Tea Leaf Nation

“Tibet is still a very sensitive topic, even if your story is about the environment and not politics,” said an editor, who prefers to remain unnamed, of the environmental section of Southern Weekly, a paper the New York Times has called the most influential liberal newspaper in China. In early April, several satellite images were [...]

In the past weeks, Chinese citizens have learnt that the styrofoam boxes from which they eat their lunches will soon be legal. On February 16, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s highest economic policy-making body, changed the Industrial Restructuring Catalog (2011) and removed disposable foam plastic tableware from the list of banned products. [...]

Until recently, Chen Tao (@陈涛哥在成都) worked at Alibaba, a Chinese Internet company, as an in-house censor deleting inappropriate postings. Now, he drives six hours every weekend from his home in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, up into the mountains to the north of the city to purchase wild mushrooms, free range eggs and organic honey. Chen [...]

The move is bold, inspired, and desperate. According to photos posted by a local journalist named He Guangwei (@何光伟) on Sina Weibo, China’s main micro-blogging platform, peasants from Gouli village in Henan Province hoisted a banner at the gate of the provincial-level environmental protection agency (EPA) that invited the officials to ”have a taste of the [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. It appears that Chinese environmental activism is going further mainstream. The Sina micro-blogging account of Global Times, a well-known Communist Party mouthpiece, has just shared news about the horrific proliferation of “cancer villages” in China. Earlier today, @环球时报 wrote: A map of China’s ‘cancer [...]

Nearly five weeks ago, Beijing experienced its worst day of air quality on record: Levels of PM2.5 — small particulates that can cause lung, cardiovascular and respiratory disease — soared to more than 30 times the level considered safe by the World Health Organization. Air Quality in China — A Snapshot View a larger version [...]

Smog isn’t the only kind of pollution making headlines in China. Environmental activist Deng Fei recently encouraged users of Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, to share pictures of polluted rivers from their hometowns, taking on local issues in a national campaign. While the aesthetic aspect of this pollution has been a source of great dissatisfaction, news of [...]

This article also appeared in The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Among all the ancient traditions that Chinese people observe during the lunar New Year, setting off firecrackers is the most controversial. Originally used to “drive bad luck away,” firecrackers have been an intrinsic part of the Chinese New Year celebration for thousands [...]

The phrase “Ecological Civilization,” meant to describe a balance between economic development and environmental protection, was introduced in Chinese politics when the country held its 18th National Congress in November, 2012. Touted as an important part of China’s “Scientific Outlook of Development,” “Ecological Civilization” was said to be important for the well-being of the Chinese people [...]

In January alone, a stifling and noxious haze twice enveloped the Chinese capital of Beijing, pushing air quality indexes literally off the charts and inciting widespread outrage both on-line and off. Pollution — and the outcry surrounding it — has gotten so severe that, according to the New York Times, Beijing has taken emergency measures which “include temporarily shutting [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Beijingers are choking on their air — again. Just seventeen days after Chinese cyberspace erupted with complaints about pollution so bad that it was “beyond index,” denizens of the Chinese capital awoke once again to a city blanketed with smog. Over the past [...]

Marcona is a small town located on the south-west shore of Peru. There sits the only operating iron mine in Peru, and one of China’s earliest overseas mining projects. Around 20 Chinese managers live there, running a mine that employs most of the town’s population. Although the Chinese staff here eat in their own separate [...]