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They are taken in Beijing, China. The pollution in Beijing is extremely serious. Beijing is one of the cities which have the most serious problem and the worst air quality, and people have to wear masks almost every day because air pollution causes diseases.

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Sean Gallagher - Photographer & Filmmaker, Beijing, China

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A young couple, Ms. Lu and Mr. Li, hold hands during a walk through Beijing's Olympic Park. "I'm pretty sad about this. It's worse and worse", explains Li. "I think the pollution is bad for our health. The PM2.5 damages our lungs [but] we don't have any choice", he laments. "I left China two and half years ago. Then it wasn't so bad. I've been abroad. I know what's good [air] and what's bad. Young people care more than old people. We have more information. We know how bad it is." PM2.5 reading - 218 - Very Unhealthy

Liu (33), a sharply-dressed office worker in central Beijing. "I started to use the mask 3 years ago. Of course I am worried about the pollution. I bought them for everyone in my family and forced them to wear it." PM2.5 reading - 170 - Unhealthy

Ms. Zeng (21), a student, burns incense while making wishes at a shrine inside Beijing's Lama Temple. "I think the weather is bad. I started using the mask about one year ago because of the pollution." PM2.5 reading - 261 - Very Unhealthy

Qi (name changed), a 13-year old middle school student, wears an advanced air filtration mask in central Beijing. "I'm more concerned about the pollution than my parents. Since 2012, my parents told me to stay inside more. I asked my parents to buy this for me. My classmates think I'm strange." PM2.5 reading - 188 - Unhealthy

A tourist (name withheld) from Heilongjiang province, in north-west China, visits the Olympic green in central Beijing. "I knew from TV that the air quality is bad in Beijing, so I bought it before I came here", she says. " In Heilongjiang, the air is better than here but in the [city] downtown area it's similar". PM2.5 reading - 218 - Very Unhealthy

A young girl pauses for a moment while riding her bike through Beijing's Ditan Park. PM2.5 reading - 261 - Very Unhealthy

A young boy stands with his mother at a bus stop in the west of Beijing. As well as the elderly, children are particularly susceptible to the adverse health effects of air pollution.Many young children can now be seen on the streets of Beijing wearing masks, in an effort by their families to protect them. PM2.5 reading - 204 - Very Unhealthy

Mr. Liu (56) and Mrs. Wang (54), a married couple in Beijing, sit on a bench in the capital's Ditan Park. Their unique pollution masks are designed to filter air breathed through the nose, with exhalation then from the mouth. They are one of the new types of masks now appearing as alternatives to the traditional face mask. "We started using these one month ago", explains Mr. Liu. "This one is more comfortable. It filters out 95% of the pollution." PM2.5 reading - 367 - Hazardous

Ms. Liu (30) pauses during a walk through one of Beijing's traditional hutong neighbourhoods. "Of course I worry about the pollution", she says. "I don't have a good stomach or throat, so I pay attention to the pollution. I think this issues should of been addressed year ago." PM2.5 reading - 107 - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

In Beijing's TianTan Park, a woman plays with a Jianzi, a traditional Chinese game which requires the participants to keep it in the air by kicking. PM2.5 reading - 89 - Moderate

An elderly man performs to Tai Chi in Beijing's TianTan Park. The elderly and young are some of the most susceptible to the effects of air pollution, however this does not deter hundreds of the city's elderly residents who go to the parks everyday to socialise and exercise, no matter what the air quality. PM2.5 reading - 89 - Moderate

Ms. Pan (left) and Ms. Zhu (right) are co-workers in an Environmental Landscape Design company in Beijing. "The weather is too bad"' explains Ms. Pan. "It's really uncomfortable. I can already feel the cough and headaches. In my professional area, we discuss [this issue] a lot. The air is getting worse and worse." PM2.5 reading - 196 - Unhealthy

Students Liu (21), Xu (22) and Han (21) stand near the Olympic Swimming Center during a visit to Beijing from southern China. "We never wore a mask before. After we arrived in Beijing we bought it", explains Liu. "The air quality is not good", continues Xu. "More and more people pay attention to this. We should pay more attention to this problem. Every person has to start the change." PM2.5 reading - 218 - Very Unhealthy

Mrs. Huang (40), a life long Beijing resident. "About 4-5 years ago I started using masks. I don't feel comfortable in my lungs.", she explains. "Of course there's been a big change in the air. Since the 1980's there were sandstorms. Then it got better. Around 2000, industry got more and more and the air got bad." PM2.5 reading - 188 - Unhealthy

A couple, Ms. Hu (27) and Mr. Teng (27), stand underneath a propaganda poster depicting an idyllic Beijing life, in the city's Xidan shopping district. PM2.5 reading - 102 - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

Ren (27), a student and Beijing resident, stands in the cities modern CBD area. "I started using the mask last year when the pollution got bad. I didn't pay much attention before that", he explains. "I don't like wearing it but I have to. I watched the [Chai Jing] documentary many times. I shared it with everyone. Now, I pay attention to our behaviour. The documentary inspired me. The future? It's hard to get the environment back. I'm thinking about emigrating." PM2.5 reading - 184 - Unhealthy

Ms. Wang (37), an office worker in Beijing, wears a distinctive blue mask that she uses for skiing and doubles in purpose to protect her from air pollution. PM2.5 reading - 170 - Unhealthy

Li (23), a sales worker from Hebei Province stands on the platform in Beijing's subway system. Many residents now not only wear the masks outdoors but also in indoor public spaces and on public transportation. "The pollution is too much. I have worn [the mask] since 2013. My home city, Shijiazhuang, is more polluted!" PM2.5 reading - 191 - Unhealthy

Li, a 17-year old beautician from Shandong province, stands in Beijing's Xidan shopping district. "I study here in Beijing. The air is bad"' she says. "Two years ago I started wearing [the mask]. It helps protect my skin. There are too many people here in China which has ruined the environment." PM2.5 reading - 102 - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

Xue (29), an engineer visiting Beijing's Lama Temple. "Of course it's not comfortable but we have to put it [the mask] on. I wore it earlier than most. I started about 4 years ago. I cough when I smell the dust." PM2.5 reading - 200 - Unhealthy

An elderly man in a wheelchair watches a fellow Beijinger draw Chinese characters with water into the dusty pavement. PM2.5 reading - 367 - Hazardous

Drolmaj, an editor with a local publishing company, during her morning walk in central Beijing. "The pollution makes me sad. I feel sad to live here. When I first came here there was blue sky and white clouds. It's a big problem here." PM2.5 reading - 365 - Hazardous

Mrs. Liu sits with her daughter in a small garden outside of her office in the west of Beijing. "I want to protect my daughter. She's young. She isn't able to protect herself", she explains as to why she makes her daughter wear a mask. "I'm sure the PM2.5 is bad for people's health. I'm thinking of sending her overseas. I think it will take a long time to clear the air. I don't want my daughter to have to live with this situation." PM2.5 reading - 204 - Very Unhealthy

Miss Song (30), from Dongbei Province, stands near an ornate gate in Beijing's Ditan Park. "It's very dirty here. I started using the mask last year. From the year before last, China started to get this pollution. Pollution was a very new word for me. At that time, we started to know more about "2.5". My family don't wear masks. I suggested they use them but they didn't do it." - PM2.5 reading - 365 - Hazardous

Mrs. Zhang (62), a retiree in Beijing, stands near a wall in the capital's Ditan Park. "Last year I bought a professional mask because I had a bad throat. The pollution made it worse. I think they are a bit strange looking. These past two years I've been wearing them. During the polluted days I definitely wear them. During the spring festival the pollution was really bad. I'm really scared of the pollution." PM2.5 reading - 365 - Hazardous

Zhao (25), an office worker, stands on a bridge above a busy highway in the centre of Beijing. PM2.5 reading - 223 - Very Unhealthy

Beijing, China - March, 2015

"I'm really scared of the pollution", says Mrs. Zhang, a 62-year old retiree who has just finished her morning exercises in Beijing's Ditan park. Like many other of the city's elderly residents, she heads out each morning to take part in communal exercises that range from dancing and singing, to kung fu.

On this warm spring morning in mid-March, a familiar haze sits in they air however, keeping the residents of Beijing snugly enveloped underneath its cover. Beijingers have become acutely aware of what this dystopian phenomenon is.

A quick check via one of the numerous online apps reveals the air pollution level is high again. This morning its at 356. "Hazardous"' according to the US Embassy's Air Quality Index (AQI) monitor. "Serious aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly; serious risk of respiratory effects in general population", it advises. "Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion."

"Last year I bought a professional mask because I had a bad throat. The pollution made it worse", Mrs. Zhang continues, speaking loudly to break through the fabric that presses close to her mouth.

She is one of many Beijingers that are taking self-protection into their own hands, as part of of a new public trend that is seeing more and more people using the air pollution mask.

A quick walk down most streets in Beijing, from the old hutong alleyways to the modern business districts, will reveal all types and ages of people sporting a variety of different shaped and coloured masks.

Underneath the gleaming white and silver skyscrapers of the Guomao central business district area, Ren, a student and lifelong Beijing resident, struggles to make himself heard through his specialist 3M pollution mask. "I started using the mask last year when the pollution got bad. I didn't pay much attention before that", he explains. "I don't like wearing it but I have to."

