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 For those of you that haven't been able to pluck yourself out of that sinking feeling, Xinhua has a scientific explanation for it — our city has been sinking! In fact, geologists say it's sunk 7.5 millimetres this year, with "severe subsidence" of 8.3 millimetres detected in downtown areas. The sinking's been caused by heavy construction as well as water being pumped out of underground aquifers for "industrial and agricutural purposes" which has now been banned. Currently, the city government has plans to pump water back down into the underground on a regular basis to reduce subsidence.
We were also surprised to read that in the 1960s, Shanghai was sinking by as much as 10cm each year, and if urgent action had not been taken, we would all have been flooded by 1999 (which is just as well, 'cuz we weren't born then yet! Hah!)
Global warming and rising ocean waters have led coastal cities around the world scrambling for action. Singapore, for instance, has left nothing to chance, and engaged Dutch experts for help in the construction of dikes that can help protect the city against Hurricane Katrina-style destruction (Holland is mostly below sea level and the Dutch are considered to have the most progressive technology in this area). With polar ice caps melting at an alarming rate (sigh, did you know they're planning to open up arctic circle shipping routes and to drill it for oil?), sea levels are predicted to rise by as much as six metres — a level that is likely to make Singapore a thing of the past. Much of Shanghai will also stand to be submerged, so God bless the Bund.
Photo from monkeyking
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 The idea of Mask Week (11/17/2007-11/24/2007) got us thinking about the air we breathe in Shanghai. We know it's bad for us, we can see the haze nearly every day, but just how bad is it. So we got on the web and found the historical records for Shanghai air quality provided by the Shanghai Environment Education Centre, you can also go here to find records for 84 Chinese cities.
Since the beginning of the year Beijing has had an average Air Pollution Index (API) of 96, while Shanghai ranks in at an average API of 67 (we might be the most polluted city in China but at least we don't have the worst air pollution). Guangzhou somehow beats them all at 61. Shanghai did have the highest API of the three cities for the year at 500 (holy crap!) on April 2nd and the second highest API at 413 on January 19th. Recently Shanghai's air has had an API in the 50's.
The rating system used by China can be viewed here. Anything under 100 is supposed to be "good", so Shanghai had 276 "good" days while Beijing had just 207 and Guangzhou had 283. It is recommended by the National Environmental Monitoring Centre that during slightly polluted to lightly polluted days (API of 101-200), "The cardiac and respiratory system patients should reduce strength draining and outdoor activities." Shanghai had 27 of these days, Beijing 83 and Guangzhou 17. The real fun starts at anything over 300 though which the US EPA considers hazardous. Shanghai had 2 of these days while Beijing had just one. During these days, "The aged and patients should stay indoors and avoid strength draining; the ordinary should avoid outdoor activities."
When the API gets above 100 healthy people can experience eye irritation, wheezing, coughing, phlegm and sore throats and other respiratory ailments. Sick people generally get sicker.
So what's in all that tail pipe exhaust we call air? Well air pollution is generally composed of four major components, Nitrogen dioxide which is toxic if inhaled in the right amounts, sulphur dioxide which was used by Napoleon to execute people, Ozone which is associated with premature death, and last but not least particulate matter (crap in the air).
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 Shanghaiist has just touched down in Beijing. And just as we were wondering if it was just us, or if the air in the Jing was really that much worse *cough*cough*, this is what we read:
Earlier this week, we received an email from reader Matt Dalton looking to put together a Mask Week in Beijing. And they're looking for Shanghai organisers to do the same! Here's what they envision: Greetings From Beijing!
As I read in your latest environmental post, Shanghai is the world's second most polluted city and we have the dubious honor of living in the most polluted city in China. Needless to say, pollution is an issue here in China but we can't forget that it is also a global problem. Anyways, after going though a couple days with dangerously high pollution indexes, a few of us have come up with an idea to increase awareness of this serious health issue.
The idea is a week long event starting 11/17/2007 (Yao, Yao, Yao, Qi/ Want Want Want Air) to 11/24/2007 called Mask Week.
The idea is simple.
1. Buy a mask. (The best one possible to protect you from air pollutants) Still, simple cloth masks, although not very affective can still raise awareness. You can buy them cheaply in local pharmacies, supermarkets and so on.
2. From the time you wake up on the 17th to the time you go to bed on the 24th wear a mask whenever you go outside. Just live your daily life but when you step out the door, wear a mask. (Yes we realize that indoor air pollution is more dangerous because it is concentrated but this is aiming at outdoor air pollution.)
And that's it.
But before we can carry this out, we need to spread the word as much as possible. The best way to do this is to tell to your friends, family, classmates, coworkers ...anybody anywhere about Mask Week. The last thing this should be is some kind of "laowai only" event. We want people from all walks of life to join.
