Tea Leaf Nation

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 appeared in ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. The Huangpu River usually appears in glamor shots of Shanghai, serving as scenic backdrop to the colonial splendor of the Bund or the modern marvel of the Pudong skyline. But of late, a more grim and distasteful association emerged. As of March 12, [...]

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. Beijing has been the capital of China for about 700 years. Is that about to change? The establishment of a city on the northern fringe of what’s considered “China Proper” as the capital of the Chinese empire is somewhat of an accident 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 [...]

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 [...]

For the past five days, the air in Beijing has been a toxic, murky haze, but the media discussion around this sensitive topic has been refreshingly open. From official state newspapers to the myriad online portals, Chinese media have reported unflinchingly on the severity of the air pollution – including the presence of PM 2.5, [...]

This article also appears on The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. The river had a charm that its name lacks. “Zhuo Zhang River,” people call it in Chinese, dubbing this tributary of the Yellow River with a murky hue, zhuo (浊), that would not wash away. It was an uncanny epithet, endowed as [...]

“Sorry, the headlines have been obscured by a giant haze; please click your mouse to clear it up.” If only cleaning up Beijing were as easy as following the above circled instructions on Sohu, a Chinese Internet portal. In response to unprecedentedly filthy air in the Chinese capital, Sohu’s humorous innovation has Chinese Web users talking. [...]

This article also appears in The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. In March of 2008, the New York Times announced that marathoner Haile Gebrselassie would skip his signature event in the Beijing Olympics. After the news leaked, the world-record holder told reporters bluntly, “The pollution in China is a threat to my health.” The [...]

Recent demonstrations in Shifang, Sichuan over a planned molybdenum copper plant and Qidong, Jiangsu over a proposed wastewater pipeline have taught us about the violent side of social unrest in China. In Shifang, the protest turned into a bloody fight between police and protestors which resulted in serious injuries to both sides. In Qidong, protestors broke into [...]