Air pollution has been back in the news recently as a new documentary, produced by Chinese journalist Chai Jing, revealed more details about the social, health and environmental impacts on Chinese citizens. Its phenomenal success online, having been watched over 100 million times, has helped increase awareness of the problem and has partly influenced the new personal health trend of the air pollution mask, as individual Chinese citizens try to protect themselves.

"I watched the documentary many times", continues Ren. "I shared it with everyone. Now, I pay attention to our behaviour. The documentary inspired me. The future? It's hard to get the environment back. I'm thinking about emigrating."

From the old to the young, all ages can now be found sporting masks of various shapes, sizes and colours.

Most striking however is the sight of young children whose parents and families are trying to protect their young lungs from the harmful air. "I want to protect my daughter. She's young. She isn't able to protect herself", explains Mrs. Liu, an office worker in the west of Beijing. "I'm sure the PM2.5 is bad for people's health. I'm thinking of sending her overseas. I think it will take a long time to clear the air. I don't want my daughter to have to live with this situation."

On Saturday 28th March, Beijing was hit by the first sandstorm of the year which combined with air pollution to send particulate matter levels to record highs. A once common phenomenon in the capital, dust storms originating in the deserts of north and north-west China continue to plague the capital during the spring months. Desertification in China is a little talked about issue but continues to fuel sand and dust storms, occasionally reminding urbanites of the severe environmental challenges facing the north of the country, just on the capital's doorstep.

News this month announced the closure of Beijing's last coal-fired power station, along with the introduction of a new pollution classification system that will see factories closed and construction sites shut down if pollution levels rise above the level of 200, the mark at which the air is deemed "heavily polluted". These are small but hopeful steps that are moving in the right direction to clean up the city's notoriously bad air.

For the time being however, Beijing's residents are taking it upon themselves to protect themselves from the day to day challenges of living under some of the world's most polluted skies.

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Beijing - The Masked City - Sean Gallagher - Photographer & Filmmaker, Beijing, China

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A young couple, Ms. Lu and Mr. Li, hold hands during a walk through Beijing's Olympic Park. "I'm pretty sad about this. It's worse and worse", explains Li. "I think the pollution is bad for our health. The PM2.5 damages our lungs [but] we don't have any choice", he laments.

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Describe the events surrounding and leading to the subject of the photos.

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Describe the events surrounding and leading to the subject of the photos.

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There are air pollution and water pollution in China because of exhaust emission. People just pull the water into rivers without any sewage disposal. The color of the rivers even change to red. This has been a problem for several decades, and fortunately, people start actions.

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Facing the Issue

China's air pollution has been a problem for decades now, but with the issue now drawing significant attention worldwide, the Chinese government has stepped up efforts to address it, even going so far as to sacrifice business for the sake of cleaner skies.

According to a report by NPR, authorities from the Chinese environmental bureau have spent the past several months temporarily closing down factories' access to electricity and gas in order to figure out which ones followed environmental laws and which ones didn't.

"So, basically, you're seeing these inspectors go into factories for surprise inspections," Gary Huang, founder of a firm that serves as a middleman between the Chinese supply chain and foreign companies, told NPR. "They're instituting daily fines, and sometimes - in the real severe cases - criminal enforcement. People are getting put in jail."

In the past year, officials in more than 80,000 factories have been punished in some way by China's Ministry of Environment for violating environmental laws.

China's Air Pollution Woes

In a press conference on Monday, China's Environmental Protection Minister Li Ganjie said that the government is serious about addressing China's air pollution. Concretely, this means lowering the concentration of particulate matter called PM2.5 hovering over China to 35 micrograms by 2035.

To meet that goal, the nation has been focused on ending its dependence on coal through the creation of solar and wind farms, future bans on non-electric cars, and the establishment of "green finance" zones.

So far, these efforts appear to be paying off. Average PM.25 levels were 2.3 percent lower during the first eight months of 2017 compared to 2016's figures, and at present, PM.25 in Beijing is down to 60 micrograms from last year's 70 micrograms.

Of course, the path hasn't been entirely smooth, and Li said China still has a long way to go before the effects of these new policies and initiatives are felt by the nation's citizens.

"We understand that current air quality fails to meet people's expectations," he told Reuters. "People should be patient about improvements in air quality improvement as it will take time to solve such a big problem."

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China's government is shutting down factories to fight air pollution

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China's air pollution has been a problem for decades now, but with the issue now drawing significant attention worldwide, the Chinese government has stepped up efforts to address it, even going so far as to sacrifice business for the sake of cleaner skies.

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What kind of viewers will this photo reach?

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What kind of viewers will this photo reach?

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He wants people in this situation pay attention and he wants to warn people around the world who are not in this situation to pay attention.

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Who does the photographer want to see his or her photos?

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Who does the photographer want to see his or her photos?

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Mostly people in China. People around the world will also see this because the photographer is a British. It is the image in Beijing. There are some architectures on the left side. It let people in Beijing think about their own experience. It is what they face every day. Also he wrote an article about pollution in Beijing several years ago, since he wrote it in English, it is shown to people other than Chinese. This may be a warning for other countries. It tells them if they continue polluting, they will have the same problem as Beijing has which is terrible. Also, he wants people who work in factories notice what they did to the rivers. They are not as clean as they used to be, and the fishes all die because of this.

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Who is the photographer and where is he or she from?

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Who is the photographer and where is he or she from?

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He is Sean Gallagher, a British photographer and filmmaker who has been based in Asia for over a decade. He is now living in Beijing, China. The photo we see is taken in Beijing. He travels to places where have serious environmental issues, and he records these scenes.

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How does the photographer express his or her opinions on the subject of this series?

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How does the photographer express his or her opinions on the subject of this series?

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He does this by creating photographic, video and multimedia projects that highlight individual’s stories from communities that are affected by issues such as desertification, deforestation, pollution, species extinction and climate change.

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What is the photographer’s opinion or stance on the subject of this series?

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What is the photographer’s opinion or stance on the subject of this series?

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He is sad about the bad pollution, and he wants to change this situation.

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Sean Gallagher - Photographer, Beijing, China

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Jakarta, Indonesia - April, 2013

In April of this year, I travelled to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for the first time. I was excited to visit this new city and start to photograph in one of the world's most underreported emerging economies. I had read stories about the city's challenges with water and flooding, which is why I wanted to photograph there and continue my work on environmental issues in developing nations. I wasn't prepared for the shocking scenes that I was to witness in my time in the city.

One of my first impressions of this Southeast Asian megalopolis was not the not the eclectic culture and diversity of the fascinating Indonesian people, or the mix of traditional and modern architecture-it was the smell.

That smell emanated from the rivers and canals that weave their way through this city of over 10 million people. 400,000 liters of waste are dumped into the capital's rivers and canals every day. Supposedly equating to the weight of 140 elephants, according to a 2009 report in the Jakarta Globe.

Built on the confluence of 13 rivers, Jakarta's history has been one involving vigorous trade with countries around the world. During the Dutch colonial era in the early 17th Century onwards, a network of canals was built that helped relieve the city from flooding which, at that time, only occasionally affected the city.

Today, that network of canals has fallen into disrepair and all of the rivers and canals have become choked with pollution. Residents readily throw household waste directly into the waterways which gather together at many points along the rivers, especially at the failing sluice gates along the canals.

The problem is exacerbated by industrial pollution that is also released into the rivers upstream. Excess nitrates and phosphates from this pollution encourages the rapid growth of algae and subsequent eutrophication, the process by which algae covers the surface of waterways, restricting the amount of oxygen in the water and effectively killing off aquatic life below.

The poverty levels in Jakarta are staggering and sobering. It is thought that over 5 million residents live in slum communities in Greater Jakarta, many of which are found along the waterways of the city.

Standing one morning in one such community on the banks of the Ciliwung River in central Jakarta, I photographed a young family who ran a small shop selling sweets and snacks. A few metres away from the storefront were the banks of the river. Its brown waters swiftly moved past us, carrying with it plastic bags, bottles, polystyrene boxes and other random items discarded further upstream.

Across the river, a wall of ramshackle houses built on stilts perched perilously close to the surface of the water. Regular sounds of splashes could be heard as toilets were emptied, discarding the contents straight into the water beneath. The river, like many throughout Jakarta, had effectively become a sewer.

As I travelled around the city documenting how the residents were being affected by issues such as rising sea levels, flooding and climate change, I made a note to start photographing some of the pollution I came across. I decided to focus on the form, shapes and colours that I saw. I did this, as I wanted to try to show the issue in a new way and try to draw the viewer in, even though the scene actually might make the viewer want to turn away.

One of the most shocking scenes I witnessed was in the small community of Muara Baru in the north of Jakarta. My guide and I were exploring some of the communities that lined the area's waterways when we came across a river which was completely covered in refuse and trash. I had never witnessed anything like it. I felt a deep pang of sadness as I looked upon the scene before me. I stood there stunned for some time before I took a picture.

In January, floods had inundated the city and in this particular community, large amounts of trash had been washed upstream and deposited there. Children played by the water and women cooked food on stoves just metres away. It was a depressing scene.

Water pollution is such a critical issue in Jakarta. Sadly, it is often the poorest communities that are the most at risk and the first to be affected. I saw some shocking scenes during my time in these communities but I met some of the warmest and friendliest people I have encountered whilst travelling in Asia.