Anything you can do to help is a step in the right direction. For example you are good at photoshopping, you can create fliers that catch people's eye to hand out or post in places like bar streets, universities and so on. Go online to your favorite forums and blogs and copy this message or create your own. Just remember, this is NOT a protest. This isn't about being angry at whoever or whatever you feel is causing air pollution. It is about showing people that you care for your and their health and that air pollution is a serious problem.
If you decide to participate, please take some time and educate yourself about air pollution. Who knows? Maybe with a little more awareness we will all be able to breathe a little easier!
Shanghaiists interested in helping Matt with the Shanghai part of the event are welcome to contact him at mattman_30 AT hotmail DOT com.
Photo of museum exhibit of child with anencephaly from Taco Hose
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In an analysis of 72 major international cities by Matthew E. Kahn and Frank Lostys released in the latest edition of Reader's Digest which were ranked in terms of being green and livable, Shanghai took the second lowest spot. But if it's any consolation to all you hardcore Shanghaiists, Beijing ranks right below us. China had the ignominious honour of having three of its cities (the third city being Guangzhou) occupy the bottom 5 spots together with Bangkok and Mumbai. Time again to haul out that huge bag of masks that we bought during the SARS crisis.
Photo of our favourite city from Ethnocentrics
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If you're still thinking of getting to Sanya (which has often been touted as the Hawaii of China) for that long-awaited getaway, you might very well change your mind after you see this video. Some Chinese guys on holiday in Sanya were disappointed to find out that it wasn't only not all that it was cracked up to be, it was also very dirty and polluted. Armed with a digital camera, they took down everything that they saw. They found a leak in the sewer pipe of a certain five-star hotel which released untreated sewage water into the ocean and a foul stench into the air. The waters are murky, the corals have died and nothing is living in it anymore. At the end of the clip, the video makers entreat local authorities to do something about the situation. We wonder if anything will be done at all if no names were named? Or will their eyes finally be opened only when the pollution inflicts a severe damage on Sanya's tourism market and people's livelihoods are hurt?
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 The word is out. Shanghai's first nature reserve in Nanhui District's Dongtan area has officially been established. The 40.3 km long beach area will be a haven for birds such as white cranes and little stints. Many migratory birds also nest there each year.
People's Daily assures us that "anyone hunting in the area will be faced with punishment, according to established regulations for wildlife sanctuaries". But it doesn't elucidate what punishment await for those who flout the laws: This means anyone who traps or kills wild animals will forfeit their prey, hunting equipment and income made from the illegal activity. They will also be fined. Serious offenders - defined as a hunter with 20 wild animals - will be treated as criminal cases. Hunters with 50 or more prey will receive a criminal penalty.
Huh? Is this just a case of vague wording on the part of the lawmakers or laziness on the part of the journalist who just doesn't bother to really inform his/her readers? (Probably a bit of both!)
Apparently, the Dongtan area in Nanhui district is not to be confused with the one on Chongming Island, where a huge green eco-city, make that eco-metropolis (if there was such a word), is being built — from scratch. Dongtan on Chongming Island is massive, about the size of Manhattan. The first residential and commercial space will the market in 2010, and by 2050 (one wonders if we'd still be around by then), it will boast of half a million residents — that's more than the population of Miami or Atlanta today. But hey, if they managed to build Pudong out of nothing, they can do it with Dongtan too. The only question that remains is: how much of the "eco" will be in that "eco-city"?
Picture from Juan Freire.
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 Planning an October holiday escape? Need some fresh air? How does Norway sound? The European Arctic. That should be far enough from the pull of Shanghai's pollution, right? Wrong. These days, there's no escaping China's chief export: Crappy air.
Researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute have said that they've detected chemical traces from China all the way up north on Spitsbergen Island. How do they do it, you ask? Well apparently with some smart detective work, scientists are often able to tell where certain chemical traces come from because "the particles are slightly different in the United States, Russia, China, Europe or India".
From a Reuters report:
Emissions from cars, for instance, have a different chemical signature according to national gasoline blends. Israel is alone in using a type of pesticide on its orange trees.
More ghoulishly, funeral pyres in some Asian countries release toxic mercury from fillings in the teeth of the deceased. If detected, the mercury means air did not come from Europe, North America or Japan where crematoriums have filters.
Greenhouse gases are at the highest levels in about 650,000 years, and a growing proportion of them can be traced to China. Carbon dioxide levels have also risen from 270 parts per million before the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century to 390 ppm this year. All that global warming means glaciers are melting, icebergs are disappearing, and polar bears are dying (with two thirds of them dead by 2050). Ironically though, Shanghai stands to gain from it all as global warming opens up arctic shipping routes. From a report we found on transarctic shipping and transportation:
The distance from Iceland to the Pacific through the Bering Strait is for instance about 3,500
nm whereas the distance from Rotterdam through the Suez Canal to Shanghai is about 9,600
nm. If ships are too large to pass the canal they have to go beyond The Cape of Good Hope in
South Africa a distance of 13,900 nm.
