Looking to clear the air

Moves are underway to reduce emissions and pollutions in the heartland of China's metals and petrochemical industries, as Yang Wanli and Xue Chaohua report from Baiyin, Gansu province,

If you mention air pollution in Baiyin, the locals are always happy to relate a famous local story. In the 1990s, a man spent his entire month's salary on a Phoenix bike, one of the most popular brands in China at the time. After riding his new pride and joy to work, the man locked his bike and left it outside the factory. A little later, a rainstorm hit the area. At the end of his shift, when the man went to fetch his new bike, he was unable to find it because the high acid content in the rain had dissolved the paint on the frame, leaving his new bike looking as pitted and worn as all the others in the rack.

"It's a true story. From the 1960s until the early part of this century, the entire city was shrouded in a choking acid mist. People even stopped smoking, not because of health concerns, but because the acid in the air made the cigarettes taste too sweet," said Zhao Zhanjiang, 67, who worked for Baiyin Nonferrous Metals Co from 1971 until he retired in 1998.