Changes are beginning to take place in Jakarta. Reservoirs and rivers are being dredged and the government is coming under more and more pressure to effectively deal with these issues and prevent the inevitable health issues that come with living in these conditions. It will be a long battle however and the future of the city and its residents is still very uncertain.

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Tainted Waters: Pollution in Jakarta - Sean Gallagher - Photographer, Beijing, China

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Jakarta, Indonesia - April, 2013 In April of this year, I travelled to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for the first time. I was excited to visit this new city and start to photograph in one of the world's most underreported emerging economies.

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What does the photographer know about the subject and why are they qualified to make a statement on it?

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What does the photographer know about the subject and why are they qualified to make a statement on it?

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He graduated in Zoology from university in the United Kingdom and it is my background in science that has led to much of my work being focused on communicating environmental issues through visual storytelling. He is a senior lecturer, and he is involving in several education programs. Also he won lots of prizes.

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Most of his awards are about environments

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Science Journalism Fellow, 2017

Made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) for continuing work documenting environmental issues in Asia (2014).

Environmental Film of the Year – Winner – ‘The Toxic Price of Leather’. Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition 2014.

Seven-time recipient of travel grant from The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (2009-2017).

Published ‘Meltdown’, a multimedia eBook documenting China’s environmental crises in the early 21st Century (2013)

Photocrati Fund Honourable Mention (2013 & 2012).

First Place for Multimedia in the Press Photographer’s Year Awards (2011).

Shortlisted at the Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalists in Multimedia Category (2010).

Honourable mention at the Earth Journalism Awards at COP15 (2009).

First recipient of the David Alan Harvey Fund for Emerging Photographers (2008).

Selected to undertake a 1-year paid internship at the photojournalism agency Magnum Photos (2004-2005). Mentored by the late, Philip Jones Griffiths.

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What kind of person does the photographer seem to be?

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What kind of person does the photographer seem to be?

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He is a environmentalist He focuses on pollution and other issues. He have many programs in China, and he tries to connect this with America. In his ins, there are many photos of endangered animals, and he wants people to take actions to save them.

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Sean Gallagher - Photographer, Beijing, China

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get in touch

send me a message

Connect with me

About me

My name is Sean Gallagher, a British photographer and filmmaker who has been based in Asia for over a decade.

From the Tibetan Plateau to the Indonesian archipelago, I often spend months in the field travelling across the continent documenting its most important environmental, social and cultural issues for some of the world's leading news outlets.

I am a 7-time recipient of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting travel grant, am represented by National Geographic Creative and am a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

I graduated in Zoology from university in the United Kingdom and it is my background in science that has led to much of my work being focused on communicating environmental issues through visual storytelling.

I do this by creating photographic, video and multimedia projects that highlight individual's stories from communities that are affected by issues such as desertification, deforestation, pollution, species extinction and climate change.

My distinctive approach to visual storytelling and extensive experience in Asia, allows me to create unique photography and video projects for my editorial and commercial clients.

My work has appeared with editorial outlets including The New York Times, National Geographic News, CNN, The Atlantic and BBC News.

I have received a number of awards and grants for my work, including:

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Science Journalism Fellow, 2017

Made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) for continuing work documenting environmental issues in Asia (2014).

Environmental Film of the Year - Winner - 'The Toxic Price of Leather'. Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition 2014.

Seven-time recipient of travel grant from The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (2009-2017).

Published 'Meltdown', a multimedia eBook documenting China's environmental crises in the early 21st Century (2013)

Photocrati Fund Honourable Mention (2013 & 2012).

First Place for Multimedia in the Press Photographer's Year Awards (2011).

Shortlisted at the Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalists in Multimedia Category (2010).

Honourable mention at the Earth Journalism Awards at COP15 (2009).

First recipient of the David Alan Harvey Fund for Emerging Photographers (2008).

Selected to undertake a 1-year paid internship at the photojournalism agency Magnum Photos (2004-2005). Mentored by the late, Philip Jones Griffiths.

I collaborate extensively with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting who have helped sponsor many of my projects in China. These projects have included a 4000km journey across the country documenting the threats from increasing desertification, a 7-province trip investigating the impacts of disappearing wetlands and a 1-month journey across the Tibetan plateau photographing the effects of climate change on the 'roof of the world'.

I am a senior lecturer on Bolton University's International Multimedia Journalism Programme in Beijing and am involved in education-outreach programmes both in Asia and the United States, using visual storytelling to communicate the issues that I cover to a wide variety of audiences. To date, I have presented my work and spoken to over 50 institutions including:

The Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars

The Shanghai World Expo

The Climate Institute

American University

Georgetown University

State Department of the US Government

BBC World Service

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About / Contact - Sean Gallagher - Photographer, Beijing, China

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get in touch send me a message Connect with me About me My name is Sean Gallagher, a British photographer and filmmaker who has been based in Asia for over a decade. From the Tibetan Plateau to the Indonesian archipelago, I often spend months in the field travelling across the continent documenting its most important environmental, social and cultural issues for some of the world's leading news outlets.

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The author wants people take actions to reduce air pollution and water pollution in China.

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Water shortages and water pollution in China are such a problem that the World Bank warns of "catastrophic consequences for future generations." Half of China's population lacks safe drinking water. Nearly two thirds of China's rural population---more than 500 million people---use water contaminated by human and industrial waste.

In Yale University's 2012 Environmental Performance Index, China is one of the worst performers (ranked 116 out of 132 countries) with respect to its performance on changes in water quantity due to consumption, including industrial, agricultural, and household uses. Jonathan Kaiman wrote in The Guardian, "The head of China's ministry of water resources said in 2012 that up to 40 percent of the country's rivers are "seriously polluted", and an official report from the summer od 2012 found that up to 200 million rural Chinese have no access to clean drinking water. China's lakes are often affected by pollution-induced algae blooms, causing the surface of the water to turn a bright iridescent green. Yet even greater threats may lurk underground. A recent government study found that groundwater in 90 percent of China's cities is contaminated, most of it severely. [Source: Jonathan Kaiman, The Guardian, February 21, 2013]

In summer of 2011, the China government reported 43 percent of state-monitored rivers are so polluted, they're unsuitable for human contact. By one estimate one sixth of China's population is threatened by seriously polluted water. One study found that eight of 10 Chinese coastal cities discharge excessive amounts of sewage and pollutants into the sea, often near coastal resorts and sea farming areas. Water pollution is especially bad along the coastal manufacturing belt. Despite the closure of thousands of paper mills, breweries, chemical factories and other potential sources of contamination, the water quality along a third of the waterway falls far below even the modest standards that the government requires. Most of China's rural areas have no system in place to treat waste water.

A study by China's Environmental Protection Agency in February 2010 said that water pollution levels were double what the government predicted them to be mainly because agricultural waste was ignored. China's first pollution census in 2010 revealed farm fertilizer was a bigger source of water contamination than factory effluent.

Water consumed by people in China contains dangerous levels of arsenic, fluorine and sulfates. An estimated 980 million of China's 1.3 billion people drink water every day that is partly polluted. More than 600 million Chinese drink water contaminated with human or animal wastes and 20 million people drink well water contaminated with high levels of radiation. A large number of arsenic-tainted water have been discovered. China's high rates of liver, stomach and esophageal cancer have been linked to water pollution.

Water pollution and shortages are a more serious problem in northern China than southern China. The percentage of water considered unfit for human consumption is 45 percent in northern China, compared to 10 percent in southern China. Some 80 percent of the rivers in the northern province of Shanxi have been rated "unfit for human contact."

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center before the 2008 Olympics found that 68 percent of the Chinese interviewed said they were concerned about water pollution.

Websites and Resources

water pollution Good Websites and Sources: PBS Audio Visual on China's Water Problems pbs.org ; China Water Pollution Map by Ma Jun for the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs. Zoom any city or click a river or lake and get the latest pollution readings. China Water Pollution Map, en.ipe.org.cn; 2010 Article on Water Pollution and Farmers circleofblue.org Greenpeace China article greenpeace.org/china ;Wikipedia article on China's Water Crisis Wikipedia ; Articles on Water Pollution scipeeps.com Water Pollution Photos stephenvoss.com

YANGTZE RIVER : Wikipedia Wikipedia ; China Highlights China Highlights ; Book; River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler (HarperCollins, 2001); YELLOW RIVER Wikipedia Wikipedia University of Massachusetts U Mass ; Yellow River Conservancy Commission Yellow River Conservancy Commission ; Map on China Highlights China Highlights LAKE TAI : Wikipedia Wikipedia Lonely Planet Lonely Planet

Book: The River Runs Black by Elizabeth C. Economy (Cornell, 2004) is one of the best recently-written books on China's environmental problems. In his book China on the Edge: the Crisis of Ecology and Development in China, the Chinese intellectual He Bochun argues that in many ways China's environmental problems have already reached catastrophic levels.

