1. “At the junction of Ningxia province and Inner Mongolia province, I saw a tall chimney puffing out golden smoke covering the blue sky, large tracts of the grassland have become industrial waste dumps; unbearable foul smell made people want to cough; Surging industrial sewage flowed into the Yellow River…”Lu Guang (卢广), freelancer photographer, started as an amateur photographer in 1980. He was a factory worker, later started his own photo studio and advertising agency. August of 1993 he returned to post-graduate studies at the Central Arts and Design Academy in Beijing (now is the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University). During graduate school, he studied, traveled all over the country and carved out a career, became the “dark horse” of the photographer circle in Beijing. Skilled at social documentary photography, his insightful, creative and artistic work often focused on “social phenomena and people living at the bottom of society”, attracted the attentions of the national photography circle and the media. Many of his award winning works focused on social issues like, “gold rush in the west”, “drug girl”, “small coal pit”, “HIV village”, “the Grand Canal”, “development of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway” and so on.
– Lu Guang
2. Chemical waste from Jiangsu Taixing Chemical Industrial District (江苏泰兴化工园区) dumped on top of the Yangtze River bank. May 15, 2009
3. Fan Jai Zhuang in Anyang City, Henan province, (河南安阳市范家庄) there is only one wall separating this village from the steelmaking furnaces. The villagers live in this heavily polluted environment where the village is under the iron rain every day. March 24, 2008
4. Industrial sewage of Zhejiang Xiaoshan Industrial District (浙江萧山化工园区) eventually flowed into Qiantang River. April 24, 2009
5. Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River. March 25, 2008
6. Guiyu, Guangdong province, (广东省贵屿镇) rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated, the villager is washing in a seriously polluted pond. November 25, 2005
7. Shizuishan Industrial district in Ningxia province (宁夏石嘴山湖滨工业园区), the tall chimneys spitted out smoke and dust. Residents took preventive measure for the falling dust from the sky when going outside. April 22, 2006
8. In the Yellow Sea coastline, countless sewage pipes buried in the beach and even extending into the deep sea. April 28, 2008
9. In Ma’anshan, Anhui province (安徽马鞍山), along the Yangtze River there are many small-scaled Iron selection factories and plastic processing plants. Large amounts of sewage discharged into the Yangtze River June 18, 2009
10. In Inner Mongolia there were 2 “black dragons” from the Lasengmiao Power Plant (内蒙古拉僧庙发电厂) covering the nearby villages. July 26, 2005
11. Jiangsu province Changshu City Fluorine Chemical industry land sewage treatment plant (江苏省常熟市氟化学工业园污水处理厂) was responsible for collection and processing of the industrial sewage. However they did not, the sewage pipe was extended 1500 meters under the Yangtze River and releasing the sewage there. 2009 June 11
12. Soil by Yangtze River, was polluted by Anhui Province Ma’anshan Chemical Industrial District (安徽省马鞍山化工园区). June 26, 2009
13. Large amount of the industrial wastewater flowed to Yellow River from Inner Mongolia Lasengmiao Industrial District (内蒙古拉僧庙工业园区) every day. July 26, 2005
14. A Large amount of the chemical wastewater discharged into Yangtze River from Zhenjiang Titanium mill (镇江市钛粉厂) every day. Less than 1,000 meters away downstream is where the water department of Danyang City gets its water from. June 10, 2009
15. In Haimen city, Jiangsu province Chemical Industrial District sewage treatment Plant (江苏省海门市化工园区污水处理厂) discharged wastewater into Yangtze River. June 5, 2009
16. Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant (河北省涉县天津钢铁厂) is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008
17. Longmen town in Hanchen city, Shaanxi Province (陕西省韩城市龙门镇) has large-scaled industrial development. Environment is very seriously polluted there. April 8, 2008
18. There are over 100 chemical plants in Jiangsu province coastal industry district. (江苏滨海头罾沿海化工园区) Some of them discharge wastewater into the ocean; some heavily contaminated sewage is stored in 5 “Sewage Temporary Pools”. During the 2 high tides in every month, the sewage then gets discharged into the ocean with the tides. June 20, 2008
19. Jiangxi Province Hu Ko County Chemical Industry district (江西省胡口县化工园区) is by the Yangtze River. Chemical factory landfill the Yangtze River bank to expand the scale of the factory without authorization.
20. Anhui Province Cihu Chemical Industry District (安徽省慈湖化工园区) built a underground pipe to discharge wastewater into the Yangtze River. The wastewater sometimes is black, gray, dark red, or yellow, wastewater from different chemical factories has different colors. June 18, 2009
21. Shanxi Province is the most polluted areas of China. It is also the province with the highest rate of birth defects. This loving farmer couple adopted 17 disabled children. April 15, 2009
“In Some areas of China people’s lives were threatened because of the environmental pollution. Residents suffering from all kinds of obscured diseases, the cancer villages, increase of deformed babies, these were the results of sacrificing environment and blindly seeking economical gain.”
