A Modern Parable
They told the Old Man the mountain, with its head as white as his, would not move, but he feigned deafness. They mocked him, shaking their fans and leaning forward so he could better see their sneers, but the Old Man wagged his head and flashed a toothy grin. The townsfolk gossiped behind his back and marveled at the futility of the endeavor, but the Old Man, rocking away his days on a hand-woven bamboo chair, knew that one day the steadfastness of his pursuit would coalesce with a dream so that in their sameness he'd wake to see the mountain gone, carried off to the shores of the Bohai Sea.
Sources are saying that scattered protests involving “more than 1,000 villagers” (SCMP, via Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy) in Wenzhou, Zheijang province have resulted in either “hundreds” (SCMP), “200” (Want China Times) or “more than 10” injuries (Radio Free Asia). It began in Longgang township on Tuesday, where villagers were unhappy about... Read more »
Advisory: highway signs are being covered up in Ningbo because of some reason. That reason does not concern you. The highway signs are covered up in a city somewhere for no reason. There is no reason. The signs in a place are on the highway. No highway, actually. Not a city. @jaytao says the highway... Read more »
Another widespread protest against a factory in China has yielded, at least on paper, another victory, following the one in Shifang, Sichuan province in July. Does it matter that no one believes the city government’s statement saying it’ll halt its construction plans? First the background: In Ningbo, Zhejiang province, thousands of locals have clashed with... Read more »
Reuters reports that more than a thousand people gathered in Ningbo, Zhejiang province yesterday to protest plans for a petrochemical plant that is a subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation. And according to the BBC, witnesses said authorities used tear gas and have arrested some people. Searches on Youku for “Ningbo” turn up nothing. Sina... Read more »
This looks pretty normal. “After a round of heavy rains on the morning of September 25 in Xintang, Zengcheng, Guangdong province,” so goes the write-up on SHXB.net, “a spotless, snow-like super foam appeared on the river outside some neighborhood.” A day later, it was still there, scintillating under the sun. The Xintang environmental protection department... Read more »
What the heck happened to the Yangtze River? Granted, part of the Yangtze is called the Tuotuo — derived from the Mongolian name that means frothy red river – but this is a little much. On Thursday, residents of Chongqing woke up to find their beloved river the color of — pardon the dramatics — blood. Was Death... Read more »
On Sunday, a Jilin province-based ginseng association was holding a promotional activity in Beijing’s Chaoyang Park when environmentalists brought its event to a sudden halt. Before being intercepted by park security and escorted out, the young protesters made it known that ginseng mining destroys forests. At least one woman was topless, drawing all the cameras. Poor... Read more »
There's no protection against environmental pollution in China, even from latex factories.
On Monday morning, residents near Quxi River in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province discovered the place they wash their clothes and food had turned into a "Milk River." Overnight, a kilometer-stretch of river had filled with a chemical leak from nearby Dashulin Trading Co., a company that makes, among other things, latex.
You can almost picture the central government official from the propaganda bureau or wherever penning this editorial before sending it over to GT. It sure does seem like Beijing is making an example out of Shifang’s local leaders, with this message to everyone else: buck up or fuck off. Quoth GT: Only erroneous site selections, unqualified... Read more »