On the Environment: China Environmental News Blog china-environmental-news.blogspot.com ; China.Org (Chinese Government Environmental News china.org.cn/english/environment ; New York Times Multimedia Series on Pollution in China nytimes.com ; China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) english.mep.gov.cn ; EIN News Service's China Environment News einnews.com/china/newsfeed-china-environment Wikipedia article on Environment of China ; Wikipedia ; China Environmental Protection Foundation (a Chinese Government Organization) cepf.org.cn/cepf_english ;Global Environmental Institute (a Chinese non-profit NGO) geichina.org ; Beijing Energy Network (a Chinese grassroots environmental group) greenleapforward.com ; Greenpeace China greenpeace.org/china/en ; China Digital Times Collection of Articles chinadigitaltimes.net ; Brief History of Chinese Environment planetark.com ; Article on Wetlands Degradation library.utoronto.ca ; Useful But Dated Source List on te Environment and China newton.uor.edu ; China Environmental Forum at the Wilson Center wilsoncenter.org ; International Fund for China's Environment ifce.org ; China Watch worldwatch.org ; China Environmental law Blog chinaenvironmentallaw.com ; World Resources Institute wri.org ; China Environmental Industry Network cein.net

Links in this Website: ENVIRONMENT IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; GLOBAL WARMING IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; AIR POLLUTION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; WATER POLLUTION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; WATER SHORTAGES IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; DEFORESTATION AND DESERTIFICATION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; GARBAGE AND RECYCLING IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ;ENVIRONMENT, GOVERNMENT POLICY AND FIGHTING POLLUTION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; Factsanddetails.com/China ; ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS AND PROTESTS IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; THE 2008 OLYMPICS IN BEIJING, POLLUTION WEATHER Factsanddetails.com/China ; LAND AND GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; WEATHER IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; DAMS AND HYDRO POWER IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; THREE GORGES AND THREE GORGES DAM Factsanddetails.com/China ; COAL IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; NUCLEAR POWER AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES Factsanddetails.com/China ; WATER IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China

Effects of Water Pollution in China

Deformities in fish such as one or no eyes and misshapen skeletons and a decreasing numbers of rare wild Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze has been blamed on a paint chemical widely used in Chinese industry.

China is the largest polluter of the Pacific Ocean. Offshore dead zones---oxygen-starved areas in the sea that are virtually devoid off life---are not only found in shallow water but also in deep water. They are mainly created by agricultural run-off---namely fertilizer---and reach their peak in the summer. In the spring freshwater creates a barrier layer, cutting off the salt water below from the oxygen in the air. Warm water and fertilizers cause algae blooms. Dead algae sinks to the bottom and is decomposed by bacteria, depleting oxygen in deep water.

Water pollution---caused primarily by industrial waste, chemical fertilizers and raw sewage--- accounts for half of the $69 billion that the Chinese economy loses to pollution every year. About 11.7 million pounds of organic pollutants are emitted into Chinese waters very day, compared to 5.5 in the United States, 3.4 in Japan, 2.3 in Germany, 3.2 in India, and 0.6 in South Africa.

Water Pollution and Health and Protests

Nearly two thirds of China's rural population---more than 500 million people---use water contaminated by human and industrial waste. Accordingly it is not all that surprising that gastrointestinal cancer is now the number one killer in the countryside,

More than 130 residents of two villages in Guangxi Province in southern China were poisoned by arsenic-contaminated water. Arsenic showed up in their urine. The source is believed to be waste from a nearby metallurgy factory.

In August 2009, a thousand villagers gathered outside a government office in Zhentouu township in Hunan Province to protests a the presence of the Xiange Chemical factory, which villagers say has polluted water used to irrigate rice and vegetables and caused at least two deaths in the area.

Sources of Water Pollution

Major polluters include chemical factories, drug manufactures, fertilizer makers, tanneries, paper mills.

In October 2009, Greenpeace identified five industrial facilities in southern China's Pearl River delta that were dumping poisonous metals and chemicals'such as beryllium, manganese, nonylphenol and tetrabromobisphenol--- into water used by local residents for drinking. The group found the toxins in pipes that led from the facilities.

In February 2008 the Fuan textile factory, a multimillion dollar operation in Guangdong Province that produces enormous quantities of T-shirts and other clothes for export, was shut down for dumping waste from dyes into the Maozhou River and turning the water red. It turned out the factory produced 47,000 tons of waste a day and could only process 20,000 tons with the rest being dumped into the river. It latter quietly reopened in a new location.

Polluted Chinese Rivers and Lakes

According to one government survey, 436 of China's 532 rivers are polluted, with more than half of them too polluted to serve as sources of drinking water, and 13 of 15 sectors of China's seven largest rivers are seriously polluted. The most polluted rivers are in the east and south around the major population centers with the pollution getting worse the further downstream one goes. In some cases each city along a river dumps pollutants outside their city limits, creating increasingly more pollution for the cities down stream. Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun said, "What's not receiving attention is the destruction of the river ecosystem, which I think will have long-tern effects on our water resources."

Many rivers are filled with garbage, heavy metals and factory chemicals. Suzhou Creek in Shanghai stinks of human waste and effluence from pig farms. There have been devastating fish kills caused by the release of chemicals into the Haozhongou River in Anhui province and Min Jiang River in Sichuan Province.

The Huai flows through densely populated farmland between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. Bottlenecks and elevation changes make the river both prone to flooding and collecting pollutants. Half the checkpoints along the Huai River in central and eastern China revealed pollution levels of "Grade 5" or worse, with pollutants detected in ground water 300 meters below the river.

The Huai river in Anhui province is so polluted all the fish have died and people have to drink bottled water to avoid getting sick. Some places have water that is too toxic to touch and leaves behind scum when it is boiled. Here, crops have been destroyed by irrigation water from the river; fish farms have been wiped out; and fishermen have lost their livelihoods. The South-North Water Transfer Project---which will travel through the Huai basin---is likely to deliver water that is dangerously polluted.

The Qingshui River, a tributary of the Huai whose names means "clear water," has turned black with trails of yellow foam from pollution from small mines that have opened up to meet the demand for magnesium, molybdenum and vanadium used in the booming steel industry. River samples indicate unhealthy levels of magnesium and chromium. The vanadium refineries foul the water and produce smokes that deposits a yellowing powder on teh countryside.

The Liao River is also a mess. Gains made with new water treatment facilities have been canceled out by higher than ever levels of industrial pollution.

In May 2007, 11 companies along the Songhua River, including local food companies, were ordered to shut down because of the heavily-polluted water they dumped into the river. A survey found that 80 percent exceeded pollution discharge limits. One company turned off pollution control devices and dumped sewage directly into the river.

In March 2008 contamination of the Dongjing River with ammonia, nitrogen and metal-cleaning chemicals turned the water red and foamy and forced authorities to cut water supplies for at least 200,000 people in Hubei Province in central China.

Polluted Groundwater in China

About 40 percent of China's agricultural land is irrigated with underground water, of which 90 percent is polluted, according to Liu Xin, a food and health expert and a member of an advisory body to parliament, told the Southern Metropolitan Daily.

In February 2013, Xu Chi wrote in the Shanghai Daily, "Shallow underground water in China has been severely polluted and the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with water quality data in 2011 showing that 55 percent of underground supplies in 200 cities was of bad or extremely bad quality, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources. A review of underground water carried out by the ministry from 2000 to 2002 showed that nearly 60 percent of shallow underground water was undrinkable, the Beijing News reported yesterday. Some reports in the Chinese media said water pollution was so severe in some regions that it caused cancer in villagers and even led to cows and sheep which drank it to become sterile. [Source: Xu Chi, Shanghai Daily, February 25, 2013]

Jonathan Kaiman wrote in The Guardian, "A recent government study found that groundwater in 90 percent of China's cities is contaminated, most of it severely. Chinese media responded with surprising urgency - the Straits Times newspaper in southeastern Fujian province presented the findings in a full front-page spread."Groundwater is a key source of drinking water, industrial and agricultural use, especially in northern China," said Ma. "If this resource gets contaminated, it's far more difficult to restore than surface water or the air." [Source: Jonathan Kaiman, The Guardian, February 21, 2013 <=>]

Chemical companies in east China's Weifang City were accused of using high-pressure injection wells to discharge waste sewage more than 1,000 meters underground for years, seriously polluting underground water and posing a cancer threat. Kaiman wrote: "Ground zero for the recent flurry of online outrage is Weifang, a city of 8 million in coastal Shandong province. Weifang's internet users have accused local paper mills and chemical plants of directly pumping industrial waste into the city's water supply 1,000 meters underground, causing cancer rates in the area to skyrocket. "I was just angry after receiving information from Web users saying that the groundwater in Shandong had been polluted and I forwarded it online," Deng Fei, a reporter whose microblog posts sparked the allegations, told the state-run Global Times. "But it came as a surprise to me that after I sent out these posts, many people from different places in northern and eastern China all complained that their hometowns have been similarly polluted." <=>

Weifang officials have offered a reward of about £10,000 to anyone who can provide evidence of illegal wastewater dumping. According to a Weifang Communist party committee spokesperson, local authorities have investigated 715 companies and have yet to find any evidence of wrongdoing. <=>

In September 2013, Xinhua reported on a village in Henan where the groundwater has been badly polluted. The news agency said that locals claimed the deaths of 48 villagers from cancer are linked to the pollution. Research carried out by Yang Gonghuan, a professor of public health at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has also linked high rates of cancer to polluted river water in Henan, Anhui and Shangdong provinces. [Source: Jennifer Duggan, The Guardian, October 23, 2013]

Cancer Villages and Polluted Waterways in China

According to the World Bank, 60,000 people die each year from diarrhea, bladder and stomach cancer and other diseases directly caused by water-borne pollution. A study by the WHO came with a much higher figure.

