A river of rubbish: the ugly secret threatening China's most beautiful city
An ‘international tourism destination of peerless beauty’ say the slogans hanging in the streets of Guilin, but one of the scenic city’s rivers has recently been home to sewage and garbage. In a country where environmentalists are charged with anti-government espionage, will the authorities intervene?
W hen Jianjun Xu woke up one morning in May 2015, the ground floor of his house in Gongcheng, Guilin, was flooded. After heavy rainstorms, the nearby Cha River swelled, sweeping away hundreds of homes. “The water was up to my knees,” he says. “It smelled awful and there was garbage floating in my living room.”
Xu didn’t understand how the floodwater had reached his street. Anti-flood barriers had been under construction since December 2012. Given the speed of Chinese infrastructure work, he thought the project had been completed. But instead of a construction site, he found a green river, its banks decorated with garbage.
Meanwhile, buses choke Guilin’s main boulevards morning and evening. Led by guides, large groups of tourists take selfies in front of local landmarks, such as the imposing Nengren Temple, and stroll the streets of Guilin’s old town and through its spacious parks. In the evening, they gather to enjoy a daily performance of an ancient opera or join local groups of elderly residents who dance to keep fit.
I've seen farmers throw dead chickens and pigs into the water, not far from where people are fishing. People drink that
Jianjun Xu
From a rooftop cafe, one can see the Sun and Moon towers on Fir Lake as the city sprawl continues into the distance, giving way to bright green forests and hills, the stunning landscape Guilin is famous for. Throughout the municipality, red banners emblazoned with slogans like “an international tourism destination of peerless beauty” hang strategically, reminding newcomers of Guilin’s millennia-old reputation as China’s most beautiful city.
In nearby Yangshuo and Longsheng, karst peaks dominate a breathtaking landscape. The Li River carries visitors on bamboo rafts through the formations, as water bottles and plastic bits float alongside. Tourism accounted for close to 20% of the city’s economic output in 2015 . The local government aims to increase that to over 27% by 2020 as part of their campaign to become China’s ecotourism destination.
“As a less developed province, much of Guangxi remains a natural landscape,” explains Cheng Zhang, South China programme director at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “This includes a great number of protected areas, such as nature reserves, forests and wetlands, which provide essential ‘nature’ for conducting ecotourism activities.”
Xu, though, isn’t concerned about tourism. As of November 2016, the anti-flood barriers remain unfinished. Construction companies and locals jettison their waste in the informal dumping ground wedged between the waterway, farmland and the city. More worrisome, the Cha River remains green.
“I have seen farmers throw dead chickens and pigs into the water, not far from where people are fishing. People drink that water,” says Xu.
The Guilin municipal government has taken efforts to improve the water quality of the Li River, one of the city’s main attractions. With a $100m (£80m) loan from the World Bank , officials are relocating industries, building wastewater treatment plants and landfills, and fighting pollution. However, the issues of other rivers like the Cha have been overlooked.
“Since leader Deng Xiaoping’s visit in the 1970s, the Li River has been a priority for the government because of its beauty,” says Ma Jun. “However, other rivers in Guilin are suffering from breakneck urbanisation and are more polluted and facing challenges. They are in less developed areas with weak sewage management and infrastructure.”
Greenpeace China told the Guardian that one third of the country’s rivers are contaminated. According to a report from the ministry of water resources in April 2016, 80% of shallow ground water wells are also polluted.
“In cities, you have wastewater from sewage, shops, factories and agriculture, which add other pollutants like persistent organics and heavy metals. It’s usually not fit for drinking or for crops,” explains Dr Wolfgang Kinzelbach from the Institute of Environmental Engineering in Zurich, Switzerland, an expert on China’s water management.
Despite Beijing’s increased transparency with air pollution , water pollution remains a taboo in China. Prominent environmentalists have been charged with espionage for speaking out about the situation. Many Chinese scientists who have studied water pollution in Guilin refused to be interviewed. “I’m not that brave. I don’t want to offend the government,” said one.
“Mining in the mountainous area in Guangxi [Guilin’s province] is a serious problem and it is an major reason why very clean water becomes polluted,” says Ma.
