Glowing Mountains- China

December 2008

The village of Wuda lies between the Yellow River and the Gobi Desert and its dangerously close to the coal fires beneath the earth. Burning furiously, they release as much CO2 as all the cars in Germany.

China's decreasing supply and increasing demand for coal means that speed is more important here than safety. The pollution here is really bad. But nobody cares, one villager tells us. Chinas mines are the most unstable in the world, yet the country relies on coal to feed its enormous industrial economy. Extreme weather conditions make life even harder for villagers. In the summer temperatures soar, while in winter they can plummet to 40. Coal thieves dig small tunnels and make off with the coal. The tunnels let in air which makes the coal ignite, creating more heat. A seemingly endless cloud of smoke hangs over the horizon.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• journeyman pictures
• china
• mountain
• news
• documentary
• current affairs
• journeyman

[Sojourner87]

I was just in china backpacking for 2 months and the chinese live far greener than we do in Canada. In every city i went to, anytime I was in a highrise looking out across the landscape I saw a sea of solar panels. almost all toilets are low flush. Tonnes of bicycles and electric scooters. China pollutes so much because of its population and its manufacturing industry which feeds the west (notice how everythng we buy is made in china?). N. Americans are by far the biggest polluters per capita.

[sirhumphrey01]

The translation is completely off. The ppl are not complaining nearly as much as subtitles suggest. The woman w/ the mask actually says "I never felt it, maybe the elderly and kids do." The mask was prlly for SARS. And I highly doubt that 2:10 they are actually thieves allowing themselves to be filmed.

Journeyman, shame on you. I understand all documentaries make an argument and have inherent bias, but misrepresenting what people say completely compromises your journalistic integrity.

[Discordia5]

@Sojourner87 A mind-blowing perspective, and very well put as well. Thank you!

[DrWhiggs]

@Sojourner87 You're a liar.

[waynealarsen]

Just like Centralia PA, they could never put out the fire and gave up the town

[akuyuumei]

I speak Chinese and the translation they have in the video is bullshit. Only about 10% of what the people are saying were translated, the rest were completely made up.

What the hell?

[starquant]

Ha ha. I had a larff watching those males oggling those girls. I guess that what happens when you MURDER half your population.

[MetelAdict]

I don't understand the language of the chinese people how off is the translation?

[pronatalist]

To stimsWonderland:

Oxidation doesn't cause a lot of heat, at room temperature, but the exothermic heat builds up, and the coal fuel easily burns at the high heat levels that mount. It doesn't burn so much near the surface, due to the lack of fuel. Where the fuel is abundant, the oxygen wafts in slowly. So it's a hot inferno slow-burn, a reason why it isn't usually much a big deal.

Outsiders come in looking for a story, and distort story looking for gloom-and-doom the people don't perceive.

[pronatalist]

To beareroftruthiness:

China does not have too many people, but probably could use more jobs

China has a huge land mass also, and could be properly developed and could grow far denser with people, as need be

People in China has just as much basic natural primal right/duty to push out their babies just as fast as their bodies reproduce, as anybody throughout the world

I agree to let nations overflow with people into outside regions, but it's not really needed, and what of respect for borders?

[dfvxc]

umm I'm taiwanese. I can confirm that the subtitles are completely, totally off.

[peymaania]

I like them Whorientals in Skimpy Green Threads! Lovely!