Cancer village is a term used to describe villages or towns where cancer rates have risen dramatically because of pollution. There are said to be around 100 cancer villages along the Huai River and its tributaries in Henan Province, especially on the Shaying River. Death rates on Huai River are 30 percent higher than the national average. In 1995, the government declared that water from a Huai tributary was undrinkable and the water supply for 1 million people was cut off. The military had to truck in water for a month until 1,111 paper mills and 413 other industrial plants on the river were shut down.

In the village of Huangmengying---where a once-clear stream is now greenish black from factory wastes---cancer accounted for 11 of the 17 deaths in 2003. Both the river and well water in the village---the main source of drinking water---have an acrid smell and taste produced by pollutants dumped upstream by tanneries, paper mills, a huge MSG plant, and other factories. Cancer had been rare when the stream was clear.

Tuanjieku is town six kilometers northwest of Xian that still uses an ancient system of moats to irrigate its crops. The moats unfortunately don't drain so well and are now badly contaminated by household discharges and industrial waste. Visitors to the town are often overwhelmed by the rotten egg smell and feel faint after five minutes of breathing in the air. Vegetables produced in the fields are discolored and sometimes black. Residents suffer from abnormally high cancer rates.

One third of peasants in the village Badbui are mentally ill or seriously ill. Women report high numbers of miscarriages and many people die in middle age. The culprit is believed to be drinking water drawn from the Yellow River downstream from a fertilizer plant.

The waters around Taizhou in Zhejiang, the home of Hisun Pharmaceutical, one of China's largest drug makers, are so contaminated with sludge and chemicals that fishermen complain their hands and legs become ulcerated, and in extreme cases need amputation. Studies have show that people who live around the city have high cancer and birth defect rates.

Yangtze pollution

Polluted Yangtze, Pearl and Yellow Rivers

China's three great rivers---the Yangtze, Pearl and Yellow River---are so filthy that it is dangerous to swim or eat fish caught in them. Parts of the Pearl River in Guangzhou are so thick, dark and soupy it looks like one could walk across it. Industrial toxins were blamed for turning the Yangtze an alarming shade of red in 2012.

In recent years pollution has become a problem on the Yellow River. By one count 4,000 of China's 20,000 petrochemical factories are on the Yellow River and a third of all fish species found in the Yellow River have become extinct because of dams, falling water levels, pollution and over fishing.

More than 80 percent of the Hai-Huaih Yellow river basin is chronically polluted. In October 2006, a one kilometer section of the Yellow River turned red in the city of Lanzhou in Gansu Province as result of a "red and smelly" discharge from a sewage pipe. In December 2005, six tons of diesel oil leaked into a tributary of the Yellow River from a pipe that cracked because of freezing conditions. It produced a 40 mile long slick. Sixty-three water pumps had to be shut down, including some in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province.

The Yangtze River is polluted with 40 million tons of industrial and sewage waste. Half of China's 20,000 petrochemical factories lie on its banks. About 40 percent of all waste water produced in China---about 25 billion tons---flows into the Yangtze, of which only about 20 percent is treated beforehand.

The pollution has taken its toll on aquatic life. Fish catches from the river declined from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to 100,000 tons in the 1990s. The Yangtze is in danger of becoming a "dead river" unable to sustain marine life or providing drinking water. According to report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences released in April 2007 the Yangtze is seriously and largely irreversibly polluted. More than 600 kilometers of its length and almost 30 percent of its major tributaries are in critical condition.

Sections of the Grand Canal that have water deep enough to accommodate boats are often filled with trash sewage and oil slicks. Chemical waste and fertilizer and pesticide run-off empties into the canal. The water is mostly brownish green. People who drink it often get diarrhea and break out in rashes.

Polluted Lakes, Canals and Coastal Areas in China

Some lakes are in equally bad shape. China's great lakes---the Tai, Chao and Dianchi---have water that is rated Grade V, the most degraded level. It is unfit for drinking or for agricultural or industrial use.

Describing China's fifth-biggest lake a Wall Street Journal reporter wrote: "The slow, hot days of summer are here, and sun-fed algae is starting to clot the milky surface of Chao Lake. Soon a living scum will carpet a patch the size of New York City. It will quickly blacken and rot...The smell is so terrible you can not describe it."

Canals, See Changzhou, Places

Apple Accused of Making a River Runs Black

In many cases factories fouling critical water sources are making goods consumed by people in the U.S. and Europe. Problems created by China's water pollution are not just confined to China either. Water pollution and garbage produced in China floats down its rivers to the sea and is carried by prevailing winds and currents to Japan and South Korea.

In March 2012, Peter Smith wrote in The Times, Beyond the brick cottages of Tongxin runs Lou Xia Bang, once the soul of the farming village and a river where, until the digital revolution, children swam and mothers washed rice. Today it flows black: a chemical mess heavy with the stench of China's high-tech industry---the hidden companion of the world's most famous electronics brands and a reason the world gets its gadgets on the cheap. [Source: Peter Smith, The Times, March 9, 2012]

The article then goes on to describe how the town of Tongxin was being affected by chemical waste from local factories that, as well as turning the river black, has caused a "phenomenal" increase in cancer rates in Tongxin (according to research by five Chinese non-governmental organisations). The factories have grown up in the last few years and make circuit boards, touch screens and the casings of smartphones, laptops and tablet computers. As usual in these cases, Apple was mentioned---although the evidence appears to be a little sketchy as to whether these factories are actually players in the Apple supply chain. [Source: Spendmatter UK/Europe blog]

Smith wrote in the Times: "Workers at the Kaedar factory, five metres from a kindergarten where children have complained of dizziness and nausea, have secretly confirmed that products had left the factory bearing the Apple trademark."

Red Tides, Salt Tides and Algae Bloom in China

Algae blooms, or eutrophication, in lakes are caused by too much nutrients in the water. They turn lakes green and suffocate fish by depleting the oxygen. They are often caused by human and animal waste and run off of chemical fertilizers. Similar conditions create red tides in the sea.

The government estimates that $240 million worth of damage and economic loses was caused by 45 major red tides between 1997 and 1999. Describing a red tide near the town of Aotoum that left the seas blanketed with dead fish and fishermen badly in debt, a fisherman told the Los Angeles Times, "The sea turned dark, like tea. If you talk to the fishermen around here, they'll all break into tears."

In some places the Chinese have tried to minimize the damage caused by algae blooms by pumping oxygen into the water and containing the blooms by adding clay which acts as a magnet for algae. A lack funds keeps China from tackling the problem using more conventional means.

A severe drought in 2006, caused large amounts of seawater to flow upstream on the Xinjiang River in southern China. In Macau salinity levels in the river jumped to almost three time above the World Health Organization standards. To combat the problem water was diverted into it from the Beijiang River in Guangdong.

Algae bloom in a Yunnan lake

Water Bodies Struck by Algae Blooms in China

Red tides have increased in their numbers and severity in coastal areas of China, particularly in Bohai Bay off eastern China, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Large red tides have occurred around the Zhoushan Islands near Shanghai.

In May and June 2004, two huge red tides, covering a total area size of 1.3 million soccer fields, developed in Bohai Bay. One occurred near the mouth of the Yellow River and affected an area of 1,850 square kilometers. Another struck near the port city of Tianjin and covered nearly 3,200 square kilometers. It was blamed on the dumping of large amounts of waste water and sewage into the bay and rivers leading into the bay.

In June 2007, coastal waters off the booming industrial town of Shenzhen were hit by one the biggest ever red tides. It produced a 50 square kilometer slick and was caused by pollution and persisted because of a lack of rain.

There were large algae blooms in freshwater lakes throughout China in 2007. Some were blamed on pollution. Others were blamed on drought. In Jiangsu Province the water level in one lake dropped to its lowest level in 50 years and became inundated with blue-green algae that produced smelly, undrinkable water.

