The proposed 24 hectare park will include a monument to the victims. It will also house new city kindergartens and some 5,000 new apartments for residents whose homes were damaged in the blast.

High traces of cyanide were discovered at the blast site last month, which officials maintain pose no health risk to Tianjin residents.

Twelve suspects have been detained in connection with the explosions, including 11 officials and port executives accused of dereliction of duty and abuse of power. No criminal charges have been laid.

Last month, the Communist Party fired the head of China’s work safety regulator for suspected corruption. Coincidentally, the regulator was the former deputy mayor of Tianjin. Despite firing the official, the Party has not accused him of any direct responsibility for the explosion.

A growing death toll from the Tianjin blasts currently puts the number of fatalities at 160.

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In 2014, nearly two-thirds of China’s underground water, and a third of its surface water, was rated as “unsuitable for direct human contact”, announced the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Only three percent of 968 surface water sites monitored by the Ministry met the highest standard, and 63 percent were ranked at grade III or higher (on a six-point scale). The remaining sites, or 37 percent, were found to be unfit for human use. They were also found to be completely unusable and could not be repurposed for industrial or agricultural use.

The problems seem to be getting worse. In 2014, the Ministry classified 62 percent of the 4,896 monitored underground sites as either “relatively poor” or “very poor.” The corresponding figure for 2013 was almost 60 percent, based on samples from 4,778 sites.

Other kinds of pollution have also been wreaking havoc China. In April, one-fifth of the soil in China was reportedly contaminated. Regulations enacted in Guangzhou to curtail excessive light pollution from billboard signs and large outdoor screens were largely ignored by local businesses.

Related:

• Mayors Swim Across Pearl River To Prove It’s Clean
• Chemical plant suspected of contaminating local water supply in Zhongshan
• Thousands of dead fish found in Shenzhen lake
• Picture This: Guangdong River Turns Bright Red

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The cars are still limited by their lithium batteries, however, as each car can only drive between 200 km and 240 km before requiring a recharge. Taxi drivers will be able to recharge at the taxi dispatch centre, various battery chargers around town, and at their own home.

Beijing’s Transportation Committee member and Department Head of Transport and Taxis, Li Songke, announced that the electric taxis represent a larger initiative by the government to promote alternative energies. Li said:

The next step is to continue to improve the regulation and experience of electric taxis, and increase their use in order for the industry to continue to grow.

Photos: auto gmw

The post Beijing Rolls Out 500 Electric Taxis to Try and Improve Air Quality appeared first on The Nanfang.

“This mechanism will remain in place over a long time after the conference is over,” Zhang Dawei, a director with the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center, said.

Among the temporary measures used to improve Beijing’s air quality during the APEC conference was reducing carbon emissions by limiting vehicle traffic. This is now being considered as a permanent remedy to the city’s notoriously polluted skies. Local officials are even considering charging drivers a “congestion tax”.

Beijing’s plan is to continue to introduce policies aimed at reducing the local PM 2.5 level to 60 by 2017. That is ambitious, as another report suggests Beijing’s air quality will only begin to improve in 30 years.

The Beijing Environmental Statistics Bureau reports PM 2.5 levels during the 11 days of the APEC dropped 30 percent, and were the lowest such levels recorded this year.

Currently, Beijing has an AQI level of 348, and is under a yellow warning alert.

Related:

• Reversal: Beijing Skies Are “APEC Blue” While Guangzhou Suffers
• China Hands Out First 10-Year Visas to Americans Following Deal With Obama
• [Photos] APEC Leaders Treated To Opulent Accommodations in Beijing
• Photos: Chinese Soldiers at APEC Humbled by 5-Star Treatment
• Watch and Learn, Putin: President Xi Shows Right Way to Charm a First Lady

Photo: People’s Daily

The post Ignore the Smog Beijingers, City Says “APEC Blue” Could Become The Norm appeared first on The Nanfang.

Huizhou residents in central Guangdong Province took to streets on September 13 to protest a government waste incinerator project, fearing the waste treatment plant could contaminate the air and drinking water of several PRD cities, reported i-Cable.

Local residents also worry that fumes discharged from the plant will be toxic and could cause cancer, RTHK said.

The exact number of protesters is not immediately known, but judging by photos uploaded by Weibo users that show protesters inundating the town of Bocheng where the plant is to be located, several thousand turned out.

Protesterss held red banners reading, “Firmly against the building of a waste incinerator, we swear an oath of death to defend our beautiful home”.

The proposed waste incinerator is expected to burn 2,600 tones of waste a day upon completion next year. The project attracted millions of yuan of investment from the government, the report said.

RTHK reported several protesters were hauled away by police, while netizens said the heavy police presence resulted in some injuries.

Below are more images uploaded to Weibo:

Photos: Weibo user 王小萍萍萍，–淺淺-

The post Thousands Take to the Streets to Protest Waste Incinerator Project in Huizhou appeared first on The Nanfang.

Shangyang Shenzhen Shangyang sludge treatment plant has suspended its production at the moment.

The Shenzhen Shangyang sludge treatment plant has had about enough of residents complaining about the odor from the plant, so it has found a solution: spray copious amounts of perfume and deodorizer into the air.

The treatment plant’s measures were only brought to light after the mobile phone belonging to one of its employees was recently found by a resident living in the area, reported New Express Daily. Not only did the plant use perfume and deodorizer to mask the stench, the information found on the cellphone also revealed that the plant has been giving bribes to inspectors who arrived after residents complained. Furthermore, they manipulated the release of gas to dilute the stench during inspections.

