WELCOMING SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND

It has already fixed that Shanghai Disneyland will be opened on June 16, 2016. On the other hand, China’s pollution is still kinda a serious problem. Sometimes, you can’t see that clear blue sky. What will China do to make Shanghai Disneyland become “children’s happiest and most beautiful place”? What will they do to maintain the clear blue sky above Shanghai Disneyland? Stay with me till the end of this article and you’ll find out how creative China is.

Old factories: It’s time to say goodbye

As you can see, this is the map of China. Many factories scatter around China, except the western region which is Tibet and Xinjiang. Factories are more saturated-ly located around eastern China, which is Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Guangdong, Zhejiang, etc.

Last year China closed factories near Shanghai Disneyland to prepare the blue sky above the “happiest place on earth”. In addition, China also has been undergoing its plan from year 2013 to cut its pollution.

The good news is, it works! But, the bad news is, the pollution levels in the central and western China provinces have increased.

Based on data, in the first quarter of this year, PM2.5 level (the smallest, most dangerous air pollution particles) fell by an average of 8.8% from a year ago in 362 cities. Beijing’s fell 27%, whereas Shanghai’s fell 12%. On the other hand, there were 91 cities with rising average PM2.5 levels, and 69 of them were in central and western parts of the country. The PM2.5 level had a 20% average jump in those 69 cities. Getting more specific, the top 5 highest PM2.5 levels cities were located in Xinjiang.

Let’s talk a bit about Xinjiang (really wanna go there!). Xinjiang is located in the west part of China beside Tibet and is bordered with Pakistan. Xinjiang, with the capital city of Ürümqi, is habited by people that are mostly Muslim. If you come to China, you can differentiate Xinjiang people. Their face is different with mainland people’s face. Their food? Amazing! Even for Chinese citizen, I heard from my Chinese friend, they need to make visa to enter Xinjiang.

Ürümqi City

Xinjiang People

Lately, Xinjiang recorded the worst air quality in the first quarter among all the 31 Chinese provinces, with 46% rise on its average PM2.5 levels. This is caused particularly by the expanded industrial activity. In addition, it is also forecasted that it will deteriorate further due to increased investment in coal-fired power plants around this regions. Last year, China made new permits for such plants in central and western part with a total capacity of 128 gigawatts.

Final Words

The “Happiest Place on Earth”

On its way

Yes, you may enjoy the clear blue sky at Shanghai Disneyland on next June 16! But then, China still has to wisely sort its policy to balance and improve its air quality.