Huge Algae Bloom Strikes the Coastal Chinese City of Qingdao

China's coastal waters are suffering "acute" pollution, with the size of the worst affected areas soaring by more than 50 percent last year, an official body said. The state oceanic administration (SOA) said 68,000 square kilometers (26,300 square miles) of sea had the worst official pollution rating in 2012, up 24,000 square kilometers on 2011. [Source: Economic Times, (March 21, 2013)

Andrew Jacobs wrote in the New York Times, "In what has become an annual summer scourge, the coastal Chinese city of Qingdao has been hit by a near-record algae bloom that has left its popular beaches fouled with a green, stringy muck. The State Oceanic Administration said an area larger than the state of Connecticut had been affected by the mat of "sea lettuce," as it is known in Chinese, which is generally harmless to humans but chokes off marine life and invariably chases away tourists as it begins to rot. [Source: Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, July 5, 2013 |~|]

"Some beachgoers appeared to be amused by the outbreak, at least according to the Chinese media, which in recent days has featured startling images of swimmers lounging on bright green beds of algae, tossing it around with glee or piling it atop of one another as if it were sand. Local officials, however, are less enthused. They declared a "large-scale algae disaster," dispatching hundreds of boats and bulldozers to clean up the waters off Qingdao. With a few days workers and volunteers had cleared about 19,800 tons of the algae, according to the Qingdao government. While valued for its nutrition - or as an ingredient in fertilizers and biomass energy production - algae in large quantities can prove dangerous as it decomposes, producing toxic hydrogen sulfide gas. It also smells like rotten eggs. |~|

"The green tide, spread over 7,500 square miles is thought to be twice the size of an outbreak in 2008 that threatened sailing events during the Beijing Olympics, which took place around Qingdao. At the time, officials deployed boats, helicopters and 10,000 workers to keep the waters clear for the competition. The cleanup costs were later estimated at more than $30 million. Abalone, clam and sea cucumber farms suffered more than $100 million in damage, according to a 2011 study by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences. An outbreak in 2009 was even bigger, affecting a stretch of the Yellow Sea nearly as large as West Virginia. |~|

Causes of Huge Algae Bloom Off of Qingdao

Andrew Jacobs wrote in the New York Times, "Although biologists are at a loss to explain the most recent algae bloom, scientists suspect it is connected to pollution and increased seaweed farming in the province just south of Shandong. While similar green tides have been reported around the world, the annual bloom in the Yellow Sea is considered the largest, growing to an estimated million tons of biomass each year. [Source: Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, July 5, 2013 |~|]

The green tides were first reported in Qingdao in 2007. A key factor is the high supply of nutrients from agricultural runoff and wastewater. But those pollutants have been in the Yellow Sea for decades, leading scientists to look for new triggers. A group of researchers believe that the algae that washes up around Qingdao originates farther south in seaweed farms along the coast of Jiangsu Province. The farms grow porphyra, known as nori in Japanese cuisine, on large rafts in coastal waters. The rafts attract a kind of algae called ulva prolifera, and when the farmers clean them off each spring they spread the fast-growing algae out into the Yellow Sea, where it finds nutrients and warm temperatures ideal for blooming. |~|

"It feeds off those nutrients and grows bigger and bigger and eventually you can see it from satellites," said John Keesing, a scientist at the CSIRO Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research in Australia who is studying the green tide with Chinese researchers. "The currents gently move the algae in a northeastern direction out into the center of the Yellow Sea. You get a huge amount, and eventually it starts to wash on shore." |~|

"While farmers have long grown seaweed along the Jiangsu coast for consumption, the rafts expanded much farther offshore starting in 2006, which may have contributed to the recent blooms, according to an article published last May by Mr. Keesing and his colleagues. The answer to curtailing the blooms may lie in disposing of the algae that clogs the nori rafts on land. "We haven't suggested people stop growing porphyra, but proper husbandry methods to prevent much of the waste algae from going into sea, that's probably the only preventive measure that could be deployed," he said.

Lake Tai Pollution

Lake Tai is often choked with industrial waste from factories producing paper, film and dyes, urban sewage and agricultural run-off. It sometimes is covered with green algae as a result of nitrogen and phosphate pollution. Locals complain of polluted irrigation water that causes their skin to peal, dyes that turn the water red and fumes that sting their eyes.

Dams built for flood control and irrigation have prevented Lake Tai's from flushing out pesticides and fertilizers that flow into it. Particularly damaging are phosphates which suck out life-sustaining oxygen. Starting in the 1980s a number of chemical factories were built on its shores. As of the late 1990s there were 2,800 chemical factories around the lake, some of which released their waste directly into the lake in the middle of the night to avoid detection.

Lake Tai Algae Blooms

Reporting from Zhoutie, near Lake Tai, William Wan wrote in Washington Post, "You smell the lake before you see it, an overwhelming stench like rotten eggs mixed with manure. The visuals are just as bad, the shore caked with toxic blue-green algae. Farther out, where the algae is more diluted but equally fueled by pollution, it swirls with the currents, a vast network of green tendrils across the surface of Tai Lake." [Source: William Wan, Washington Post, October 29, 2010]

"Such pollution problems are now widespread in China after three decades of unbridled economic growth. But what's surprising about Tai Lake is the money and attention that's been spent on the problem and how little either has accomplished. Some of the country's highest-ranking leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, have declared it a national priority. Millions of dollars have been poured into the cleanup. And yet, the lake is still a mess. The water remains undrinkable, the fish nearly gone, the fetid smell lingering over villages." [Ibid]

"At Tai Lake, part of the problem is that the same industrial factories poisoning the water also transformed the region into an economic powerhouse. Shutting them down, local leaders say, would destroy the economy overnight. In fact, many of the factories shut down during the 2007 scandal have since reopened under different names, environmentalists say." [Ibid]

"Tai Lake is the embodiment of China's losing fight against pollution. This summer, the government said that, despite stricter rules, pollution is rising again across the country in key categories such as emissions of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain. Just months before, the government had revealed that water pollution was more than twice as severe as previous official figures had shown." [Ibid]

The algae bloom on Lake Tai was caused by toxic cyanobacteria, commonly called pond scum. It turned much of the lake florescent green and produced a terrible stench that could be smelled miles away from the lake. The Lake Tai bloom became a symbol of China's lack of environmental regulations. Afterwards a high-level meeting on the lake's future was convened, with Beijing closing down hundreds of chemical factories and promising to spend $14.4 billion to clean up the lake.

Lake Tai Activist

Wu Lihong, a peasant who worked for a while as a salesman, had been trying to draw attention to the condition of Lake Tai for more than a decade. William Wan wrote in Washington Post, "The story of Tai Lake is a story of high-level promises and lower-level reneging, of economic interests superceding environmental ones. And it is an illustration of China's awkward relationship with environmental activists, who challenge the government's authority but are often the loudest force pushing its new environmental priorities on the local level.No one knows this story better than Wu Lihong. For almost two decades, Wu - a peasant living along the lake,- waged a one-man campaign to clean it up. He kept track of the thousands of factories springing up along its shores and took pictures of the untreated waste they discharged into the lake. He mailed water samples to inspectors, called TV stations and spoke out in the face of threats from factory bosses and local leaders. [Source: William Wan, Washington Post, October 29, 2010]

"His actions cost him his job, threatened his marriage and landed him in prison for three years. He returned home this spring to find the lake virtually unchanged. Now, with no job prospects and few friends willing to risk a visit, he spends much of his time alone at home, mulling over what he has sacrificed - whether it was worth it, and whether he should continue." [Ibid]

"To hear Wu's story firsthand is to witness the paranoia he now lives in. A short, baby-faced man, Wu, 42, assumes his cellphone is tapped and prefers meeting strangers in obscure spots outside town. After agreeing to take a reporter to his home, Wu pulls up his shorts to reveal a two-inch scar on his inner thigh. He said he got it a few weeks ago by the lake when two thugs attacked him with a knife. He points to rounder scars along his arm and his hands - cigarette burns, he said, from police interrogations." [Ibid]

"At first, there were other villagers reporting the pollution, too," said Han Yaobing, 60, who was one of them. "But everyone gave up under the pressure of authorities. He was the only one left." After Chinese and foreign media picked up his story, Wu became a national hero and by 2005 was being praised by Chinese and international organizations. That year, China's highest-ranking legislative body, the National People's Congress, declared him one of China's top 10 environmental activists and flew him to a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing."

Lake Tai Activist Harassed, Arrested and Imprisoned

Around the time of the algae bloom Wu Lihong was sentenced to three years in jail on trumped charges. At the time of his arrest he was preparing to go to Beijing with photographs and other documentation of dumping by chemical factories in the lake. Wu had been particularly outraged by the designation of Yixing, the home of many chemical factories, as a "Model City for Environmental Protection." Wu's conviction was based on a confession that Wu said was coerced with torture and five straight days of sleep deprivation.

William Wan wrote in Washington Post, "All that changed in 2007, when - just two years after Beijing lauded him for his work trying to protect the lake - Wu learned that the central government planned to award his city the title of "National Model City for Environmental Protection," praising the very local officials Wu had fought for years. Wu was furious. He started gathering more evidence, telling friends he planned to sue the central government over the title. Within weeks, he was arrested." [Source: William Wan, Washington Post, October 29, 2010]

"The exact charges changed several times, and most were ultimately dropped. In the end, Wu's conviction on two charges of blackmail and fraud relied heavily on his confession, which Wu says he signed after being hung by the arms for five days and beaten with branches. While he was in prison, authorities put his wife and daughter under 24-hour surveillance. Shortly before Wu's release, the guards in front of his house were replaced by three traffic cameras erected on the single-lane road leading to his farmhouse." [Ibid]

In the face of this bleak future, Wu now questions whether he sacrificed everything for nothing. "Maybe I should have just focused on making a living, raising my family," he says in his living room, holding his wife's string of carved monkeys. "But this is where I live. A man cannot just run away to Shangri-La while his home is ruined." Across the room, Wu's wife says little. Because Wu can't find a job, she now works two - one at a wool factory and the second, ironically, at a chemical plant on Tai Lake." [Ibid]

"Improvements" at Tai Lake

As Tai Lake became a national scandal, hundreds of industrial plants were shut down, local officials were dismissed, and billions of dollars were committed to clean it up. It became part of the new nationwide push to tackle air quality, forest preservation and water pollution. Beijing has earmarked $16 billion to clean up Lake Tai. William Wan wrote in Washington Post, "Progress since then, however, has proved elusive. By some standards, the lake has improved. The level of nitrogen and phosphorus - ingredients for algae growth - have decreased slightly. By others measures, such as overall water quality, the lake has gotten worse. According to government statistics in July, 85 percent of the lake was put in the worst possible category for water quality, unsuitable for drinking, irrigation or even recreation." [Source: William Wan, Washington Post, October 29, 2010]

"Meanwhile, plant executives argue they have already done their part by installing new discharge treatment machines. But water quality experts jokingly call the new equipment "on/off machines," because they say the machines are only turned on during inspections. But the worst sign of all is the fact that almost every city on the lake has quietly begun finding other sources of drinking water. The projects, which are costly but seldom publicized, indicate that even as local authorities devote billions to repairing the lake, few believe it will recover." "The fear is that once these cities no longer depend on the lake for drinking water, the urgency will disappear," said Ma Jun, director of the non-governmental Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs. [Ibid]

Efforts to Combat Water Pollution in China

In August 2006, the Chinese government admitted that China has serious water pollution and drinking water problems and earmarked $132 billion for cleaning up and improving China's water supply. Allocations included $30 billion for urban water supply projects and $50 million in wastewater projects. Projects include sewages works, pipes, desalination plants and the South-North Water Diversion Program. Environmentalists estimate that for China to truly address it water problems it needs to spend $300 billion alone on antipollution equipment.

