Tests reveal toxic delta vegetables - Pearl River Delta, China

Well, I guess it is not enough that one can not breathe the air in Guangdong let alone exercise (for fear of injuring your lungs), but now apparently you can not eat the vegetables there due to toxic pollution.

Tests reveal toxic delta vegetables
High lead, cadmium levels in food
Zhuang Pinghui and Cheung Chi-fai

Jan 18, 2008


Serious heavy-metal contamination has been found in vegetables from the Pearl River Delta and in the soil they grow in, a mainland report says.

Surveys of densely populated cities such as Guangzhou, Foshan , Dongguan and Zhongshan discovered the soil contamination, the Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday. Samples taken in areas such as Nanhai and Xinhui - among the province's main vegetable-producing areas - showed serious contamination.

An expert said the areas did not supply Hong Kong's vegetables.

Although the contamination may not be serious enough to lead to food poisoning - because most chemicals can be washed away before consumption - the findings confirm the fears of environmentalists that Guangdong's breakneck economic development over the past three decades has caused serious environmental damage.

The soil sampling - initiated by Guangdong's Agriculture Department - is being carried out after Chen Riyuan , a professor at South China Agriculture University, submitted his own study to the government last year alerting it to the problem of heavy-metal contamination of vegetables.

Another study conducted by Sun Yat-sen University examined vegetable samples taken from 12 wet markets in Guangzhou. It confirmed that contaminated vegetables had found their way to consumers.

Lead levels in leaf samples tested were 37.5 per cent above acceptable limits and cadmium levels were 18.1 per cent too high. In samples of root vegetables, the level of lead was 26.3 per cent above acceptable limits and cadmium 9.7 per cent too high.

It is not the first time researchers have found chemical contamination of Guangdong's farmland. In 2005, a State Environmental Protection Agency survey found 40 per cent of the delta's cities suffered from heavy-metal pollution, with the contamination "serious" in 10 per cent of cities.

Contacted yesterday, Professor Chen said he hoped the government would be able to come up with solutions. He said his study showed the problem had been controlled in big cities but was prevalent elsewhere.

"Land that has suffered low levels of pollution can be treated through technology," he said. "But it will be very costly to deal with land with serious pollution."

He suggested growing flowers or trees as an alternative.

Professor Chen said Hong Kong should not worry because vegetables supplied to the city mainly came from so-called "pollution-free" production bases in the province. According to the Guangzhou Daily, Guangdong has 260,000 hectares of farmland qualified as pollution-free.

Wong Ming-hung, director of the Croucher Institute for Environmental Science at Hong Kong Baptist University, said there was no cause for panic since most of the chemicals could be washed off leaf vegetables.

"The top priority now is to conduct research to find the sources of these heavy metals. Contaminated land should be left vacant," he said.

Edward Chan Yue-fai, of environmental group Greenpeace, cautioned that the problem could spread as polluting factories moved inland.

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety would not comment on the Guangzhou Daily's report.

High levels of lead can damage virtually every system in the body. It is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children.

Red sea in Shenzhen

While blue-green algae attacks the Tai Lake in Wuxi in the northeast of China, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are dealing with red algae in the seas.

Red tide of algae hits Shenzhen coastal area

By Jonathan Yeung (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-07 07:03

SHENZHEN: A marine algal bloom commonly known as "red tide" has returned to Shenzhen bay, causing serious pollution and killing off many marine plants.

A red tide is caused by a buildup of marine plankton that consume oxygen while releasing toxic substances into the water, killing off fish and plant life.

"This is the biggest red tide that has ever appeared off the city's coast," said Zhou Kai, a marine expert with Shenzhen's municipal sea fishery environment monitoring station.

He said this marked the third time this year a red tide had appeared off Shenzhen. The first appeared near Shenzhen bay in January and another appeared near Dameisha last month.

Based on the monitoring station's observations, the most recent red tide is mainly west of Shenzhen. The infected area is about 50 sq km. Sea to the east of Shenzhen appears to be free of the plankton at this stage.

"We strongly urge the public to stay away from the polluted sea areas and not eat sea products from there," Zhou said.

A red tide has also been spotted near neighboring Hong Kong in the past few days, with as many as six beaches in Tunmen and Qingshan Bay being affected.

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has reminded people not to swim in polluted areas.

Zhou said the red tide would recede if it rained. "But the weather remains sunny and hot, which means the red tide is here to stay for now," he added.

He said the recent weather conditions were favorable to the plankton.

A lot of rain has fallen off Shenzhen's coast in recent months, pulling nitrogen and phosphorous up from the sea bottom. Plankton feed off these nutrients.

This, compounded with the hot weather, has helped the plankton breed and spread, Zhou said. He said the red tide would not cause major economic losses because very few people were breeding sea fish in the affected areas.

"But the foul smell of the dying algae will be unpleasant for the people living in the affected areas, and the tide's annoying red color will also mar the pleasant view," Zhou said.

Shenzhen's "Keep Off the Grass" signs

Having lived off and on in Shenzhen for several years, I often see such Engrish signs on grassy patches between high-rises and office buildings (Shenzhen has actually done a good job in terms of the "green-ization" of its urban environment). These are creative takes on "keep off the grass" to attract the attention of Shenzhen's working masses.