– Lu Guang
22. Elder shepherd by the Yellow River cannot stand the smell. April 23, 2006
23. 15-year-old boy from Tianshui, Gansu Province (甘肃天水), dropped out of the school after 2nd grade, followed his parents to Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District. He earns 16 yuan a day. April 8, 2005
24. Inner Mongolia province Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District, the couple who worked at the Plaster Kiln and just got home. March 22, 2007
25. Villagers from Kang village in Linfen City, Shanxi Province (山西省临汾市下康村) due to long-term consumption of the polluted water contaminated by industrial waste, there were 50 people who have cancer and cerebral thrombosis. 64-year-old Wang Baosheng got ill since 2003, he has fester all over his body so he cannot go to bed and lying face down on the edge of the bed each day. July 10, 2005
26. Breathing in large amount of dust into the lungs, people gets sick after working there for 1-2 years. Most of these migrant workers come from area of poverty. April 10, 2005
27. Zhangqiao village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan Province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的张桥村), a 45-year-old woman Sun Xiaojun (孙晓军) could not move her feet and hands since 4 years ago. The numerous hospital treatments were not effective. April 7, 2009
28. Zhaozhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的赵庄村), 66-year-old Zhao Bingkun suffering from esophageal cancer since 2004, after the second surgery, treatment cost already have reached over 200,000 yuan. His condition is in late stage, he is having fever everyday, waiting for death. April 7, 2009
29. Zhaozhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (洪河边的河南省西平县张于庄村), Gao Wanshun’s (高万顺) wife died of cancer. Now he lives in poverty. April 3, 2009
30. Linfen City in Shanxi province (山西临汾市) is seriously polluted area. Farmers after working in the cotton fields for 2 hours are filled with coal ashes. September 24 2007
31. Salt factory worker in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province (江苏连云港) said angrily, “when the wind blowing towards our side, the foul smell from the chemical factories is unbearable. There is even more poison gas at night.” July 19, 2008
32. People form Fanjiazhuang (范家庄) are ready to submit a complain filled with their fingerprints, to seek compensation for pollution damages. March 19, 2008
33. In Shanxi Province there are a lot of charitable nursing homes, to help disabled infants abandoned by their parents. April 14, 2009
34. Liujiawan village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的刘家湾村), 13 year old Yang Xiao in November 2008 was ill with obscure disease. She was saved by the donation of the villagers. When the grandmother saw the old village chief came to visit his granddaughter, she kneeled on the ground holding granddaughter’s hand. April 19, 2009
35. The oldest is 9, not going to school. The youngest is less than 2 years old. They lived in severely polluted area. They hands and faces were always dirty. April 10, 2005
36. Mazhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province, (河南省舞钢市洪河边的马庄村) 58-year-old Ma Haipeng (马海朋) was suffering from stomach cancer since 2006 and could not work in the field. He must take medicine every day, otherwise it is too painful. April 6, 2009
37. Every year, a lot of deficiency babies in Shanxi Province were abandoned. Kong Zhenlan (孔贞兰) in Qi town (祁县) who was making a living by recycling trash adopted 25 abandoned children. April 14, 2009
38. Xuanwei (宣威) in Yunnan province is a cancer village. Every year there are more than 20 people die of cancer. 11-year-old student Xu Li (徐丽) is suffering from bone cancer. May 8, 2007
39. In Shexian Village, Hebei Province, (河北省涉县固新村) the existing cancer patients are more than 50 people and more than 20 cancer patients die each year. March 18, 2008
40. Zhangyuzhuan village by the Hong River in Xiping county, Henan province, (河南省西平县洪河边的张于庄村) 22-year-old Zhu Xiaoyan (朱小燕) had a tumor in her stomach in 2007. She died after number of hospital treatments on July 2008. 4-year-old girl with her grandfather came to mother’s tomb. April 2009 2
original source: Fengniao
Followup: Interview with Lu Guang, the photographer of “Pollution in China”
2,138 comments
Tragic. That said, the West’s consumption is not to blame. It is greed. Chinese greed. China has over 1 Trillion dollars in their national bank (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120906.stm). By a liquid measure, they are one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. Are they using that money to better their nation? For the most part, no. They are not spending it…they are looking to invest it outside their borders.
China is not monolithic. There is not one government. There are many levels of government…as there are many corporate entities…but the fault lies within their borders…and the ability to get control of their national situation must start at the top…and include a commitment to start spending some of the gains from this exploitation to mitigate the damage and protect their future generations.
Greed plain and simple. Stop trying to shift blame to the West. Taht’s just a pile of liberal BS. It’s their house to clean…and they could care less as long as the cash keeps flowing in.
So True!
Dudes, I am a Chinese, besides polution we suffer the blockage of foreign medias, foreign broardcasting channels, internet(many foreign websites), poisonous food…. we have to survive.
Im shocked to see the extent of the pollution in China. We all know that China is the world’s manufacturing plant, but the endless pollution is horrid and simply irresponsible.
The china is such a big asshole country, they are polluting their mother nature as well as our mother planet. There has to be done something by us all, if we dont stop all this then the time is not far when our mother planet would be consumed under polluted smoke and industrial dust…We all know that global warming is directly effected with all this…
Hey china if you are listening to all of us then please stop all this…What are you going to do if there is no one to buy your fuckin asshole products on the earth…
STOP THIS
Yes, only in China.
we taught them well
No we didnt we cleaned up our mess. They STILL haven’t learned to pick up after them selves.
Leave your isolation bubble and look around. We STILL haven’t cleaned up our mess and our great demand for cheaply manufactured foreign imports is what sustains this level of waste and destruction in China. But I suppose YOU would rather believe that the Chinese are animals and YOU are part of some enlightened nation of hyper advanced humans. Not in my backyard, eh?
well, basically ALL the stuff we all massively use and consume everyday, is made in China, because it is cheap for us. All the plastic and metal used in most of the products we consume and throw away is made in China.
China, India, Malaysia, Iraq… all wastelands for the American dollar. How quick for many to judge having never even left their state, much less their country.
Malaysia is NOT a wasteland for America! Have you even been there??
Malaysia is a wasteland. Period.
yeah…blame America, you fucking dick. Thats right…none of this has to do with Chinese communism and Chinese lack of environmental concern….
You are a fucking dick…ramble on, douche
Amerika is to blame for all of China’s woes and pollutions.
Amerika sent all their crappy old factories and slaver manufacturing firms to China to poison the Chinese and work them to death.
If your talking about the USA, they did not clean anything. They still contribute 30% of the world’s pollution.
You are full of crap. Provide some data to back up your assertion. And before you start CO2 isn’t pollution.
Those are not pictures of CO2 and you will not find anything approaching them at any major US industrial facility.
Clean up what, exactly?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13water.html?_r=1
And yet that would be Perrier by comparison to what is included in these pictures.
Typical NYT’s hype piece. I happen to know the person who used to head the UIC program for West Virginia. She said she wouldn’t wipe her ass with that article.
If you want to know why kids teeth are rotting out, watch their parents give them Mtn Dew to drink. What do you think highly acidic soda does to enamel?