The plant confirmed the use of perfume and deodorizer, but denied sending “red packets” to inspecting officials or manipulating the gas release, saying the related contents found on the phone were only “joking chit chat”.

So, you might wonder: how bad is the smell? According to the report, more than 100 students from a nearby school have transferred. Some of the students exhibit symptoms ranging from an itchy throat to nose bleeds because of respiratory infections. “Quite a number of residents have moved or rented an apartment somewhere else. The stink is especially unbearable during the night, and it has this stringent chemical smell. Many are saying that if we continue to live here, our bodies wont be able to take it,” a local resident identified as Ms. Zhou was quoted as saying.

According to residents, the stench first started late last year, and they began filing reports in May this year to the local Huizhou and Shenzhen Pingshan governments to close down the plant. But so far, the residents haven’t received any replies.

Below is a screenshot of the conversation thread between the employee and two other people that led to the revelation:

English translation:

A: What did you spray? The effects are quite good!

B (the employee): Perfume (grin)

C: Liuxiang’s car drove past those sensitive areas, and (they shouldn’t be able to) notice any problem. (thumbs up)

A: Hehe, are you for real?

B: For real.

Photos: New Express Daily 

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Guangzhou is currently deliberating a policy which will encourage the use of reusuable items in order to reduce the impact on the environment. Yin Ziyong, department head of the municipal management works committee, explained the policy:

This is to promote regulations. Guangzhou’s hotel industry has traditionally gifted (its guests) with with six complimentary items. Following the development of society and economy, many clients have brought up environment-saving measures used by international hotels in which guests are to pay for these complimentary products. Right now, we are soliciting different parties for their perspectives. It is to promote the reduction of disposable items, and is not an inflexible policy to be uniformly applied.

Photo: Alibaba

The post No More Free Toothbrushes and Other Toiletries at Guangzhou Hotels appeared first on The Nanfang.

After the announcement was made on Sunday, stocks for Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD rose by 3.6% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The announcement regards electric and hybrid cars as “new energy vehicles” to be promoted under the initiative. Neither domestic nor foreign brands are singled out, but the subsidies only qualify for cars that cost under RMB 180,000 (around US $29,000), well under the price range of a new Tesla.

A specific timetable for the implementation is as follows: each province (or city, or territory) must purchase new energy cars as part of official and public use at a ratio of 10% of all new car purchases in 2014, then 20% by 2015, and finally 30% by 2016.

For the more polluted areas of China that include the Beijing/Tianjin/Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta, this quota will instead begin at 15% in 2014.

Furthermore, new infrastructure needs to be built to support the electric vehicles. Government facilities will have have as many charging facilities as there are electric cars, under the mandate.

The government initiative comes on the heels of news that private buyers of new energy vehicles will be exempt from a 10% vehicle tax.

A study recently suggested reducing the traffic in the PRD by half in order to cut down on air pollution, assuming that the vehicles are all fossil fuel-burning.

Related:

• Volunteers Help Set Up Ad Hoc Charging Network for Tesla Journey From Beijing to Guangzhou
• Tesla to Expand to Guangzhou and Shenzhen Despite Consumer Apathy
• New Electric Bus Hits Guangzhou Streets

Photo: southcn, China Daily

The post BYD Rises After Chinese Government Orders Electric Vehicle Purchases appeared first on The Nanfang.

Guangzhou mayor Chen Jianhua, Foshan acting mayor Lu Yi and other governing dignitaries were in the first group to traverse the river. More than 2,000 from Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhaoqing, and Qingyuan eventually joined them.

Government officials emphasized the importance of maintaining clean water while admitting current pollution levels are not that great, pledging to continue to clean up the environment. The Guangzhou mayor said the environment can be cleaned up if everyone works together.

NewsGD reported the swim was held to prove that the once polluted river is now clean.

Photos: China Daily

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When I picked up my Tesla in Beijing, I realized that it’s impossible to drive it back to Guangzhou as there are hardly any places to recharge the batteries.

While Shanghai and Beijing are struggling to set up electric car charging facilities, there is nothing available in the 5,750 kilometres along the highway between Beijing and Guangzhou.

But that wasn’t going to deter Zong, the CEO of heat pump manufacturer PHNIX, who handily solved the problem by establishing his own charging network, reports Yahoo News. Zong bought a stock of battery piles and took to the internet, looking for volunteers that could help him recharge his new Tesla at their homes. In three days, Zong attracted some 20,000 interested respondents online, but only needed twenty volunteers.

READ: Tesla to Expand to Guangzhou and Shenzhen Despite Customer Apathy

Using this ad hoc charging network, Zong and his friends were able to drive the new Tesla from Beijing to Guangzhou in just twenty days.

While Yahoo calls this the first “electric car charging network from north to south China”, we would be remiss to point out that this network only temporarily existed for one single car. None of these private locations remain available for public use. That said, Zong remains flush with confidence, saying:

The true value of this action is to tell everyone: as long as more and more people are involved, a network of charging piles across China will soon be set up and this could form a more eco-friendly lifestyle for China.

To do his part, Zong has has ordered 20 Teslas to give to his employees as rewards and has built 60 charging parking spots at his own factories.

Photo: Tesla

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