Chinas want to reduce water pollution discharges by 10 percent between 2008 and 2010. More than $8 billion was spent on cleaning up the Huai River basin in Henan and Anhui Province in the 1980s and 1990s. Great progress was made. In the mid 1990s the clean up was heralded as a great success and much of the work stopped. By the mid 2000s the river was polluted again, in many cases worse than it was before.

Laws on the books are widely ignored. There is little transparency. Money earmarked for waste water projects is sometime re-appropriated to build power plants. Local officials have close relationships with business owners that own the factories and mines that cause the pollution.

In some cases the local governments that are supposed to do something about pollution are the same ones that own the factories that do the polluting. That is the case with huge MSG factory In Xiangcheng in Henan Province which employs 8,000 people and produces toxins like ammonia nitrate. One official who spoke anonymously to the New York Times said of the government in Xiangcheng: "There are a lot of officials who don't care about pollution. Some leaders are just interested in making money."

Sometimes there are protests. In July 2007, police clashed with thousands of people in Yuanshi, a town in Sichuan Province, angry over pollution of local water supplies by a brewery. Seven villager were detained and 20 were injured. The protest began after the brewery dumped waste water which contaminated drinking and irrigation water.

Private Companies Battle Water Pollution in China

Many Chinese cities have outsourced their water treatment to large private companies. The French company Veolia alone manages water systems in 17 Chinese cities, including Changzhou, Lizhou and Shanghai. The water situation in these cities has been dramatically improved but residents now have to pay a significant amount of money for water that in the past was free or nearly free. [Source: Vanity Fair]

In Shanghai, where Veolia has a $243 million, $50-year contract, the French company has laid 900 miles of large diameter pipes, hooked up 300,000 new structures to the water system, built sewage and water treatment plants and hired 7,000 local people between 2002 and 2006. To pay for all those Veolia is gradually raising water prices.

Some pensioners in Lizhou pay a quarter of their $40 a month pensions for water. When asked about conserving water, one pensioner said he lived an building, with 70 or so apartments and his water bill was determined by dividing the total bill for the apartment among its residents, meaning that one person's effort to conserve water would bring few rewards if others wasted water.

Long Cun is a large village on the Liu River in Guanxi Province that is down river from a paper mill that dumped so much pollutants into the water the river became "as black as soy sauce.." Villagers complained and have been given piped water from the city of Lizhou. The only problem is that the residents of the town have to pay four dollars a month for their water, a considerable sum for people that only earn $20 to $30 a month.

Chinese Water Pollution Worsens Despite Efforts to Curb It

In July 2010, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, told the China Daily, the number of accidents fouling the air and water doubled during the first half of 2010, with an average of 10 each month. The report also found that more than a quarter of the country rivers, lakes and streams were too contaminated to be used for drinking water. Acid rain, it added, has become a problem in nearly 200 of the 440 cities it monitored. [Source: Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, July 28, 2010]

Water treatment facilities built by the national government are sometimes left idle by their local operators because of the high cost of operating them. Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun told the Washington Post, "Hundreds of sewage plants have been built around China, but we haven't seen our water getting cleaner. We have more than 600 records of violations by sewage plants discharging above standards or simply not treating it at all or properly disposing of the sludge."

Chinese Environment Official Challenged to Swim in River

In February 2013, Jonathan Kaiman wrote in The Guardian, "an eyeglass-retailer executive from Rui'an City, coastal Zhejiang province, offered the city's environmental protection chief Bao Zhenming more than £20,000 to take a 20-minute dip in a highly polluted local river. The entrepreneur, Jin Zengmin, posted the dare to his microblog beneath pictures showing the waterway overflowing with discarded aluminum cans, polystyrene boxes and paper lanterns. He blamed the river's industrial demise on dumping by a local rubber shoe factory. The Rui'an government responded by saying that most of the river's pollution was caused by individuals, not factories, and could be attributed to overpopulation. Bao has since declined the offer. [Source: Jonathan Kaiman, The Guardian, February 21, 2013]

The challenge to Bao came as the government announced on Thursday that it will force heavily polluting industries to participate in a compulsory insurance programme to ensure they can adequately provide compensation for damage. The mining and smelting industries must participate in the scheme, along with lead battery manufacturers, leather goods firms and chemical factories. Petrochemical companies and firms that make hazardous chemicals and hazardous waste would also be encouraged to participate.

Reuters reported: "Chen Yuqian, 60, a farmer from the town of Pailian in eastern Zhejiang province, said he has been beaten up five times in his decade-long fight against soil and water pollution --beatings for which he blames local officials. On February 20, Chen issued a challenge on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, daring officials from the local environment protection bureau to swim in a stretch of polluted river. He offered 300,000 yuan ($48,200) as a reward. [Source: Sui-Lee Wee and Adam Jourdan, Reuters, March 10, 2013]

"Four days later, dozens of men, carrying sticks and rocks, charged into his home and started smashing things, Chen said. "They are trying to scare me so that I don't petition anymore, so that I don't report on the pollution anymore," Chen said. Xu Shuifa, the Communist Party secretary of the district that governs Chen's village, told Reuters by telephone that he had no links to the attackers and said the attack was linked to a land dispute Chen has with three of his neighbors. Back in Beijing, Dong, the attorney, said he had filed an appeal with the environment ministry for the soil survey data and expected a decision within two months. He said he would go to court if he was denied. ////

Image Sources: 1) Northeast Blog; 2) Gary Braasch; 3) ESWN, Environmental News; 4, 5) China Daily, Environmental News ; 6) NASA; 7, 8) Xinhua, Environmental News ; YouTube

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton's Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

&copy 2008 Jeffrey Hays

Last updated April 2014

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Water shortages and water pollution in China are such a problem that the World Bank warns of "catastrophic consequences for future generations." Half of China's population lacks safe drinking water. Nearly two thirds of China's rural population---more than 500 million people---use water contaminated by human and industrial waste.

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Sean Gallagher - Photographer & Filmmaker, Beijing, China

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A young couple, Ms. Lu and Mr. Li, hold hands during a walk through Beijing's Olympic Park. "I'm pretty sad about this. It's worse and worse", explains Li. "I think the pollution is bad for our health. The PM2.5 damages our lungs [but] we don't have any choice", he laments. "I left China two and half years ago. Then it wasn't so bad. I've been abroad. I know what's good [air] and what's bad. Young people care more than old people. We have more information. We know how bad it is." PM2.5 reading - 218 - Very Unhealthy

Liu (33), a sharply-dressed office worker in central Beijing. "I started to use the mask 3 years ago. Of course I am worried about the pollution. I bought them for everyone in my family and forced them to wear it." PM2.5 reading - 170 - Unhealthy

Ms. Zeng (21), a student, burns incense while making wishes at a shrine inside Beijing's Lama Temple. "I think the weather is bad. I started using the mask about one year ago because of the pollution." PM2.5 reading - 261 - Very Unhealthy

Qi (name changed), a 13-year old middle school student, wears an advanced air filtration mask in central Beijing. "I'm more concerned about the pollution than my parents. Since 2012, my parents told me to stay inside more. I asked my parents to buy this for me. My classmates think I'm strange." PM2.5 reading - 188 - Unhealthy

A tourist (name withheld) from Heilongjiang province, in north-west China, visits the Olympic green in central Beijing. "I knew from TV that the air quality is bad in Beijing, so I bought it before I came here", she says. " In Heilongjiang, the air is better than here but in the [city] downtown area it's similar". PM2.5 reading - 218 - Very Unhealthy

A young girl pauses for a moment while riding her bike through Beijing's Ditan Park. PM2.5 reading - 261 - Very Unhealthy

A young boy stands with his mother at a bus stop in the west of Beijing. As well as the elderly, children are particularly susceptible to the adverse health effects of air pollution.Many young children can now be seen on the streets of Beijing wearing masks, in an effort by their families to protect them. PM2.5 reading - 204 - Very Unhealthy