Yes I Agree. http://www.gbgbu.com
Maybe if there wasn’t such a massive demand for all the stuff bought in China: they wouldn’t have the demand to pollute as much. Yes, I’m talking to you western nations (USA in particular where mass consumption is king).
High consumption (and judging an economy by how much it consumes) is not a good thing at all. We need to find jobs elsewhere. Making crap we don’t really need has got us to the mess we’re in now.
Absolutely! If we stopped buying their stuff they would produce less. Same with SPAM emails if all idiots who buy after receiving spam would stop doing that no one would ever send spam again.
so much bollocks, people will send unsolicited mail whether it is responded to or not.
the elite will do what-ever keeps them in power
clean up the mess in your own back yard, that is all anyone can do at this time. that is until a world dominating tyrant forces folk to do otherwise.
Why the US in particular? The whole industrialized workd is a mass consumer now.
I think China is not an ” asshole country” ….. The owners of the various companies are deserved to be called so……. becoz the people from the poverty stricken villages are forced to work so that they can earn a living …. also the labour in that country is very cheap …… so da various indusries across the globe establish their own companies in such places …. it’s sad to see da people suffering in such places …. their government shuld take an immediate and a strict actions against such industries who are destroying not only the
the environment of their country but also affecting the atmosphere of our planet… take care all…..
I is the china Gov that INVITED in the polluters!
It is the China Gov Heads who get rich.
How does the gov “take an immediate and a strict actions against such industries” when the gov BROUGHT “such industries” to china in the first place? U think the UN Forced these industries on china?
If U sleep with open market socialist pigs then U stink like a open market socialist pig!
Hey! You are totally wrong….Unwise comment…
It’s uneducated answers like this that make me cringe. If you want to stop China from polluting the Earth, I suggest you abstain from buying anything “Made in China” then. The United States and other countries import billions and billions of dollars worth of products from China every year. Why? So stores like Wal-Mart can provide us Americans with affordable stuff. Try making it here in the U.S. and selling it for the same price. China is the largest developing nation in the world and like most if not all developing nations, they have a problem with controlling and regulating pollution.
Realize that although we have less than 5% of the worlds population, we release just as much CO2 as China does.
Of course, you probably drive a hybrid car, living in a solar powered, environmentally sustainable home.
I completely agree that China is messing up the nature and a lot of cleaning up needs to be done. But you shut your f***ing mouth because you know shit, asshole.
China is an emerging economy, and to be growing in such a fast pace she is giving a lot of pressure on the environment, like ALL of the already developed countries did before. China is one of the major polluting countries, but we should NOT forget that the USA is actually the world-leading polluter country, despite its MUCH lower population compared to China. We should not forget either, that other countries like the UK and Germany also went through their industrial revolutions, and because that happened about a century before, it does not mean that the damage they created is subordinate to China’s.
And although the developed countries are now trying to promote sustainable development, their pollution is still very significant compared to a developing country, and with this I must mention the United States of America. If we were to blame anyone for harming mother planet, the first to be blamed is without doubt, the USA. Because you don’t see pictures like this of the USA or any other developed country, does NOT mean that they are not damaging the nature.
First tell the leading ones to lead well so that the following ones can be on the right track. Of course the Chinese have to stop this, but remember this can only be achieved through global cooperation.
By the way, you should read more about this stuff, otherwise shut up if you’ve no idea about what you’re talking about you bloody ignorant.
lol you lol
Yes, but if China doesn’t do this, they will get pushed around and bullied by the Western Nations. Only with economic prosperity which can acquire military might, will other nations listen and not abuse a country. Source: the opium war and when all the western nations raped and pillaged Beijing in the late 1800’s.
Soooo Your saying the WHOLE goal of china is to make money so they can “acquire military might”?
“but if China doesn’t do this, they will get pushed around and bullied by the Western Nations.”
THE LAST 50 YEARS SHOWS THIS TO BE A LIE! THE WEST HAS NOT ATTACKED CHINA IN THE LAST 50 YEARS!
and there would be no reason to attack, as china wouldn’t be a threat!
The Iranians are becoming a threat so they could be attacked…military might makes U a target if U rattle your saber like china , North Korea, and Iran tend to do. Your basically telling Us that china wants military might to take Taiwan over and to bully the world. Gee didn’t USSR leave a bad taste in your mouth? Do we have to do this all over AGAIN? ANOTHER COLD WAR?! Or will U make this a HOT one?
This is not a lie, it is speculation.
Made in China – get used to it!
je ne comprends pas l’Anglais mais les photos parlent d’elles même,
je ne comprends pas qu’ils puissent utiliser les gens et surtout les enfants de cette manière
et pour la planète, on est loin de faire machine arrière pour laisser quelque chose aux générations à venir ….
désolant
Tu n´appris pas parler Anglais dans l´école ?
The chinese government knows about this, they do nothing. Sure its the factory owners fault as they are knowingly polluting the environment, but ultimately it’s the governments fault for not enforcing this. These pictures are utterly insane! Something must be done, and don’t you dare blame us westerners. Chinese products are shipped around the world so all you are at fault as well. Most new companies nowadays try to build factories etc inside the USA.
They don’t have or enforce these laws so that the companies that cause the pollution will actually put these factories there in the first place.
This same sort of thing used to happen in Western countries just the same. They just shipped the problem overseas once the public couldn’t stand it anymore. If the Chinese government decides to make and enforce laws against such practices, these factories will just go somewhere else.
The fact is, that this is what industrialization brings. Jobs that pay a pittance and brutal work conditions. And yet somehow people continue to flock to the factories to get these jobs because they’re actually better than what they had before.
