Air Pollution in China

As one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, China has abundant tourism resources, the vast majority of which are of great renown. However, the number of tourists visiting China declined from 2013, mostly due to its increasingly serious air pollution. Many cities have been adversely affected by hazy weather since the beginning of 2013. This is especially true of central and eastern China’s cities such as Tangshan, Jinan, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an for example.

It is known to all that the rapid development of China’s economy in the past 30 years resulted in environmental degradation. Nevertheless, the hazy weather records of China in 2013 attracted global attention. It is a pity that as a consequence some foreign residents choose to give up their jobs and life in China.

As what can be seen from the above map, central China, eastern and south China are the most effected districts, especially the Yangtze River Delta including Shanghai. Not without consequence, this air pollution map is almost the same as the map of China’s population distribution.  The air quality is good in most part of northern and northwest China. Furthermore, the hazy weather has obvious seasonal characteristic, which usually occurs in the autumn and winter.

 

As the new standard of measurement for air quality, AQI is a quantitative description of the air quality index. The major pollutants involved in the analysis including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), inhalable particles (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO). Here PM2.5 and PM10 are measured in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3).

According to “Technical Regulation on Ambient Air Quality Index (on trial)”, AQI is divided into six levels in total, with Level one being the best and Level six being the worst.

 

AQI	Air Quality	Health Implications
0–50	Excellent	No air pollution.
51–100	Good	Few hypersensitive individuals should reduce the time for outdoor activities.
101–150	Lightly Polluted	Slight irritations may occur, children, and those who with breathing or heart problems should reduce outdoor exercise.
151–200	Moderately Polluted	Irritations may occur, and it may have an impact on healthy people’s heart and / or respiratory system, so all people should reduce the time for outdoor exercise.
201–300	Heavily Polluted	Healthy people will be noticeably affected. People with breathing or heart problems will lack exercise tolerance. Those patients, children and elders should remain indoors.
300+	Severely Polluted	Even healthy people will lack endurance during activities. There may be strong irritations and symptoms. So all people should avoid outdoor activities.

 

Rank	City	Province belongs to	AQI	Air Quality Level	PM 2.5	PM 10
1	Zhangjiajie	Hunan	22	Excellent	11	19
2	Zhengzhou	Henan	27	Excellent	22	41
3	Luoyang	Henan	27	Excellent	11	16
4	Taiyuan	Shanxi	28	Excellent	14	27
5	Yinchuan	Ningxia	32	Excellent	20	29
6	Lhasa	Tibet	36	Excellent	12	31
7	Urumqi	Xinjiang	37	Excellent	13	47
8	Datong	Shanxi	39	Excellent	13	36
9	Sanya	Hainan	40	Excellent	12	32
10	Jinan	Shandong	41	Excellent	14	37
11	Haikou	Hainan	42	Excellent	14	37
12	Qingdao	Shandong	45	Excellent	19	44
13	Changsha	Hunan	45	Excellent	38	41
14	Lijiang	Yunnan	46	Excellent	18	60
15	Dali	Yunnan	47	Excellent	17	44
16	Chongqing	Chongqing	47	Excellent	28	45
17	Guilin	Guangxi	48	Excellent	26	47
18	Nanning	Guangxi	48	Excellent	19	43
19	Dalian	Liaoning	48	Excellent	20	49
20	Hangzhou	Zhejiang	48	Excellent	21	51
21	Nanjing	Jiangsu	49	Excellent	22	46
22	Shenzhen	Guangdong	49	Excellent	20	54
23	Shijiazhuang	Hebei	50	Excellent	24	43
24	Kunming	Yunnan	51	Good	18	40
25	Fuzhou	Fujian	52	Good	17	42
26	Chengdu	Sichuan	53	Good	30	51
27	Xining	Qinghai	54	Good	16	52
28	Xiamen	Fujian	54	Good	21	65
29	Xi’an	Shaanxi	55	Good	32	65
30	Shanghai	Shanghai	56	Good	21	62
31	Hefei	Anhui	57	Good	33	54
32	Suzhou	Jiangsu	57	Good	21	65
33	Beijing	Beijing	57	Good	32	61
34	Zhangjiakou	Hebei	59	Good	21	67
35	Lanzhou	Gansu	61	Good	18	60
36	Guangzhou	Guangdong	61	Good	31	74
37	Yangzhou	Jiangsu	61	Good	26	71
38	Baotou	Inner Mongolia	63	Good	31	67
39	Guiyang	Guizhou	64	Good	40	76
40	Wuhan	Hubei	65	Good	58	76
41	Tianjin	Tianjin	70	Good	40	65
42	Hohhot	Inner Mongolia	73	Good	28	67
43	Shenyang	Liaoning	82	Good	39	87
44	Changchun	Jilin	101	Lightly Polluted	45	151
45	Harbin	Heilongjiang	202	Heavely Polluted	187	270

Note: AQI and Air Quality Level may vary day by day; the data here is just average value for reference only.