Hebei's steel cities and China's pollution crisis – in pictures

China’s Hebei Province has some of the worst air pollution in the country and the area’s vast steel industry is a key focus of government efforts to improve air quality. Lu Guang’s stark images capture the industrial landscapes of some of Hebei’s most polluted cities

and Lu Guang/Greenpeace

  • Smoke billows from steel plants in Handan. The city is one of China’s 10 most polluted – seven of which are in Hebei Province
    Handan, smoke billows from all directions from the steel plants. Ash fills the skies.

  • Thick smog covers the sky from Yuanbaoshan steel plant. Hebei produces about 190 million tonnes of crude steel a year, about twice as much as the entire US. Beijing wants to cut back on excess capacity in Hebei and the rest of the country
    Thick smog covers the sky from Yuanbaoshan steel plant.

  • Hebei province’s steel industry became the main target for a major effort to control air pollution after China announced its Action on Air Pollution in September 2013. One-third of China’s coal is burned within 600 kilometers of Beijing, when the heavily industrialised areas in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia are taken into account, according to Greenpeace. Reducing coal consumption is central to meeting air quality targets
    Hebei province made its steel industry the main target for a major effort to control air pollution after China announced its Action on Air Pollution in September 2013.

  • Pollution from the Xinjin Iron and Steel plant has coated the rooftops and roads of a nearby village with a layer of gray dust and soot. It’s a serious source of pollution for the villagers
    Pollution from the Xinjin Iron & Steel plant has coated the rooftops and roads of Rushan village with a layer of gray dust and soot. It's a serious source of pollution for the villagers.

  • Mud from the wastewater ditch next to the fence around Qian’an Zhonghua Coal Chemical Company has turned blackish-red
    This is mud from the wastewater ditch next to the fence around Qian'an Zhonghua Coal Chemical Company. It has become blackish-red.

  • Qian’an Zhonghua Coal Chemical Company gave money for Ting village council to deliver water to the villagers after pollution from the plant contaminated groundwater in Songting village. In January 2014, villager Han Xiiulan noticed that the water in his well began to taste sour and it made the food taste bad if it was used in cooking or to water the vegetables. By March, the well water had turned yellow
    Qian'an Zhonghua Coal Chemical Company has given money for the Ting village council to deliver water to the villagers after their pollution contaminated the groundwater in Songting village. In January 2014, villager Han Xiiulan noticed that the water in his well began to taste sour and it made the food taste bad if it was used in cooking or to water the vegetables. By March, the well water had turned yellow. Later on many of the villagers also found that their well water tasted sour or had become yellow. Nobody dared to use it. After petitioning the village, town, city and then Beijing, the Qian'an Zhonghua agreed to provide clean water.

  • Thick smoke produced by oxygen cutting at the Wen’an steel plant in Wu’an gives off a pungent stench
    Thick yellow smoke produced by oxygen cutting at the Wen'an steel plant in Wu'an gives off a pungent stench.

  • Looking west from Qian’an, you can see smoke billowing from this forest of smokestacks everyday. These iron and steel plants belong to Qian’an Iron and Steel (Qiangang), Jiujiang, Songting, and Yanshan. Halfway up the hill is an enormous tailings dam belonging to Qiangang
    Looking west from Qian'an, you can see smoke billowing from this forest of smokestacks everyday. These iron and steel plants belong to Qian'an Iron & Steel (Qiangang), Jiujiang, Songting, and Yanshan. Halfway up the hill is an enormous tailings dam belonging to Qiangang. Here you can see trucks transporting steel from Qiangang gate number 4.

  • There are countless steel plants on the western side of Qian’an city. This is where you will find foundries belonging to Qiangang, Jiujiang, Songting, Yanshan. This is a real steel city, and at night blazing with lights, the pollution grows even more intense
    There are countless steel plants on the western side of Qian an city. This is where you will find foundries belonging to Qiangang, Jiujiang, Songting, Yanshan. This is a real steel city, and at night blazing with lights, the pollution grows even more intense.

  • Since China launched its Action on Air Pollution local governments have been shutting down smaller outdated steel plants. While small-sized blast furnaces that are energy-intensive and highly polluting were shut down a while ago elsewhere, they are still booming in She county, Jingdian town
    Since China launched its Action on Air Pollution local governments have been shutting down smaller outdated steel plants. While small-sized blast furnaces that are energy-intensive and highly polluting were shut down a while ago elsewhere, they are still booming in She county, Jingdian town.

  • Han Jingcai from Duliugu village is tending to his vegetable field, just 100 metres away from a blast furnace belonging to Yongyang Steel Co plant in Yongnian county in Handan. His hands are caked in blackish pollution that has drifted over from the furnace. That thick brown smoke is coming from the blast furnace
    Han Jingcai from Duliugu Village is tending to his vegetable field, just 100 m away from a blast furnace belonging to YongYang Steel Co plant in Yongnian county in Handan. His hands are caked in blackish pollution that has drifted over from the furnace. That thick brown smoke is coming from the blast furnace.

  • There are many signs, like this one, posted in the residential areas around Handan Iron and Steel Group’s plant, advertising cures for rhinitis, pharyngitis and other respiratory conditions
    There are many signs, like this one, posted in the residential areas around Handan Iron and Steel Group's plant, advertising cures for rhinitis, pharyngitis and other respiratory conditions.

  • Smoke rolls out of the chimney stacks of the steel furnaces belonging to Qian’an Zhayi Iron and Steel Group Company in Hebei province. As night falls, the pollution grows more serious
    Smoke rolls out of the chimney stacks of the steel furnaces belonging to Qian'an Zhayi Iron & Steel Group Company in Hebei province. As night falls, the pollution grows more serious.

  • Everyday, from the Qian’an Jiujiang wire steel mill complex in Tangshan huge clouds of pollutants including sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, heavy metal ions, and dioxins are belched into the sky. Seen from afar, the sky above the factories shows a clearly defined line of haze
    Everyday, from the Qian'an Jiujiang Wire Steel Mill complex in Tangshan huge clouds of pollutants including sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, heavy metal ions, and dioxins are belched into the sky. Seen from afar, the sky above the factories shows a clearly defined line of haze .
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