I have to disagree that China is totally a victim here and the evil western corporations are the only bad guys. Yes, western corporations are extremely amoral and don’t give a sh!t about what happens in China. However, the Chinese government also does NOT give a shit what happens to their people to supply those western evil corporations. On top of that, the WORST conditions are not in factories that make things for export (sometimes those evil corporations even have standards?!), but the ones that produce for the domestic market in China. There were several brick kilns 2 years ago using slave labor, for the massive DOMESTIC construction market. The problem is lack of democracy. If the Chinese people could actually control their country (look out for slipping democracy in the US by the way) they could demand the government stop destroying their home or allowing it to be destroyed. Not buying Chinese goods will not help that, the US is not their only market. They will continue to exploit their environment and people and the people and environment of poorer countries (especially in Africa, look what China does there) until they develop some real human rights.
I don’t think it’s a so call “evil western culture”
Western guys are human-being also!
We are human-being also
I’m proud to be a chinese but I’m shame for the fucking PRC.
Wake up!醜陋的中國人!
when USA “cleaned up its act” in the 70’s they flogged a lot of crappy machinery to India and china, rather than scrap it. This and the massive buyup by Walmart stores as a prime offender , has driven this cruel inhuman factory/manufacturing mania. and those that own it could care less!
We the supposedly? civilized nations support this inhumanity to our fellow man with every purchase. However if we do not buy,. consider what will happen to these people then, withput even the pittance they recieve now?
Nasty catch 22 isnt it?
To the above comment that USA is building in its own country, Crap! they are moving to mexico venezuela and eyeing off Africa as the next place to exploit!
I sincerely hope that USA economy hits the wall for real very soon, China is likely to go down too, and that my friends, will severely affect the buy and throwaway culture so many accept and demand.
So be it, sooner the better!
Watch the Pharma s too they are using people like this, in India and china and africa for Trials of drugs they canot try in their own lands.. easy to hida a death or many in a poor land with desperate people.
Makes you wish THIS had been shown Worldwide BEFORE Beijing got the games eh?
No many of Us screamed about the games , but no one cared.
Well, the whole world wants to buy CHEAP, and that´s what the Chinese can do best… producing CHEAP, with help of their children ( destroying their childhood ) and with NO rules or regulations. Here in Germany, everyone is being told to keep the country tidy and clean, the cars´fuel-comsumption goes down year by year, our government wants to save the whole world ( and nature) … but how should we be able do that, as long as China (1.4 billion people) does NOT stop that shit? I´m very angry about that. Maybe Europe and the USA shoud stop trading with them or apply sanctions.
Did sanctions help the Iraqi people? When have sanctions EVER done any good?
Stop company’s from shipping there old machinery over seas, stop company’s from shipping factories overseas and yes STOP TRADING with them!
Maybe CHEAP is even more important as CLEAN … Who thinks about a clean nature and about our planet´s future while being in walmart? No one does. “CHEAP” rules the world. Unfortunately…
… mre important THAN clean… sorry – my “german english” is awful sometimes
every time i go back to visit the country i was born in im struck by the lack of compassion in all the people. everyone is just absorbed with themselves and where does that leave the country.
Let me say it in gold old german:
Es ist einfach zum Kotzen, was die verfluchten Chinesen unserer Erde antun, nur um möglichst billig produzieren zu können. Das funktioniert nur, weil sie keine Auflagen und keine Gesetze befolgen müssen, und weil sie ihre kleinen Kinder für fast umsonst schwer arbeiten lassen – und weil WIR Europäer und Amerikaner denen ihren billigen Schrott abkaufen. Das macht mich wütend.
Isn’t it a shame shame babe?
Yes I do think so
WTF are the goverment ‘s doing? Only develop the heavy industry but give up the whole nation?
I CAN ONLY SEE THE END OF THE WORLD.
2010 is coming,if the fucking shity empty-headed PRC still cares nth.
But maybe only HK or TW ppl can see this website,those bitches still looking for money,money and money.
Damn.
Anyone seen the film “home” ? Amazing pictures of our heavily polluted world… maybe they sould show this movie every single one in China and India…
Once the communism still holding china,the empty-headed people will still cares nothing,
It’s the problem of the policy itself,the communism leads the country turns downwards since 50s.long live the VIIV.
Empty-headed… in fact
I´m shocked by this pictures.
But I agree with Timo. The reason for this is that we just want to buy cheap and that noone in europe or america takes a look how its produced. If we take a look, we can chance this.
Why don’t we just stop buying products made in/received from China? I live in a small town in Maine and we’re trying to do just that.
Interesting. Horrible. However, if I decided to do a photography piece called “Pollution in America”, I’m sure I could find just as disturbing subjects for my piece.
So, all you cutting down other countries for such atrocities, maybe you should look within your own country before you start throwing stones.
I’m an American and I’m proud to be one but I’m not going to excuse what’s going on in our own country with pollution and homelessness.
Open your eyes.
— Bob
Bob, A very sensible comment and one I concur with. I’m in Australia, I’m sure I could find shocking images to show.
None of us are innocent in the pollution game. And playing the blame game is not going to make it stop. We need to cut down on our personal consumerism and recycle and reuse to help stop the demand for the products China is making here. No demand=no sales so it will dry up (eventually) by market forces.
All this mud slinging is getting us nowhere fast, folks!
Odille
Brought tears to my eyes!
Is that a pair of pants and shirt laid out to look like a body in pick 12? This story is horrible, how can people do this to other human beings? This world is going to hell in a hand basket.
The reason is not that we want to buy cheap. Everyone wants to buy cheap, everywhere, always did, do, will do. There is nothing wrong with that.
A bit more than a quarter a century ago, I was traveling through towns near Usti nad Labem, in former Czechoslovakia. 6 smoke stacks, each spewing smoke in different colors, were the landscape markers for about 40 square km. The waters of Labe (Elbe) had a multicolored crust similar to a picture you’ve seen above. The 1 cm ashen dust covering the whole area. Smell. Disease. Pale people.
By mid seventies, there was not a river in that country that was not polluted. If you saw a chance fish, it was dead one. You had to go way upstream to see it alive.
I would love to see someone blaming it on USA. To see the contortions of the blame-USA-first folks.