What all this means in dollars and cents is dramatic: Based on a charter cost of $30,000 a day, traveling speed of 22 knots and fuel costs of $170 per tonne, the route from Rotterdam to Shanghai via the Northwest Passage would be $590,000 cheaper than through the Suez Canal if the Canadian passageway were free.
So while the significance of ports like Singapore and Hong Kong which have benefited from the opening of the Suez Canal is likely to be diminished, northern ports like Shanghai and Yokohama stand to gain by being the new shipping gateways to Asia. Honestly though, Shanghaiist hopes to be long dead before all of that happens along with the consequent environmental disasters of an ice-free arctic circle.
Related links
Reuters: In pure Arctic air, signs of China's economic boom
Reuters: Global warming boosts Arctic shipping, oil: report
Asia Times: Nations scramble over Arctic Silk Road
Arctic Portal: Breaking the Ice - Arctic Development and Maritime Transportation
Prospects of the Transarctic Route – Impact and Opportunities
Photo of Greenpeace ship travelling along the coast of Greenland to document the effects of rapid Arctic warming from adavies.
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 OK, we all know about the Great Wall, the Great Firewall and the Great Green Wall. All that is old news now. Get this: China is now building a 6 million yuan, 40-kilometer (25-mile) long, 1 meter (3.3 feet) high wall around Dongting Lake in Hunan Province to guard against the 2 billion field mice that have been on the run from the flooded Yangtse River. Already, the mice have destroyed about 520,000 hectares (1.3 million acres) of crop land when rising water drove them from their burrows. And even the enterprising businessmen in Guangdong who sought to help by bringing the mice en masse to the dinner table did little to mitigate the situation.
Because of intensive farming and the use of anti-pest poisons, the populations of predators such as owls, snakes and weasels, have dwindled and China must now take time to build them. Some scientists have expressed doubt at the long-term effectiveness of the mice wall project. Said Wen Bo, director of the China program at Pacific Environment, a San Francisco-based conservation group: Walls won't shield farmers from the next mouse plague... The wall is a symbolic gesture to quiet public concern... It's not going to work in the long run.
Yet, for farmers and villagers, some of whom have lost entire harvests of corn, peanuts and watermelon, the mice wall project seems like the best (and only) solution for now. Said one farmer, Zhang, 62: Once they get the wall built, we'll be better off
It is highly likely that by the year 2020 (yes, that wonderful year when paradise would have come to earth), China will not only be a "harmonious society" at last but also possibly the world's most walled nation.
Related links
Shanghaiist: Not your run-of-the-mill rat race
Shanghaiist: How would ou like your rat done, sir?
Bloomberg: China Builds New Great Wall to Defend Against Mice, Not Mongols
Photo of stewed rat from Jan Chipchase.
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Gold, silver, bronze? Nah. According to Bloomberg.com athletes the world over have smog on their minds when it comes to the quadrennial Olympics competition next year in Beijing. Gunn-Rita Dhale, Norway’s reigning world champion for women’s mountain biking had this to say about her future host city,
It's probably the most polluted place I've ever competed. Your mouth and throat dry up because of the dust. It's not good for the system.
Clearly, Ms. Dhale has never competed in New Dehli, the city with the worst air quality in Asia, according to the United Nations Environment Program’s 2006 Year Book. Beijing proudly comes in second on that list, registering 145 micrograms of particle per cubic meter of air, almost three times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum. A seemingly never ending construction boom and a six fold jump in car sales in the past five years may have something to do with the abysmal air quality.
China is well aware of this issue and is now in the midst of a USD $13 billion spending frenzy to remedy the situation. Note to self, add "clean air" to the list of things money can buy. Beijing set a goal of 248 “clean air” days in 2008, this after 241 clean days last year and 100 in 1998. Interestingly, Beijing’s threshold for “clean air” is three times the recommended level published by the World Health Organization. In other words, in 2008, city residents and visitors can look forward to 248 days of poor air quaility, and 118 days of piss poor air quality, your trachea be damned!
Every article about the Olympics now mentions the problems with Beijing's pollution with some human rights reference always thrown in for kicks. Increasingly, the media have grown tired of the repeated tried at making Beijing's air cleaner. One of the more labored attempts is coming later this month, with the four day ban of non-essential vehicles, starting August 17. The only vehicles allowed on the roads will be cars with even or odd license plates (depending on the day), taxis, buses, and other "special vehicles".
Western nations and their athletes are understandably concerned. IOC President Jacque Rogge has even gone on the record saying certain events may have to be delayed pending air quality.
"Yes, this is an option. It would not be necessary for all sports, sports with short durations would not be a problem. But definitely the endurance sports like the cycling race where you have to compete for six hours, these are examples of competitions that might be postponed or delayed to another day."