Water pollution causes birth defects, cancer, sterility … China is sacrificing a generation
Dr Devra Davis
A 2016 study found that the Qingshitan reservoir, an important source of Guilin’s reservoir, was polluted, reporting above average nitrogen and organic carbon content. The report credits agricultural, industrial and domestic sources as the pollution culprits.
The results revealed that the water had an intermediate level of eutrophication, an excessive richness of nutrients that causes a dense growth of algae and suffocates animals such as fish. It also turns water green.
Eutrophication may lead to blooms of algae that can harm the liver and nervous system, explains Dr Urs von Gunten, an expert on China water resources from the Laboratory for Water Quality and Treatment in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Activists are concerned about the consequences of water pollution on the Chinese population. “Cancer villages” – small communities near polluting factories where cancer rates have soared far above the national average – have sprung up across the country .
“It takes a long time to restore river ecology when such pollution has occurred, meaning that generations could be affected by the pollution,” says Deng Tingting, toxics campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia.
In the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, where Guilin is located, a study of boarding schools found that drinking polluted water caused 80% of outbreaks of water-borne diseases.
“The range of human health impacts from water pollution extends from damage to the reproductive system, birth defects, cancer, sterility, as well as a whole host of neurological and cardiac diseases,” says Dr Devra Davis, an epidemiologist at the Environmental Health Trust. “China is sacrificing a generation because of this pollution issue.”
Back in Gongcheng, a farmer named Meng tends his crops on the banks of the Cha. Plastic bags and discarded household items line his property. “I am not worried about pollution,” he says. “I use the river water for my vegetables and they taste fine. My customers at the market never complain.”
Xu is less at ease with the situation. “Why is the water still green? Why is there garbage here instead of anti-flood barriers?” he asks with a deep sigh.
As part of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crusade , local officials have come under scrutiny from the central government. A source close to the local government says that in order to woo visiting national delegations, the municipal government organises outings to specific areas that flatter local officers, such as Hongyan and Aizhai.
Before an official visit from vice premier Wang Yang in 2015, a road to Hongyan was completed. “I find the timing suspicious,” says Xu.
“Local governments must take greater responsibility for protecting China’s water environment,” says Tingting, the activist from Greenpeace.
There are signs that the threat posed by water pollution is being taken seriously. Beijing launched the Water Ten Plan in 2015, with the target that 93% of the country’s water sources should reach national standards by 2020. Municipalities are testing different energy alternatives, such as sludge-to-energy projects . Citizens can also report polluted rivers to the government via the Blue Sky app .
Such efforts may be too little, too late. “There is no solution that fits all problems,” says Von Gunten. “In my opinion, the protection of water resources is the most important factor.”
Others remain optimistic. “Change is not going to happen overnight, but China has promised it will tackle pollution as resolutely as it has tackled poverty,” says Debra Tan, who works for not-for-profit group China Water Risk.
On the banks of the Cha River, Xu is concerned that water pollution will worsen before any real change happens. He seems resigned.
“In Chinese, we have a saying: ‘People can always find a way to cope with government policies,’” he says. “I guess this pollution is something we are going to have to live with.”
Guardian Cities is dedicating a week to the huge but often unreported cities on the front line of China’s unprecedented urbanisation. Explore our coverage here and follow us on Facebook. Share stories via WeChat (GuardianCities) and by using #OtherChina on Twitter and Instagram
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It looks like such a BEAUTIFUL place that I would love to visit. It's a shame that they can't seem to get a hold of the pollution problem with the river. They seem to be getting pretty good tourism now, but just imagine how much they would get with crystal blue flowing water.
Meanwhile in the US, the Trump administration is planning to turn our rivers green.
the Trump administration is planning to turn our rivers green.
More often, that coal sludge Trump specifically OK'd to be dumped into local water ways with one of his Executive orders, turns the water orange.
Dam it!
That "sick puck" is going to do a hell of a lot of damage to this country before the majority of the American voters get back what they actually voted for.
Close-up of one of the many streams that transport the acid mine drainage to the Tulsequah River.