You can’t. It was the communist regime that put their interests ahead of people. Same with China. “It’s for the people”, they say. Sure is. As under any socialist communist regime, it is for those people that are more equal then others–the nomenclatura, the red aristocracy. They sometimes arrange show trials and execute a director of this factory or that. Just to generate an impression that something is done. He was after all disposable, as are all other people that don’t form The Circle. A 5-minute kabuki theater. The cog wheel has been removed and replaced by another.
Everyone is discussing who is responsible, who is to blame. If you can blame others, it may feels better for a moment.
But in the end, what we really need, is to be full of compassion and sympathy. When we manage to really feel for us and feel for the others, I think we will take the right descisons. We will manage to look at the products before we buy them and supporting people who take care of the people and the environment. It doesn’t make life easier if you always think what the effects of our actions may be, but I think it does make living better for ourselves and for others.
Compassion is a good way to take responsibility of our actions and to try to make things better for all, without being hard on oneself or on others.
I am trying my best, and that is all you can ask from people, including me and YOU and all the ones that have been named “asshole” up to now.
Regula, Switzerland
This is an outstanding expose of the hell that China is.
It is not enough, however, to put these pictures up.
We need to see the names, people, companies, industries and cities repsonsible for this industrial malpractice and they must be put out of business.
This is how we mitigate this problem and the culture of destructive greed inherent in China.
Bob: “Interesting. Horrible. However, if I decided to do a photography piece called “Pollution in America”, I’m sure I could find just as disturbing subjects for my piece.”
Not likely. EPA would have kicked the a$$ of the culprit before you find it.
Bob: “So, all you cutting down other countries for such atrocities, maybe you should look within your own country before you start throwing stones.”
A good idea.
Bob: “I’m an American and I’m proud to be one but I’m not going to excuse what’s going on in our own country with pollution and homelessness.”
I am a Canadian, but also proud of USA. My daughter is an American.
Pollution, see my EPA comment. Did you know that USA has now 45% more forests than in 1945? You my find a large scale strip mining in places. But as the operation winds down in some area, you’d see saplings of trees already taking a hold and remodeling the ugly landscape. There are some towns, like Picher in NE OK, that bear witness to previous era of recklessness. But people did not have a comprehension of the impact then. Nowadays, a plant can’t be opened without a serious environmental impact assessment. Forget scary movies, they are a fiction.
Not sure how homelessness is related to the environmental issues. I’ve seen folks sleeping in cardboard boxes 500 yards from a shelter that was 1/3 empty. I guess that the problem was the shelter did not allow needles inside, judging from the heaps of then around.
I understand your concern. Tell me, how many of the homeless did you invite to your house/apartment, let them take a shower, gave then clothes you no longer wear, and fed them? Not one? Ah, I see… it is someone else’s problem…
If you could show these images to somebody from 400 years ago and told them it was a painting of what hell looks like, they’d believe you.
If you told them this is the future, they’d scoff.
Wow – so if this is the future now, just imagine how bad it will be in just another 20years.
I hope the Myans were right 2012 12 -12 .
The division between the have & have nots is too great & a change is needed!
I am not Chinese, but i do mourn with u for these depressing facts.
down with the communist PRC, down with all dictators of the world …
to reach freedom and democracy, some should give their life and soul for the others …
democracy is not free, the price is blood…
wake up from the deep sleep embraced u.
LOL yea democracy is going to change anything
Let’s not forget, too, that America (~4% of the world’s population) is still creating 25% of the world’s pollution. So those who think we have cleaned our act up better think again – there is need for improvement globally, and no nation is in a position to start finger-pointing. We all live on the same ball of dirt, and ultimately we all sink or swim together.
…NOT WHEN WE HAVE POLITICAL DIFFERENCES….BUT YOU ARE TO NAIVE TO ACCEPT THAT. NOBODY WILL EVER BE COMPLETING ALIGNED.
I am not apologizing for China’s pollution. And America is not to blame for the MESS they are creating
I think there is something I must say.
Firstly, I think China government is making efforts to protect environment. The vehicle’s emission limiting is a good example.
Secondly, I think it is a process for a country development. as we all know, developed countries must have gone through the stage with huge energy waste and environment pollution for industry development. America’s actinochemistry smog affair in the year of 1936, and London’s smog affair in the year of 1952 and so on are good examples.
And America now is still the biggest energy consumption country. Should not it be blamed? So I think we should see the problem from the other perspective not just the problem itself.
What’s more, I think the picture is not comprehensive. As we all know, developed countries transfer their polluted industries to developing countries because of the not so strict environment policy. Why the developed countries use this approach? It should be a reason for developing country’s pollution.
so don’t be so sensitive with me ,and don’t blame to much others, just make your efforts to protect the only one earth,
So much for the nature, but what about the HUMANS? Aren’t they there in those pictures? Why do we want to preserve nature at all?
I agree that consuming 1st world is a major cause for all this trouble, but it also has created work and hope in those 3rd world countries. I guess if everyone just focused a bit more on HUMANITY, most of these problems never occured in the first place.
I think China’s government should be hold responsible for this. After all, these are CHINESE people afflicted with cancer and all those terrible diseases. Blaming west for being consumerist will not help those people after all. I am from a 3rd world country myself and I know how it’s easy to blame west for all the problems. But groaning and swearing is not going to do us any good.
