Problematic Partial Assessment
In fact, instead of the whole city, only Jiancheng District, which represents one eighth of the entire city, was assessed during the drives for all the awards Changzhi has previously won.
In Huguan, a district in southeast Changzhi, polluted water keeps flowing into a river. A local named Liu tells the EO that the water comes from nearby factories and is polluting the drinking water for residents in the lower reaches of the river. Carrying a pungent smell with it, the water finally flows into Zhangze reservoir.

"The city centre is now cleaner than before. But all this is just like a show to redeem the city's image. One can easily see pollution when traveling to other districts frather away from downtown," says another local known as Wei.

In the city's northwest corner, near the Changzhi Steel Group, thick coal dust covers the roads and tree leaves. For Zheng, a clerk with the company, the scene is taken for granted.

"This is the way it has always been, there's always more pollution than downtown. Streets get dirty again soon after janitor clear them up," she says.

According to Zheng Weiping, vice director of Changzhi Municipal Environmental Protection Administration, the city was "born with pollution". As a major base for coal mining, almost every city in Shanxi province is polluted, only to different degrees.