Tulsequah River
The Tulsequah River , formerly the Talsekwe River , is a tributary of the Taku River in northwestern British Columbia , located south of the Atlin District and inland from Juneau, Alaska . The unincorporated settlement of Tulsequah is located at the confluence.
Protection Efforts
Canadian environmental officials have known for decades the closed Tulsequah Chief Mine leaks acids into the Tulsequah River and ultimately into the Taku River and have monitored the site and issued several orders [1] for cleanup since 1989. In July 2009, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote a letter to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell urging him to collaborate with Alaska in an effort to mediate the mine leakage. [2] An Alaska organization, Rivers Without Borders , has been working to gain legislative protection for the Taku River on the Alaska side, an effort driven in part by the mine's waste flowing into the Tulsequah River.
Isn't this a Canadian mine causing the problem in this river. Looks like Republican Sarah Palin has at least made an effort to do something.
Plus I would like to see the Executive Order being referred to where Trump wants to make the waters orange, green, red or whatever.
Seems as I remember not too long ago there was a big splash when the EPA blew up a mine and it has been discovered the problem was a lot bigger than originally thought to be, at least I read something yesterday that said that.
Now, let me tell you I do not like the idea of no regulations at all. I think the polluters like this photo in this comment or anywhere anything like this is or has happened should be punished to the limit. But some of the regulations don't even allow you to fill in a mud puddle in your own yard. Get rid of the ridiculous regulations and keep the common sense regulations.
Plus I would like to see the Executive Order being referred to where Trump wants to make the waters orange, green, red or whatever.
Did President Trump Make It Legal to Dump Coal Mining Waste Into Streams?
A joint resolution headed for President Trump’s signature would repeal a law that limited mining companies’ ability to dump earthen mining waste into streams, but this resolution actually represents a return to a status that has been in effect, intermittently, since 1983.
More often, that coal sludge Trump specifically OK'd to be dumped into local water ways with one of his Executive orders, turns the water orange.
Executive order please.
As long as the common sense regulations are kept, I have no problem with that.
No one said, anywhere, that Trump wants to turn our water green, red, orange, purple, whatever. But that will be the end result IF the regulations are diminished to the point that they're ineffective.
@arkansashermit-too :
More often, that coal sludge Trump specifically OK'd to be dumped into local water ways with one of his Executive orders, turns the water orange.
@dowser :
No one said, anywhere, that Trump wants to turn our water green, red, orange , purple, whatever. But that will be the end result IF the regulations are diminished to the point that they're ineffective.
My reading abilities must be getting bad. I could swear someone did say that.
Pat said the Biden rule was to prevent dealing with a Supreme Court nominee a few weeks before an election, but Biden on the video said it was to not name a nominee in the throngs of an election year. Even after putting the YouTube video right from Biden's mouth up, she said I could twist it anyway I want to.
I don't agree with everything Trump does, but you can thank yourselves, because the hardcore Democrats gave us Trump. LOL And we want to thank you for the Supreme Court Justice we'll soon have who appears to be someone who will be guided by the United States Constitution instead of a Liberal politician disguised as a Supreme Court Justice.
I'm really glad you published this picture of acid mine drainage! This clearly shows the degradation of a water supply due to coal mining. This is what KY, and other mining states, deals with on a daily basis-- although since this in China, it's worse. YET, without the regulations about cleaning up the waste before it reaches these levels is exactly why we have the regulations!
And it used to be illegal. But Trump thinks that dumping coal sludge into otherwise clean rivers hinders business profits and is a disruptive regulation that must go. I'd like to offer that ass a glass of water to drink from that river.
Me, too!!!
Executive order please. LOL
We agree on "Common Sense" regulations. I don't want the streams to look like the one in Canada or the one you say is in China.
Executive order please. LOL
I've tried 3 times now but my posted reply to your request just goes off to never, never land.
.................
Well my 4th try got at least that little bit to stick.
If the subject still holds any interest to me in the morning perhaps I'll try again in the AM, when my satellite access is better.
I wondered what had happened... I kept getting all these notices that said, Invalid User Comment Thread or something like that. Must be a site glitch!