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China has some stunningly beautiful natural landscapes, but they may not count for much when, in other parts of the country, pollution runs totally unchecked. These shocking photos show what severe pollution people have to deal with in some parts of China.

Beijing and other parts of China have already become notorious for their incessant clouds of smog, which present very real health risks to anyone not wearing dust masks. Unregulated dumping in various rivers throughout China is fairly common, as many of the photos in this series help illustrate.

Chinese leaders have vowed to get serious on air pollution, but change will be difficult in a country whose industry has expanded so rapidly. If you have any photos illustrating these difficulties, please add them to this list.

(h/t: allthatisinteresting)
#1

Fake Hong Kong Skyline For Tourists

Fake Hong Kong Skyline For Tourists

Petapixle.com Report

JostaLoos
Community Member
11 years ago

That one really says it all....

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    #2

    Fishermen Row A Boat In The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei, Anhui Province

    Fishermen Row A Boat In The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei, Anhui Province

    Jianan Yu Report

    NicoleF
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Julija, this is clean water, its from Reuters and it was explaining why there was a algae.... why the misinformation?

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    #3

    Girl Walks Through Smog In Beijing, Where Small-Particle Pollution Is 40 Times Over International Safety Standard

    Girl Walks Through Smog In Beijing, Where Small-Particle Pollution Is 40 Times Over International Safety Standard

    Kyodo News Report

    PaganMoon
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    a sad way to live. We all need to do our part to clean up the world.

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    #4

    Child Drinks Water From Stream In Fuyuan County, Yunnan Province

    Child Drinks Water From Stream In Fuyuan County, Yunnan Province

    Reuters Report

    NandaWitkamp
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    This is not normal. So sad!!!

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    #5

    Boy Swims In Algae-filled Water, Qingdao, Shandong

    Boy Swims In Algae-filled Water, Qingdao, Shandong

    Reuters Report

    JulieMariaRohde
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    No, but polluting stuff as nitrate helps algae bloom, which uses the oxygen in the water, which kills the fish

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    #6

    Journalist Takes A Sample Of Red Polluted Water From The Jianhe River

    Journalist Takes A Sample Of Red Polluted Water From The Jianhe River

    Reuters Report

    RobLaBrushe
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Dye from a local plant changes the colour frequently. http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-river-blood-jian-turns-red-after-chemical-dump-photos-70

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    #7

    Worker Cleans Away Dead Fish At A Lake In Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province

    Worker Cleans Away Dead Fish At A Lake In Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province

    Reuters Report

    MariaFelix
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    So sad!! Is China doing something about this?

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    #8

    Labourer Tries To Clean Up Oil From Water, Dalian, Liaoning

    Labourer Tries To Clean Up Oil From Water, Dalian, Liaoning

    Reuters Report

    SuzieLane
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    OMG...chinese leaders need to stop just talking about fixing this and actually do something

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    #9

    Workers Try To Drain Sewage Water From Leaking Sewage Tank, Shanghang, Fujian

    Workers Try To Drain Sewage Water From Leaking Sewage Tank, Shanghang, Fujian

    Reuters Report

    SaraJane
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    What a horrible job :S

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    #10

    Buildings In Beijing Surrounded By Smog

    Buildings In Beijing Surrounded By Smog

    China FotoPress Report

    AustinNguyen
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    I thought those were clouds for a second...

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    #11

    Child Swims In A Polluted Reservoir, Pingba

    Child Swims In A Polluted Reservoir, Pingba

    Reuters Report

    AgastyaMahendradhany
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Why the f**k would you swim in that?

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    #12

    Boy Tries To Avoid Scattered Rubbish Floating On A Flooded Street In Shantou, Guangdong Province

    Boy Tries To Avoid Scattered Rubbish Floating On A Flooded Street In Shantou, Guangdong Province

    Reuters Report

    RobLaBrushe
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    This is the aftermath of a natural disaster that killed hundreds. Rather shameful to have this posted here.

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    #13

    Pollution From A Factory In Yutian, 100km East Of Beijing

    Pollution From A Factory In Yutian, 100km East Of Beijing

    Peter Parks Report

    IraPaduga
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    This is too much.

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    #14

    Workers Clean Up Floating Garbage On The Yangtze Rive

    Workers Clean Up Floating Garbage On The Yangtze Rive

    Reuters Report

    LudwigArcache
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Very advanced cleaning workers.

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    #15

    Dead Fish In Water Filled With Blueish Algae, East Lake, Wuhan

    Dead Fish In Water Filled With Blueish Algae, East Lake, Wuhan

    Reuters Report

    LudwigArcache
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Extreme conditions.

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    Never miss a story that brings joy to the world. Add us on Google

    #16

    Woman Collects Plastic Bottles Near River Polluted By Reddish Dye

    Woman Collects Plastic Bottles Near River Polluted By Reddish Dye

    lu palmerini Report

    lindsayandlife
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    probably all of our christmas decorations... http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-worksh

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    #17

    Man Walks By Pipe Discharging Waste Water Into Yangtze River

    Man Walks By Pipe Discharging Waste Water Into Yangtze River

    William Hong Report

    ShayLhea
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Probably because the US has other countries make everything for them. Waste stays where those items are made, keeping home soil clean.

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    #18

    Great Wall Of China, Shame.

    Great Wall Of China, Shame.

    Report

    PetyaHarizanova
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Ow, wow! At first I thought "Hmm, looks like some of the ruins in my country..." but then I saw this pile of bottles.... Shame...

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    #19

    Heavily Polluted River In Jiaxing, Zhejiang

    Heavily Polluted River In Jiaxing, Zhejiang

    Reuters Report

    RedMan
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    is that... pee?

