Job Discussion Forums

[KarenB]

Lots of questions here about "best" cities to teach in -- well, here's the best and worst in terms of clean air and other environmental concerns.

Worse:
1-3) Linfen, Yangquan & Datong (all in Shanxi province -- actually, probably any city in Shanxi has poor air quality due to coal industry.
4) Shizuishan (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region)
5) Sanmenxia (Henan Province)
6) Jinchang (Gansu Province)
7) Shijiazhuang (Hebei Province)
8 Xianyang (Shaanxi Province)
9) Zhuzhou (Hunan Province)
10) Luoyang (Henan Province)

(Beijing ranked as 28th worst city)

Best cities
Most advanced environmental infrastructure (all coastal cities)
1) Dalian
2) Yantai
3) Shenzhen
4) Zhuhai
5) Haikou

The top five environmentally friendly cities (all from South China)

1) Haikou (Hainan Province)
2) Zhuhai (Guangdong Province)
3) Zhanjiang (Guangdong)
4) Guilin (Guangxi)
5) Beihai (Guangxi)



Reference this article for whole story:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/15/content_348397.htm

[jammish]

I'm surprised shenzhen is rated as one of the best. I thought it was supposed to be a dump.

[2 over lee]

Shenzhen is a dump, but Yantai is a real dump -citywise that is - the coastline is quite nice.

Thanks for the info KarenB

[jammish]

I would have to agree about Dalian having a decent environment. Well, I'm out in Kafaqu (actually hardly ever go into the centre). In one direction I have a very pleasant park with a proper big grassy area on which one can sit (unusual in China) - like a real English park!, in another the seafront, and in another Da Hei Shan, which I can see on clear days (which, granted, aren't every day).

A real improvement on Wuhan.

That said, the pollution can still be bad.

[KarenB]

Yes, well this is all on a comparison basis with other Chinese cities, of course. And we have to remember that 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China. These "good" cities still might not compare favorably with wherever you're from where there may be more stringent environmental laws (which are actually enforced).

I live in a small coastal city which is about 1 hour away from Haikou (which is in the top 5 "good" cities both in terms of environmental infrastructure as well as environmental "friendliness"). I would have to agree that Haikou is one of the cleaner Chinese cities I've been in (not much industry, and ocean breezes to clean the air), but it's still much more polluted than my small city, where the only noticeable air pollution is when they burn the chaff after the rice harvest.

[7969]

[Steppenwolf]

Is the ranking discredited just because it's been established by the disreputable CHINA DAILY?
Yes, of course!
Look at SHENZHEN.
Clean? Green? ENvironmentally friendly?

Just yesterday the SCMP had a lengthy report on this issue. The border between the HK territory and the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone is formed by what begins as a tiny trickle of spring water on Wutongshan and ends up as a river several hundred meters wide 30 kms west where it empties into the Shenzhen Bay, which is part of the Pearl RIver Delta.
How does a stream become a mighty river?

IT is mainly by the adduction of effluents from thousands of households and factories. There also are some canals (or sewers) and sxmaller tributaries, but essentially, the Shenzhen river is a smelly, oily, black or yellow sewer. The effluents are not treated and in the hot season it smells for hundreds of meters from the river to the heavily congested traffic arteries farther inland.

So much for the ccredibility of the CD!

But I will contribute some positive input:

Looking for a relatively clean town, you should go to Jiangmen, Kaiping, Taishan on the west side of the Pearl RIver and opposite of Shenzhen. I am not sure this area will retain its pristine quality much longer - especially when the cross-Pearl River bridge has been built it will attract hordes of HK motorists and investors. But at present it has air you can actually see through (unlike in Guangzhou), and still some unpolluted streams.

Also clean is Zhaoqing to the west of Guangzhou.

[chengdude]

Poor Linfen; the place just keeps getting dumped on. Just named as one of the 10 most polluted places on earth by an American think tank:

Linfen: Can we just get some love here??

[jammish]

I dread to think how bad the pollution must be in some of those places. Wuhan was polluted enough, and it isn't even one of them...

[Shan-Shan]

"How silly they are, those FTs, hacking, coughing, cursing, and yet so suddenly delighted after their residence permits are processed and inserted into those lovely environmentally friendly passports. We really feel perplexed why they [FTs] give up so many years of their lifespan for our country's development."

-- unnamed worker at a Foreign Entry Exit Bureau

[7969]

surprised that lanzhou isnt on that list. only 2-3 years ago it was labelled the most polluted city in china. here are a couple of links:

http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/0509/criticaleye.html
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200403/21/eng20040321_138082.shtml

i visited lanzhou last summer. the place is pleasant enough in summertime, but in winter, being surrounded by mountains, its a trap for all kinds of smog, mist, and other mysterious gases. i read in one article that one proposal was to blow the tops off of some nearby mountains to let some fresh air thru in winter time.

i cant imagine how lanzhou (Smog City) has gone from one of the most polluted (if not most polluted) cities in china to not even making the list in a span of two years. i suppose its all in the criteria you use and who's conducting the survey.

[7969]

for a comparison, here's a list from 2000 (many similarities to 2006):

[baasbabelaas]

One word (/city): Xiamen.

Not ranked in the top ten, but apparently voted the cleanest city in China (will Google, if necessary).

And judging by my first visit today, compared to Quanzhou, not too shabby at all!

Have yet to visit other cities, so don't take my word.

Would love to link some pics, but gotta rush..

[william wallace]

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