM10 and PM2.5 particulate matter pollution. They can cause serious illnesses, including lung cancer, especially PM2.5 particles, which penetrate deeper into lung tissue. A joint study by Tsinghua University, Peking University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published in 2013, found that high levels of air pollution in Northwestern China were associated with an average reduction in life expectancy of the local population by 5.5 years.
But through the smog that has covered Chinese cities, a ray of hope is breaking through. According to the same WHO data, since 2011, air conditions in some regions of China have improved markedly. Beijing, which six years ago was the fifth most polluted city in China, dropped out of the top 20 for PM10 pollution. Chinese authorities are taking radical measures to combat pollution, but the situation is changing with varying degrees of success. This year the government intends to spend $2.7 billion to combat air pollution in the capital. It is expected that more than 2,000 hazardous industries will be closed or modernized.
Shijiazhuang, Hebei
Jinan, Shandong
Xingtai, Hebei
Baoding, Hebei
Xi'an, Shanxi
Zhengzhou, Henan
Handan, Hebei
Xining, Qinghai
Hengshui, Hebei
Taiyuan, Shanxi
Top 10 cities in China with the dirtiest air based on average annual PM10 levels
Xingtai, Hebei
Baoding, Hebei
Shijiazhuang, Hebei
Handan, Hebei
Hengshui, Hebei
Tangshan, Hebei
Langfang, Hebei
Cangzhou, Hebei
Tianjin
Zhengzhou, Henan
TOP 10 cities in China with the cleanest air
Sanya, Hainan
Zhanjiang, Guangdong
Shanwei, Guangdong
Ordos, Inner Mongolia
Weihai, Shandong
Yuxi, Yunnan
Yantai, Shandong
Jiayuguan, Gansu
Haikou, Hainan
China is the most populous country in the world and the third largest country in the world by area. This country is famous for its diverse and picturesque landscapes. From the forest-steppe and deserts of the Gobi and Taklamakan in the arid north of the country to the subtropical forests teeming with amazing wildlife in the south, China's landscapes are truly mesmerizing. Unfortunately, future generations risk being left without the opportunity to enjoy China's natural beauty. It is quite possible that people will not even be able to live in the country due to the terrible and uncontrolled pollution that China suffers from. Overpopulation and enormous economic growth have taken their toll, leaving the environment in a terrible state. To give you an idea of how serious and large-scale China's problem is, we invite you to take a look at these twenty-five shocking photos of the country's pollution.
25. A woman collects water for testing in the Jianhe River, which has turned red due to chemical plants illegally dumping untreated, polluted water directly into a local stream.
24. What looks like thick fog is actually high air pollution. The capital of China, Beijing, is one of the most polluted cities in the world.
23. The concentration of polluted particles in the air is 40 times higher than international safety limits allow.
22. Fishermen on Chaohu Lake in Hefei. The color and texture of the water that looks alien is actually a mixture of algae and chemical pollutants.
21. In other parts of the lake, the water has an unnaturally green color and is covered with greasy films.
20. A woman helps clean up oil at an oil spill site near the port of Dalian Port in Liaoning Province.
19. People look at a heavily polluted river that flows through the city of Zhugao in Sichuan Province.
18. Lack of drinking water is a serious problem for China. It has been estimated that nearly 700 million Chinese (about half the country's population) drink contaminated water.
17. Some factories discharge wastewater and chemical waste directly into rivers, causing the water in these rivers to acquire unreal colors.
16. A boy swims in thick seaweed in the city of Qingdao. Algae blooms are caused by excessive runoff from agricultural areas. It leads to the formation of “dead zones” for both flora and fauna.
15. Electronic waste is also a serious problem as it has long served as a global garbage dump for used electrical equipment from all over the world.
14. A worker tries to clean up poisoned fish at Lake Wuhan in Hubei Province, central China.
13. Sometimes the scale of the disaster is simply amazing. The fish are believed to have been poisoned by ammonia released into the river.
12. Only one percent of the city's 560 million residents breathe air considered clean by EU standards.
11. A boy tries in vain to avoid debris floating in water that has flooded a street in Kuang-Tung.
10. Boys fish in a heavily polluted river covered with algae in the city of Hefei.
9. People clean up an oil spill in Liaoning province.
8. Needless to say, oil pollution has a fatal effect on all animals living in the affected area.
7. A woman tries unsuccessfully to clean up a polluted river.
6. A fisherman wades through a polluted lake covered with green algae in Anhui Province.
5. Two of the nearly three thousand dead pigs found in Shanghai's Huangpu River.
4. Due to excessive air pollution, it seems that the sun cannot break through the layers of smog, creating such apocalyptic panoramas.
3. Scavengers look for items to recycle at a landfill in Nanning, southern China.
2. A man with his mule in a polluted river near the village of Linka. This area is polluted by waste released from a nearby coal mine.
1. A man relaxes on the beach surrounded by trash left by nearly half a million visitors who attended the Dragon Boat Festival near the city of Shenzhen, in southern China.