Team Australia for the first time, will have an asthma doctor, or an otolaryngologist (for you trivia buffs) on staff. To avoid the heavy smog, team UK and US will not even base in Beijing. The Brits will station in the once Portugese colony of Macau (1,365 miles away from Beijing), while the Yanks saddling up in an entirely different country, South Korea, both parachuting their athletes to competitions wherever they are held. As Randy Wilbur, Team US’ senior physiologist put it, “(we want to) spend as little time as possible in Beijing”, much to the disappointment of the city's massage parlor operators.
As for our mountain bike champion Ms. Dhale, it seems Team Norway will actually stay in Beijing, as opposed to some far flung city, say Oslo.
``I'll minimize the amount of time spent in the city and will stay as much as possible inside the hotel,'' Dahle says. ``There would have been many far better alternatives than Beijing. It goes against all common sense when it comes to doing sports.''
Summer 2008 can't get here fast enough, the world's anticipation is palpable.
Pete Chorba contributed to this story.
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 The full report of an 18 month study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at China's request is out, and the picture ain't pretty. As many as 300 million people are drinking contaminated water every day, and 190 million are suffering from water-related illnesses each year. One third of the length of all China's rivers are now "highly polluted" as are 75% of its major lakes and 25% of its coastal waters. Every year, nearly 30,000 children die from diarrhoea due to polluted water. If things don't improve by 2020, pollution will cause 600,000 premature deaths in urban areas and 20 million cases of respiratory illness a year. The overall cost of health damage will be equal to 13 percent of gross domestic product.
Photo by April
Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.
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 Jodi Xu of the TIME Beijing Bureau writes in a post entitled Now it's Fake Water that really got us wondering about the RMB6 tubs of water that we get in our apartment:
This morning, I heard the news that half of Beijing’s bottled water is counterfeit. I was horrified. It seems that illegal factories fill the used plastic bottles from the tap or with perfunctorily filtered water. The bottle tops and tape that they use to seal the bottle look identical to the genuine ones. The bottles aren’t sterilized and the number of mold fungi and e. coli bacteria that have been found in such water can easily make drinkers sick. An industry report quoted by Beijing Times calculates that more than 100 million bottles of such water were sold last year. The profit derived from these illegal sales exceeded 1 billion RMB, or about $12 million. As a Chinese, I am used to reading about dangerous fakes. But this case really enraged me. This is water that many of us drink every day, after all. And the whole reason people pay extra for bottled water is for the quality—and safety. The Beijing Times did a story a couple of days ago that revealed the illegal business has been going on for five years. One unlicensed water bottler told the newspaper: “I filter the tap water before filling the bottle because I am a moral person and I don’t want to get people sick.”
A whole spate of headling-grabbing environmental and water issues have hit China one after the other lately - algae lakes, desertification and now fake water. It's no wonder the government seems to be scrambling to action to make sure none of its thirsty 1.4 billion people will die for lack of water.
And they've looked to an unlikely source of help - tiny Singapore, which with few natural water sources had to depend on Malaysia for most of its water. Prickly relations between the two and Malaysia's threats to cut off water supply led Singapore to look to other sources - desalination and recycled water.
In its bid to cut reliance on other countries for water and to build a sustainable water supply, Singapore developed NEWater, which could best be defined as recycled household water, or more crudely as distilled piss. NEWater became the butt of a million jokes when it was first launched in 2003, but has gained interest worldwide as water problems everywhere become more acute.
Pictured here is Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai taking a swig of NEWater, and the verdict? "Good", he said. "It tastes very normal".
Beijing and Singapore are in talks on the possibility of building an eco-city in China, and have just signed a memorandum of understanding on the improvement of the urban environment and integrated utilisation of urban water resources cooperation. So who knows, maybe we will all soon be drinking our own piss in Shanghai!
Picture from Lianhe Zaobao.
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 Though it sounds like a high school-student-and-soon-to-be-cocaine-addict's dream come true, in China, there is a real market for people with an acute sense of smell and masochistic tendencies! From the unlinkable without a proxy or psychic powers BBC:
China is about to unleash a new weapon in the battle against illegal polluters - humans trained to sniff out foul gases, according to Chinese media.
The southern city of Guangzhou will be patrolled by "professional noses" who will detect unlawful emissions from factories, the China Daily reported. Not exactly a pleasant line of work, but on the up side, you just might start to appreciate the collective B.O. of rush hour subways and buses. Unfortunately, not only do these olfactory proles need certificates to begin working, they also have to renew them every three years: "The China Daily said the certificates are valid for three years at a time, because human's sense of smell deteriorates with age."
This comes just as the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency released a report stating that China is now the world's top CO2 emitter, beating out the US in one of the most dramatic cliffhangers since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. We suppose that for the sniffers, this means that business is good.
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