About two weeks ago an in-depth investigative report covering the impact of pollution on the environment in China was uploaded and published on a number of Chinese video streaming sites. It is called “Under the Dome” (based on the TV show). It was an instant hit and reached over 200 million views within its first week — thereupon it was removed, scrubbed from the Chinese internet by censors.
I lived in three different cities during my five-year stay in China and the pollution varied from location to location. Fortunately I spent the vast majority of the time in the south — which has its own issues — but the air was almost always better than the type found in the north and specifically in the Beijing metro.
This is not to say there were not very bad air pollution days too. I recall my last week in Shanghai, in December 2013 (prior to moving to California), that in the twilight hours the smog was so thick that I couldn’t see the flashing red lights atop of the apartment I lived in.
It was bad enough that it earned its own Wikipedia entry and a number of news outlets wrote a few stories on it:
- Flights delayed as air pollution hits record in Shanghai from Reuters
- Shanghai’s Smog Becomes Living Hazard In One Of Worst Bouts Of Air Pollution from Associated Press
- Today’s air pollution level in Shanghai is insane from Quartz
Below is the full version with English subtitles: