Wednesday, December 09, 2015

What Chinese are saying about smog - despite the online censors...

Air pollution is nothing new in China, but this week the country raised its alert level to red for the first time since it started using a colour-coded warning system two years ago. Schools are closed, driving restrictions are in place and outdoor construction has been halted. And the poor air quality has also created a dense cloud of reaction on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo network.

"We Chinese are slowly learning about the danger of the fog and slowly our anger is turning into ridicule... nobody is saying the government will fix this, no-one has stood up and offered a solution," reads one message. Another says: "Living in Beijing, I sometimes feel really desperate. It looks as though sunny days will not return. I've forgotten why I came here. How will our future children cope?"

Thousands of Weibo users tagged their messages with "Air Pollution Red Warning" and "The Haze Is Back Again Again Again Again". The comments express sarcasm and humour, but also genuine concern. Some users posted before-and-after photos of landmark buildings and monuments: Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Beijing smog ‘Red Alert’ issued: Schools and businesses to completely shut...
  2. Controversial China pollution film disappears from video sites...
  3. Bottled fresh air goes on sale in China...
  4. Scientists warn of health damage from Indonesia's haze fires...
  5. South East Asia haze: Deadly cost of Indonesia's burning land...
  6. Singapore shuts schools, distributes free masks for haze...

No comments:

Post a Comment