The problem is one of technology! Inefficient technology! Backwards, old, sad, American, British, European, technology! Better is available! For example, Americans use 16 gallon per Shiite toilets to this day! to fill their lake and rivers, seashores, with Shiite! The fvcking fools! trapped in a technology! a convention! Oslo, Norway, bio-gasses its Shiite into fuel for its buses! then they take the sludge and make top-soil amending fertilizers! The Norwegian cycle in complete! Not the American one! Certainly not the Chinese one! Sweden used the heat from Nuclear cooling towers to heat village homes, greenhouse gardens, even de-ice slippery streets, a complete cycle! Americans take great pride in there many cooling towers across the land – the fvcking fools! Pride in their follies! These are monuments to their inability to cope with technology! China in its great haste to enter the industrial age, copied a very bad example! the wasteful American! and now suffer for it! China has only to start thinking for itself, and let go of America’s wasteful ways! Every effluent flow is resource wasted to a practical, thinking, scientist! Every effluent flow can be used to benefit! Every effluent flow represents a concentration of resources, an anomaly, and must be re-used to exhaustion! China must use its greatest resource, its massive scientific intelligentsia, to make changes in this direction! Even China’s great deserts have Solar value, and China is responding to this! Wind Power is growing in China, Tidal will soon come into play, and the frugal, practical nature of the Chinese people, if set free will soon make good use of the most disturbing of these “Resource Flows” Unlike America, where ROI is king, the end-all to logic and practicality, China remains communist in nature, and flexible on this point. This alone may be their saving grace! Many of the very ugliest occurences in the technologies of the West are ROI driven alone! Short-cuts to the big bucks! Sins against mankind and nature, driven by obsessive accounting equations for a better bottom line – nothing to do with the greater nation, cleaner air and water, bigger or better for the proletariat, the peons, just the fastest route possible to black ink on the bottom line, to appease the clamor from the almighty shareholders! This is what drives designs decides technology in America! Dangerous? See Love Canal, the “Super Fund”, and watch closely for the hidden sorrows of America! China! restore your communist roots! Stop this destruction of your environment for ROI! You did not march to this drum before? Why now?
Steve Holden says:
“Let’s not forget, too, that America (~4% of the world’s population) is still creating 25% of the world’s pollution.”
BS statistics made up by irresponsible blame-USA-first people. USA produces 25% of the world industrial output. You (or someone for you) somehow equate output = pollution. It is not directly correlated. That is not to say there are no problems. But mindless exaggerations help no one.
just amazing. to tell you the truth even if you decide not to publish it? i stopped buying made in china products. this is for the Chinese people benefits.
Uncle B,
Take scissors, clip the map of Norway and lay it out on the map of USA. Then add up the Norway population and find a city in USA that matches it, you would have no problem find one. That will give you some idea of scale. Comprende?
The toilet tanks in USA/Canada are between one (modern) to 2.5 gallons(older). Whoever gave you the 16 gallons figure was a BS artist.
Also, Uncle B, China communist roots saw the Great Leap Forward when the scale of pollution grew geometrically. The communist roots were also responsible for 100 million deaths during the 20th century. Mao himself was responsible for alion share of that figure. What a paradise!
It amazes me how some people glorify a political system that brought nothing but misery, death and enslavement. I lived under it for 30 years, so I have it first hand.
Uncle B I think you forgot to take your pills this morning. FXck these comments “You did it before so we can fxck things up too”, “You are the ones who buy the stuff”, “We need the economic progress to get military power” and all the other bullshaite. You LEARN from other’s mistakes, you DON’T repeat them or you are a moron. Do you think the people who actually benefit from these plants actually LIVE in within range of their mess? Fxck no,, they live in Shanghai or Beijing where they spend their blood money on expensive cars and bribing officials to get their spoiled offspring into the best universities. There is absolutely NO excuse for this. A couple of owners and bribed officials get incredibly rich while the people working there and the people who live in the area get the lowest wage possible and their lives destroyed. The foreign appologists and the nationalistic Chinese should wake up and smell the roses. This kind of “progress” is a loss for everybody. Stop making excuses for these corrupt megalomaniac businessmen and owners who are destroying this beautiful country and killing it’s people in the name of hard cash. Shame.
Guess it is time for the Chinese citizens to rise up. Or are you suggesting some other nation should invade them and “liberate” them. Cause you know democracy can be imposed by outside countries, just look at Iraq and Afghanistan, beacons of hope I tell ya!
as long as america continues to crave inexpensive products will this nightmare continue
I hope you don’t have sex. Because if you do, the simple act of you wanting to have sex is forcing children in to sexual slavery. (Sorry, just trying to use your logic)
I’m sure the People’s Republic wouldn’t care about the welfare of those “few” people living in villages near these monstrous industrial wastelands. After all, they’re home to 1.3 BILLION HUMAN BEINGS.
I just hope that the people running this emerging economy could wake up one day and see that the 10% annual GDP growth rate is so not worth the destruction they cause to Mother Earth. If it backfires, all this incredible pollution, they are not the only ones who will be affected but ultimately all of us who are living in this precious planet.
PEOPLE, WAKE UP!
“as long as america continues to crave inexpensive products will this nightmare continue”
No. This is one of these mindless BS utterances.
People buy cheap stuff no matter what is the origin. Not because they crave it but because it is often hard to meet their needs with their budgets.
The Chinese government pegs yuan against dollar artificially low. If the yuan was floated as other major currencies, the price tag for those products would rise sharply. This Chinese bubble is temporary. People are stopping buying some Chinese products because of a shoddy quality and many cases of industrial waste being used as a filler in products, or outright poison (pet food). Market works its way and in time, no matter how cheap, people won’t buy it anymore.
In fact, I’d posit that made in USA products can be inexpensive because of greater productivity of the American worker (not union goons taking $70/hr, that is a dinosaur that the current recession would probably make extinct).
this is terrible, bit it is true world
al gore does not make any money pushing his agenda in china
Read the River Runs Black….China’s Pollution nightmare.
And they say capitalists are bad. Yet America is on it’s way to communism. Hope the liberals will be happy.
Holy crap are you an idiot.
No Panda is exactly right!
They’re both perfect in writing, but in practicality neither work. Because civilization doesn’t work forever. It sounds nice, but people abuse it. Here’s why:
Capitalism – People own their businesses with little government action. The problem that stems from this is that people within our society are prone to take advantage of whoever is lower than them, so the government has to regulate some things.
Communism – Business is controlled by the government, and the wealth is shared. The huge problem with this is that everything that is done is done in the interest of the GOVERNMENT, not the people. This is the part that people confuse. The idea of communism is to benefit the people as a whole, but when you have a power-hungry government running (as any government will become) people are left out and the government puts its power first.
The point is that no matter what subdivision of a government you have in this world, these “civilized” people will exploit it for their own gain. Do you not see this? Even green initiatives are only slowing down our progress towards the destruction of the world, but SLOWING DOWN ISN’T ENOUGH GOD DAMMIT!!! This world is here to nurture us, and we’re destroying it.