The sign covered by Boing Boing says something like this in Chinese:

"Together you and I shall be the bodyguards of the green-ization!"

Full moon over Shenzhen

An eerie full moon over the Merchants Bank Tower (aka the Shenzhen World Trade Center) in Shenzhen.

Hot in here...

It's February in southern China. That means heat, humidity and general uncomfortableness. The air conditioner is already on to dehumidify.

"Focus Media" in taxis now

Focus Media ( 分众传媒 ; Nasdaq: FMCN) popularized LCD-screen enabled monitors in elevators and lobbies in China -- in commercial, office and residential properties. "Focus Media" fever has spread and such ad screens can be found in supermarket, trains, planes, and taxis in China.

Here are some photos from a new "Focus Media"-like ad screen service in taxis in Shenzhen. Thankfully, one is able to hit a mute button...

No! Really! We REALLY don't want Hong Kong dollars!

The big news is that the RMB has hit parity with the Hong Kong dollar. The Hong Kong dollar has been fixed since the 1980's at 7.8 to US$1. Yesterday, the Chinese Yuan hit 7.8 to US$1.

The results were to be expected in Shenzhen. Sure enough, I was in a taxi. I gave the taxi drive a choice -- break a big ole RMB 100 note or accept a HK$20 note. He could not decide but really did not want the HK$. I tipped him RMB 0.50 and then he accepted the HK$ reluctantly.

No thank you to Hong Kong dollars!

Having spent the last three years or so in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (across the border from Hong Kong), I became accustomed to using Hong Kong dollars (HK$) occasionally for anything from taxi fares to meals. In the near past, the HK$ seemed to have a bit of a cachet in Shenzhen.

However, in the last four months or so, with the rapid appreciation of the Chinese yuan (or renmibi, RMB), the HK$ has fallen out of favor -- and fallen hard. The RMB was pegged at about 8.2 / US$1 , but now is on par with the HK$ at about 7.8 / US$1. I think consumers realize instinctively that the RMB will appreciate further as well.

As a result, Chinese in Shenzhen now eschew the HK$. You almost can't give the stuff away! Case in point, a recent taxi fare came to RMB 20.6. I gave the driver a RMB 20 note and a HK$2 coin. All I had. The driver refused the coin although that would have been a rather robust tip by Mainland Chinese standards (tipping of any sort is not done in China). He said "I can't give this away."

Friday afternoon stroll through Shenzhen

A random walk through Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China on a Friday afternoon.

E-learning seminar video clips

Distance education and e-learning are taking off in China. The following are some video clips from a seminar held by iTech Holdings Limited on the subject.

Street vendors at night in Shenzhen

Street vendors at night in Shenzhen.

The New China?

Interesting juxtaposition. The New China?

Dim Sum Breakfast

Breakfast may be the best meal of the day in Canton (Guangdong Province). Dim Sum. Here is a video of a typically crowded dim sum restaurant in the morning in Zhuhai, China (across the border from Macau).

Random walk through Shenzhen

A random walk through a residential community in Shenzhen.

Amusing pirated DVD covers in China

Check out this pirated DVD cover as seen in China for the movie on 9/11, "Flight 93." As is the case here, the priates simply construct a hybrid English and Chinese cover with random bits of

English inserted no matter what the meaning.

The first photo mentions that Flight 93 is "Terrifving! - Thrm trlr Boct."

The second and third photos mention that the film is quite jovial and entertaining:

"Nick Love'S follow up to The Football Factory may be the best bloke film of the year."

"Deliciously entertaining. - The Observer"

"Savagely funny. - Nuts"

Fantasia Investment

Only in China would some sort of investment company name itself "Fantasia Investment!" :-) I cetainly would not entrust my funds to "Fantasia" Investment!

只有在中国会有投资公司的英文名字是 " Fantasia" 投资. "Fantasia " 英文的意思差不多是 "幻想".

Annoying elevator ads in China

Almost all residential and commercial elevators in China (as well as elevator lobbies) have small monitors that broadcast, almost 24 hours a day, annoying video ads. Here is a clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoG5LSCawfk

To me, this says a lot about Chinese culture. I am sure most people in the West would not accept such invasions of privacy.

However, more and more Chinese are indicating to me that they are finding these LCD monitors annoying as they proliferate to each and every aspect of Chinese life - elevators, buses, trains, taxis, super markets, etc.

Amusing pirated DVD covers in China

Pirated DVDs are still on sale ubiquitously on the streets (and in shops) in China. Of interest are the covers of the DVDs which often have rather poor or amusingly incorrect English.

Witness the cover of this collection of 24 episodes:

"Wenty Four"

How would you like that stir fried?

Waitress in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China discussing the methods for stir frying the ordered vegetables. At a Hunanese cuisine restaurant.

Tea kung fu

A tea master pours tea out of a long-spouted kettle. It's a sort of herb and flower-ladden tea mix. This was taken in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China. In an Hunanese restaurant.