Mr. Liu (56) and Mrs. Wang (54), a married couple in Beijing, sit on a bench in the capital's Ditan Park. Their unique pollution masks are designed to filter air breathed through the nose, with exhalation then from the mouth. They are one of the new types of masks now appearing as alternatives to the traditional face mask. "We started using these one month ago", explains Mr. Liu. "This one is more comfortable. It filters out 95% of the pollution." PM2.5 reading - 367 - Hazardous

Ms. Liu (30) pauses during a walk through one of Beijing's traditional hutong neighbourhoods. "Of course I worry about the pollution", she says. "I don't have a good stomach or throat, so I pay attention to the pollution. I think this issues should of been addressed year ago." PM2.5 reading - 107 - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

In Beijing's TianTan Park, a woman plays with a Jianzi, a traditional Chinese game which requires the participants to keep it in the air by kicking. PM2.5 reading - 89 - Moderate

An elderly man performs to Tai Chi in Beijing's TianTan Park. The elderly and young are some of the most susceptible to the effects of air pollution, however this does not deter hundreds of the city's elderly residents who go to the parks everyday to socialise and exercise, no matter what the air quality. PM2.5 reading - 89 - Moderate

Ms. Pan (left) and Ms. Zhu (right) are co-workers in an Environmental Landscape Design company in Beijing. "The weather is too bad"' explains Ms. Pan. "It's really uncomfortable. I can already feel the cough and headaches. In my professional area, we discuss [this issue] a lot. The air is getting worse and worse." PM2.5 reading - 196 - Unhealthy

Students Liu (21), Xu (22) and Han (21) stand near the Olympic Swimming Center during a visit to Beijing from southern China. "We never wore a mask before. After we arrived in Beijing we bought it", explains Liu. "The air quality is not good", continues Xu. "More and more people pay attention to this. We should pay more attention to this problem. Every person has to start the change." PM2.5 reading - 218 - Very Unhealthy

Mrs. Huang (40), a life long Beijing resident. "About 4-5 years ago I started using masks. I don't feel comfortable in my lungs.", she explains. "Of course there's been a big change in the air. Since the 1980's there were sandstorms. Then it got better. Around 2000, industry got more and more and the air got bad." PM2.5 reading - 188 - Unhealthy

A couple, Ms. Hu (27) and Mr. Teng (27), stand underneath a propaganda poster depicting an idyllic Beijing life, in the city's Xidan shopping district. PM2.5 reading - 102 - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

Ren (27), a student and Beijing resident, stands in the cities modern CBD area. "I started using the mask last year when the pollution got bad. I didn't pay much attention before that", he explains. "I don't like wearing it but I have to. I watched the [Chai Jing] documentary many times. I shared it with everyone. Now, I pay attention to our behaviour. The documentary inspired me. The future? It's hard to get the environment back. I'm thinking about emigrating." PM2.5 reading - 184 - Unhealthy

Ms. Wang (37), an office worker in Beijing, wears a distinctive blue mask that she uses for skiing and doubles in purpose to protect her from air pollution. PM2.5 reading - 170 - Unhealthy

Li (23), a sales worker from Hebei Province stands on the platform in Beijing's subway system. Many residents now not only wear the masks outdoors but also in indoor public spaces and on public transportation. "The pollution is too much. I have worn [the mask] since 2013. My home city, Shijiazhuang, is more polluted!" PM2.5 reading - 191 - Unhealthy

Li, a 17-year old beautician from Shandong province, stands in Beijing's Xidan shopping district. "I study here in Beijing. The air is bad"' she says. "Two years ago I started wearing [the mask]. It helps protect my skin. There are too many people here in China which has ruined the environment." PM2.5 reading - 102 - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

Xue (29), an engineer visiting Beijing's Lama Temple. "Of course it's not comfortable but we have to put it [the mask] on. I wore it earlier than most. I started about 4 years ago. I cough when I smell the dust." PM2.5 reading - 200 - Unhealthy

An elderly man in a wheelchair watches a fellow Beijinger draw Chinese characters with water into the dusty pavement. PM2.5 reading - 367 - Hazardous

Drolmaj, an editor with a local publishing company, during her morning walk in central Beijing. "The pollution makes me sad. I feel sad to live here. When I first came here there was blue sky and white clouds. It's a big problem here." PM2.5 reading - 365 - Hazardous

Mrs. Liu sits with her daughter in a small garden outside of her office in the west of Beijing. "I want to protect my daughter. She's young. She isn't able to protect herself", she explains as to why she makes her daughter wear a mask. "I'm sure the PM2.5 is bad for people's health. I'm thinking of sending her overseas. I think it will take a long time to clear the air. I don't want my daughter to have to live with this situation." PM2.5 reading - 204 - Very Unhealthy

Miss Song (30), from Dongbei Province, stands near an ornate gate in Beijing's Ditan Park. "It's very dirty here. I started using the mask last year. From the year before last, China started to get this pollution. Pollution was a very new word for me. At that time, we started to know more about "2.5". My family don't wear masks. I suggested they use them but they didn't do it." - PM2.5 reading - 365 - Hazardous

Mrs. Zhang (62), a retiree in Beijing, stands near a wall in the capital's Ditan Park. "Last year I bought a professional mask because I had a bad throat. The pollution made it worse. I think they are a bit strange looking. These past two years I've been wearing them. During the polluted days I definitely wear them. During the spring festival the pollution was really bad. I'm really scared of the pollution." PM2.5 reading - 365 - Hazardous

Zhao (25), an office worker, stands on a bridge above a busy highway in the centre of Beijing. PM2.5 reading - 223 - Very Unhealthy

Beijing, China - March, 2015

"I'm really scared of the pollution", says Mrs. Zhang, a 62-year old retiree who has just finished her morning exercises in Beijing's Ditan park. Like many other of the city's elderly residents, she heads out each morning to take part in communal exercises that range from dancing and singing, to kung fu.

On this warm spring morning in mid-March, a familiar haze sits in they air however, keeping the residents of Beijing snugly enveloped underneath its cover. Beijingers have become acutely aware of what this dystopian phenomenon is.

A quick check via one of the numerous online apps reveals the air pollution level is high again. This morning its at 356. "Hazardous"' according to the US Embassy's Air Quality Index (AQI) monitor. "Serious aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly; serious risk of respiratory effects in general population", it advises. "Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion."

"Last year I bought a professional mask because I had a bad throat. The pollution made it worse", Mrs. Zhang continues, speaking loudly to break through the fabric that presses close to her mouth.

She is one of many Beijingers that are taking self-protection into their own hands, as part of of a new public trend that is seeing more and more people using the air pollution mask.

A quick walk down most streets in Beijing, from the old hutong alleyways to the modern business districts, will reveal all types and ages of people sporting a variety of different shaped and coloured masks.

Underneath the gleaming white and silver skyscrapers of the Guomao central business district area, Ren, a student and lifelong Beijing resident, struggles to make himself heard through his specialist 3M pollution mask. "I started using the mask last year when the pollution got bad. I didn't pay much attention before that", he explains. "I don't like wearing it but I have to."

Air pollution has been back in the news recently as a new documentary, produced by Chinese journalist Chai Jing, revealed more details about the social, health and environmental impacts on Chinese citizens. Its phenomenal success online, having been watched over 100 million times, has helped increase awareness of the problem and has partly influenced the new personal health trend of the air pollution mask, as individual Chinese citizens try to protect themselves.

"I watched the documentary many times", continues Ren. "I shared it with everyone. Now, I pay attention to our behaviour. The documentary inspired me. The future? It's hard to get the environment back. I'm thinking about emigrating."

From the old to the young, all ages can now be found sporting masks of various shapes, sizes and colours.

Most striking however is the sight of young children whose parents and families are trying to protect their young lungs from the harmful air. "I want to protect my daughter. She's young. She isn't able to protect herself", explains Mrs. Liu, an office worker in the west of Beijing. "I'm sure the PM2.5 is bad for people's health. I'm thinking of sending her overseas. I think it will take a long time to clear the air. I don't want my daughter to have to live with this situation."

On Saturday 28th March, Beijing was hit by the first sandstorm of the year which combined with air pollution to send particulate matter levels to record highs. A once common phenomenon in the capital, dust storms originating in the deserts of north and north-west China continue to plague the capital during the spring months. Desertification in China is a little talked about issue but continues to fuel sand and dust storms, occasionally reminding urbanites of the severe environmental challenges facing the north of the country, just on the capital's doorstep.

News this month announced the closure of Beijing's last coal-fired power station, along with the introduction of a new pollution classification system that will see factories closed and construction sites shut down if pollution levels rise above the level of 200, the mark at which the air is deemed "heavily polluted". These are small but hopeful steps that are moving in the right direction to clean up the city's notoriously bad air.

For the time being however, Beijing's residents are taking it upon themselves to protect themselves from the day to day challenges of living under some of the world's most polluted skies.

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Beijing - The Masked City - Sean Gallagher - Photographer & Filmmaker, Beijing, China

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A young couple, Ms. Lu and Mr. Li, hold hands during a walk through Beijing's Olympic Park. "I'm pretty sad about this. It's worse and worse", explains Li. "I think the pollution is bad for our health. The PM2.5 damages our lungs [but] we don't have any choice", he laments.