Pandanapper says:
2009/10/24 at 9:35 am
And they say capitalists are bad. Yet America is on it’s way to communism. Hope the liberals will be happy.
Its because of the capitalists that all these factories are running. Who do you think get half the goods they manufacture? The western world. We are all implicated in this.
Very well said, my good sir!
That is why I feel national socalism strikes the correct balance. First ll freedom and liberty will have to go.
Are you retarded? Who do you think these factories are running for? Fat-ass americans, that’s who!
Fat asses will be outlawed under national socalism. Fatties will go to the reeducation camps with Ron Paul and his gold owning supporters.
It’s rampent capitalism that’s killing China. Before communism the Chinese were starving. I remember at the supper table my Dad telling us to eat up because the Chinese were starving etc. Communism pulled China out of this huge problem. Now they’ve agressively become capitalist in much the same manner that Britain did at the beginning of the industrial revolution.
And, really, try to get a grip on reality! America is nowhere near communist and never will be. However, their corporate wealfare system is killing prosperity very quickly and you can thank Bush for a lot of that as he dove into war in a classical way of imperialists trying to save their bacon.
Obama followed along with corporate welfare by feeding the partying bankers as people were made homeless and their houses were left to be looted and to rot.
China is killing itself. It`s crazy. How many western companies are raping China while they are fully knowledgable of the damage they are causing.
Victoria, BC has a long pipe into the ocean to rid itself of waste and Montreal does the same into the St. Lawrence River. The poison is beginning to kill our oceans. It`s China`s huge dence population that is exacerbating their situation but the dirty oil in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is causing big increases of cancers in native communities that rely upon the fish in their now poluted lakes. This is not an obvious stinky polution but the rare cancers are caused by a chemical specifically created from oil production.
So, forget the ommunist crap and start working to help clean up our world instead of sniffling about your notion that everything is going communist. You belong with McCarthy back in the 50s.
capitalism doesn’t kill people, people kill people.
And the Kyoto agreements leave China alone – it does not require China to clean up its mess. The US seems to be the only country that has a problem with this. The rest of the world’s governments seem to care about as much for the well-being of the Chinese people as the Chinese government does – not at all.
I have news for you: China is a capitalist country. They are politically repressive, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t capitalist.
Why are people suprised?
What people don’t understand is the unintended consequences of liberal policies that discourage domestic production under the false notion of being pro-environment and pro-worker. Industrial pollution didn’t go away, it just went overseas and became even less regulated and more disasterous. Instead of market wages being paid to American workers, we are employing slaves via our Chinese proxy.
Pro manufacturing policy in America IS the most eco friendly and pro middle class option. It’s alot easier to enforce REASONABLE and COMPETITIVE environmental controls when production takes place within your own borders.
Unchecked environmental and pro-union policy has helped to create this disaster. America can compete under reasonable environmental regulations and market driven wages but not under the current set of growth supressing liberal regulations.
Trying to assign blame for unchecked 3rd world pollution to the MODERATE environmental controls and REASONABLE union benefits enjoyed by a small percentage of american workers is ridiculous. The issue is not pro or anti manufacturing. It is rather the deadly combination of unchecked capitalism and a totalitarian regime that offers zero transparency or accountability to it’s citizens.
Yeah and i’m sure NAFTA had nothing to do with that. The problem is having a global free market system in which the countries that care least for their citizens are most likely to take advantage of their cheap labor source. It’s not an issue of capitalism vs communism, it’s the issue of environmental and labor policies. It’s not that hard to keep industries clean enough to operate successfully in the US, labor is the issue, it’s cheaper to hire skilled and unskilled workers in china and india than it is here.
I love how strong the government in china is. As the command specialist major of the army I hope to help someday usher in a national socialist government here in the US. I am so much smarter than anyone else and if all of you were not so stupid you would realize it. I also love illegal aliens that sneak into the US.
FUCK You SLAVE A,
I am glad ERIC THE DEAD ASS HUN IS ROTTING AWAY IN HIS GRAVE!
!!!!!!FUCK U WAYNE!!!!!!!
See You in HELL!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do Americans always deal in ‘liberal/republican/democratic’ policies. Its bullshit. Production has move over to places like china because it is cheap.
They are known as the BRIC counties. Brazil, Russia, India China. All upcoming countries, with large access to cheaper resources and labour.
It would have moved over there either way, and wasn’t Bush a Republican? Where did that take him?
Heard enough in the news about the Republicans in the US giving the NHS a bad name, something they clearly have no clue about. I live in the UK and think it is fantastic, along side most people who live here.
We do have private health care as well you know, you just have to pay for it…
Get it right for once.
Someday when I am the overlord of America we will not. All political parties but mine will be outlawed, and I will personaly shoot all political opposition in the face with my A-10
Can you really shoot someone in the face with an A-10? Wouldn’t the round hit all parts of the body simultaneously? Either way you couldn’t prove you shot anyone in the face because there would probably be no face… or body for that matter. That depleted uranium shell would probably incinerate the person completely. So that quite an empty threat. If you really want to make a statement once you are overlord, shoot them with .50 Cal.
As PFCIC of Propaganda Unit 425, I fully and blindly follow and support “Dave_A”. We must work even quicker to destroy the US. We must begin kidnapping foreigners and especially Communists in large numbers and bring them here. Wait, I think there’s enough Communists in the US as it is, so we’ll just work harder to bring in more parasitic immigrants to feed off the tit of the US taxpayer until we drag everyone down to a third world status.
Oh, I have news for you. China is a Communist country. The government doesn’t care about individual rights and regulates nothing that stands in the way of continued financing of the government. No freedom of anything in the PRC, just the way the liberals in the US like it.
Long live Dave_A!
You may yet excape the reeducation camps my friend.
Can I be minister of shooting people in the face?
We will see, do you love illegal aliens?
Wow I think you guys tried so hard to act like fascists you became them. Good job showing your horns, ass.