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    #20

    Child Jumps Over Trash At A Village, Jiaxing

    Child Jumps Over Trash At A Village, Jiaxing

    William Hong Report

    EvelynBock
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Gruselige Fotos - sicher ein Ergebnis der boomenden Wirtschaft und billigen Preise in China :(

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    #21

    Fisherman Fills His Palms With Water From The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei

    Fisherman Fills His Palms With Water From The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei

    Reuters Report

    AustinNguyen
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Looks like paint

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    #22

    Factory Polluting The Air

    Factory Polluting The Air

    Reuters Report

    Jan Sam
    Community Member
    9 years ago

    new place to work on looks like

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    #23

    Fisherman Covered In Algae, Chaohu Lake

    Fisherman Covered In Algae, Chaohu Lake

    Reuters Report

    BJ Pilton
    Community Member
    6 years ago

    Not even funny

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    #24

    Woman Walks On Bridge Over Polluted River, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province

    Woman Walks On Bridge Over Polluted River, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province

    Carlos Barria Report

    JohannesKlaeger
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    our debt as well, because of the stupid unreasonable consumer behavior of all industrial countries, and there people have to suffer

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    #25

    Girl And Her Father Collect Water From Puddle At Dried-up Reservoir, Baofeng County

    Girl And Her Father Collect Water From Puddle At Dried-up Reservoir, Baofeng County

    Reuters Report

    Jan Sam
    Community Member
    9 years ago

    In western Canadian city where i once was a discussion arose about quotas and reserving water. It was not to be for you and me.

    #26

    Fishermen Collecting Fish In A Polluted Canal, Beijing

    Fishermen Collecting Fish In A Polluted Canal, Beijing

    David Gray Report

    LucyHarvest
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    These photos of China pollution is very shocking & very sad indeed!! We are traveling for the first time to China in June. will take masks!!

    #27

    Workers Collect Dead Fish At A Park In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province

    Workers Collect Dead Fish At A Park In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province

    Reuters Report

    Chris Hull
    Community Member
    6 years ago

    I hate hobos

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    #28

    A Street Dog Naps Amoungst The Garbage - Northern China.

    A Street Dog Naps Amoungst The Garbage - Northern China.

    Report

    JasperLloyd
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    How'd he get up there

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    #29

    Over 3000 Dead Pigs Fished Out Of Huangpu River

    Over 3000 Dead Pigs Fished Out Of Huangpu River

    www.chinasmack.com Report

    ElizabethCampbell
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Why are the pigs in the river in the first place?

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    #30

    Residents Look At A Heavily Polluted River, Zhugao, Sichuan province

    Residents Look At A Heavily Polluted River, Zhugao, Sichuan province

    independent.co.uk Report

    #31

    The Price Of Rapid Industrialization - Western China's Xinjiang Province

    The Price Of Rapid Industrialization - Western China's Xinjiang Province

    Report

    #32

    Morning Smog In Beijing

    Morning Smog In Beijing

    Brielle Cardieri Report

    SherryZeng
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    MORNING!? Looks more like end of the world

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    #33

    Workers Clean Up Leaked Oil After An Oil Pipeline Explosion, Qingdao, Shandong

    Workers Clean Up Leaked Oil After An Oil Pipeline Explosion, Qingdao, Shandong

    Reuters Report

    Lorien
    Community Member
    10 years ago

    CamilioGonzález : this is about China, not Mexico

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    #34

    Fishermen Clean Up Oil At Oil Spill Near Dalian Port, Liaoning Province

    Fishermen Clean Up Oil At Oil Spill Near Dalian Port, Liaoning Province

    Reuters Report

    BruceSchmidt
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    This could be the XL Pipeline

    #35

    Smog In Beijing

    Smog In Beijing

    AFP Report

    Beatrice DuPont
    Community Member
    7 years ago

    https://www.inkstonenews.com/china/new-study-puts-annual-cost-chinas-air-pollution-38-million-and-11-million-deaths/article/2166591 A million deaths: the annual price of China’s dirty air

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    #36

    Heavily Polluted Lake In China

    Heavily Polluted Lake In China

    Bert van Dijk Report

    #37

    Flies Gather On Railings Because Of Polluted Water, East Lake, Wuhan

    Flies Gather On Railings Because Of Polluted Water, East Lake, Wuhan

    Reuters Report

    Lorien
    Community Member
    10 years ago

    Oh. My. God. That is revolting. (Excuse my use of the word God)

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    #38

    Fishermen Brave Heavy Smog Over A Natural Beauty Spot - Jixian, Tianjin.

    Fishermen Brave Heavy Smog Over A Natural Beauty Spot - Jixian, Tianjin.

    Report

    #39

    Great Wall Of China, Call It "great"?

    Great Wall Of China, Call It "great"?

    Report

    MaryKateJankowski
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    This is just pure LAZINESS

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    #40

    Smog Particles Mix With Fog And Settle At Ground Level In An Early Morning Freeze - Tianjin.

    Smog Particles Mix With Fog And Settle At Ground Level In An Early Morning Freeze - Tianjin.

    Report

    FatimaFernandez
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    .... esto es terrible

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    #41

    Heavily Polluted River

    Heavily Polluted River

    Report

    Jan Sam
    Community Member
    9 years ago

    No job, no gag order....could this be the effects of bombing in part ????

    #42

    Pollution In Beijing From The Seventeenth Floor

    Pollution In Beijing From The Seventeenth Floor

    Report

    ClaudiaMee
    Community Member
    11 years ago

    Quiten esa ni se entiende.

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    #43

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