Job Discussion Forums

Volodiya · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 6:05 am Post subject:

The place I live, Kunming, is a city of four million that is neither polluted, nor dirty. It is a modern, Chinese city with lots of very tall buildings and wide streets. In fact, it is quite a nice place to live. My apt is located on the edge of Green Lake Park, in the center of the city. The entire province offers places of stunning beauty for short visits. It's really not necessary to live in any one of the "six of the ten most polluted cities in the world", to live and work in China.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Interestin g post but slightly misleading.
FIrst of all, of course KUNMING HAS ITS POLLUTION PROBLEMS TOO. Can you sweim in Lak Dian? I wouldn't dare!
And airborne construction dust and exhaust gases render Kunming's air as bad as almost any CHinese city's.

In JAN WONG'S book about her years in CUlt Revol.ution China she states that in those bad old days at least one problem didn't exist: air pollution (although it must have existed then too as people used coal bricks to heat their homes and to cook).
She returned there shortly after Deng's taking power with the attendant changes to the economy; 25 years back, and she already noticed a HUGE diffrerence in the quality of air: she couldn't see the Fragrant Hills 25 kms away from her downtown office.

BUt I do agree with you that the air in general is better in Kunming than in Peking or Shanghai (let alone Guangzhou!). Every time I go to Kunming I feel like my lungs are being cleansed.

BUt there aren't enough jobs on offer for all of us who would love to move there.

Zero Hero · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 944

Volodiya · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 7:56 am Post subject:

Roger wrote:

NickH · Joined: 29 Jul 2005 Posts: 40

2 over lee · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:27 pm Post subject:

From the link provided above>

"By 2020, about 550,000 Chinese will be dying prematurely of chronic bronchitis from airborne pollution, and tens of millions will be affected by respiratory distress, Economy writes. Toxic drinking water may be responsible for the astronomical rates of cancer in provinces like Anhui. Most farmers in central China may be forced off their land within a decade, as the land becomes dry and desertlike."

I hate to do it, but it seems the classical Greek, Biblical, tower of Babel style revenge (insert story from any religion or mythology with this theme, Ali Baba, Daedalus, the Ark) for those who chased their desires with a disregard for everything but their own pride........

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

The Washington Post article that Zero Hero cites on the previous page also says the following:

"Even Hong Kong, by far the wealthiest part of the country, now frequently suffers from such horrific air pollution that its breathtaking skyline is almost totally obscured on some days."

2 over lee · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:42 am Post subject:

Henry....err, yes it does.....and you are trying to say what exactly?

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

It was just an interesting point made in that article. I'd thought that Hong Kong's topography and geographic location might have spared it from the severe pollution problems found in a large inland megalopolis. I guess Hong Kong is just as wild and uncontrolled as the rest of the mainland.

shatov · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 21

It isn't all that surprising that Hong Kong suffers from pollution problems. Japan suffers from Chinese pollution blown over the Japan sea, creating a permanent haze. Hong Kong is much much closer.