I am thinking someone needs to either spend time in a reeducation camp or face my A_10?
Sad…but very real. I feel for these children, their parents know what could happen if they procreate yet they do it anyway then abandon them? Wow..I hope I am gone long before anything like that happens here. I am so grateful to god that my children and myself do not have to live there.
This set of photographs is very sad, very powerful and “Dickensian”…
DAMN…THATS SOME SHIT…ARNT THERE RULES ABOUT THAT KINDA POLUTION
Amazing photography; they truly capture the meaning.
I love our federal government so much. I wish it could somehow take my virginity. Perhaps an illegal alien could join in. Then we could throw Ron Paul and all his gold loving supporters into a reeducation camp. That would be so hot.
David, you truly are a man full of beatifull dreams.
Can you feel my love for the federal government?
they are just a bunch of wogs anyway, who gives a shit
What the fuck is a wog?
Its someone that does not love their government unconditionaly. I hate those types of people
You know what? These are people too! The deserve respect and the opportunity to live. They never asked to be placed in these conditions. Some people were simply born into their current circumstances and cannot find means to make change. I am terribly sorry you feel the way you do; I suggest you look deep within yourself and find your heart and ask yourself if you would want you or your family to be bound to these conditions.
The only problem with china in my brilliant opinion is the government puts too much emphasis on personal freedom. I would be happy to fly my A-10 over and shoot anyone that opposes the chinese government.
Heat-seeking dildo rockets FTW!
Please let your A10 be made of gold, so that the peons will see if from afar, a vision of beauty to boggle their feeble, freedom-loving midget minds.
I hate gold and anything of value to back a currancy. I prefer a fiat currancy backed by faith in our beloved government. That is why I hate Ron Paul. I am also very jealous of how handsmome he is and of the fact that his mom dresses him better than my mom dresses me.
The world would be such a better place with less freedom. The majority of the human race has the soul of a slave and I am living proof of that.
I love illegal aliens and the federal government. I look forward to the day all of humanity lives under the jack boot of a strong one world government.
And guess who is driving their economy and paying off their industrialists to do such atrocities? It’s our money and our greed for cheap-chinese-walmart merchandise which drives this. We can also take a good portion of the blame for things like amazon rainforests (slash and burn to produce cheap beef) or deforestation of much of asia-pacific (eg. vast palm, coconut, and other plant oil plantations to meet american demand).
Think about those pics next time you go to walmart. Made in China means made without any care to human rights, child labor, or enviroment. Your dollars support it, so stop making excuses. Simply buying LESS stuff is an option, if no properly-made items are available to buy.
Agreed. I can not wait for the day when our government tells what we can buy and how much.
As a brilliant proponent of national socialism, I am sure under my strong hand it will work this time. No racism will be tolerated. As a matter of fact I had a relative die at one of the nazi death camps. Of course he fell out of a guard tower but that is beside the point……
And as the smartest person alive let me go on the record as being in favor of reeducation camps VS death camps. People are too valuable a property for our beloved federal government to piss away. But make no mistake some freedom loving, gold owning bastards are getting gunned down by me in my A-10.
I just wish china would quit messing around with freedom and liberty and get down to the business of exploiting there people as the chattel they are. I long for the day when all production is in the hands of an elite few, and I am free to march around in my jackboots and shoot Ron Paul supporters in the face with my A-10. A day when I can achieve greatness like another unappreciated corporal from history. A day when people do not smack me around like a little bitch and put cigarettes out on my neck.
Dave_A,
Zhis is your shrink, if you don’t start taking your pills RIGHT NOW I will send over a SWAT-team and have them inserted anally.
That is hot. Will you wear jackboots and read from Mein Kampf while you do it? And will to tell me how smart I am. I am smarter than you dont you know.
And speaking of chinese, I love chinese food. My favorite is creamofsumyunguy. I get it fresh from a chinese friend of mine. I know everyone cares about that, because everyone always wants to know my opinion on everything, because I am so much smarter than you.
best troll or best troll?
That would be my good friend ass-jism. He also goes by bear_grillz, we are thinking of becoming lovers.
My love for the federal government is only balanced by my hatred for freedom and liberty.
David, for the love of God.
Do not love God, love your government. And illegal aliens as well.
But dont worry I will always be happy to share my vast knowledge with those of you much more stupid than me. In fact once I retire as the command specialist major of the army I may open up a booth of knowledge somewhere. I should be charging and not dropping these pearls of wisdom for free!
At least we don’t get food from there, oh wait.
My Nikes where really clean out of the box….
Included in my master plan for national socalism, there will be a fresh clean pair of nikes for everyone that shoots a Ron Paul supporter in the face, or is helps smuggle an illegal alien across the border. Because I am so brilliant. And you are not.
wow, life in a Communist dump.
Exactly. That is why I am an advocate for national socalism.
This is the end of the world, it’ll will spread if nothing is done. I’ve never seen any third world nation suffer this kind of horrible environmental conditions…why? because they never had the technology to abuse.
Once all the world kneels before me that will change.
God Damned you Ed_S, Go fuck your self you spick piece of shit.
BTW, I have evidence that you lied about your service and that you are a little homo fucking LEG!
FUCK DAVE A and FUCK YOU ED_S
FUCK ERIC THE DEAD ASS HUN, I am glad he is DEAD AND ROTTING IN HIS GRAVE!
FUCK HIM!
I wonder how much chinas carbon credits will cost?
Dont know but they had better pay in US dollars backed by nothing more than faith in my beloved federal government, or else its straight to the reeducation camp for Ron Paul!
I can not wait until everyone loves the federal government as much as I do. I hate people that support freedom, constantly throwing the constitution in my face. Like I care what a bunch of old dead guys had to say about personal liberty.
Boycott purchasing anything from China- easy.
You do not want me to fire up the A-10!
Much respect for Lu Guang. Those are powerful images with a potent message. It must have been a difficult personal journey just to have taken them.
I just hope we can make enough environmental difference before we all choke on our own pollution.
With the help of national socalism we will. That and lots of illegal aliens.