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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/09/china-smog-tangshan-goes-green-for-six-month-flower-show
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| China's smog-choked steel city readies for six-month flower show shutdown | China's smog-choked steel city readies for six-month flower show shutdown |
| (6 months later) | |
| A dramatic spike in the price of iron ore this week has been blamed on an upcoming flower show that is designed to showcase green-living in one of China’s most smog-choked industrial cities. | A dramatic spike in the price of iron ore this week has been blamed on an upcoming flower show that is designed to showcase green-living in one of China’s most smog-choked industrial cities. |
| Steel mills in Tangshan – a city of about 7 million inhabitants in China’s steel-producing heartlands – reportedly sent prices rocketing by nearly 20% on Monday, after going on an unexpected shopping spree for the commodity ahead of an enforced shutdown later this year. | Steel mills in Tangshan – a city of about 7 million inhabitants in China’s steel-producing heartlands – reportedly sent prices rocketing by nearly 20% on Monday, after going on an unexpected shopping spree for the commodity ahead of an enforced shutdown later this year. |
| The partial shutdown is intended to reduce smog during the 2016 World Horticultural Exposition, which the city will host from April until October . | The partial shutdown is intended to reduce smog during the 2016 World Horticultural Exposition, which the city will host from April until October . |
| Speaking at China’s annual rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday, Jiao Yanlong, Tangshan’s Communist party secretary, told the Financial Times (£) that temporary air quality control measures would see production at the city’s steel mills cut in half until the end of September. | Speaking at China’s annual rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday, Jiao Yanlong, Tangshan’s Communist party secretary, told the Financial Times (£) that temporary air quality control measures would see production at the city’s steel mills cut in half until the end of September. |
| In an interview with the state-run China News Service the Communist party chief of Tangshan, which produced more steel in 2014 than the US, said the flower show highlighted his city’s determination to pioneer the “green development of this resource-based city”. | In an interview with the state-run China News Service the Communist party chief of Tangshan, which produced more steel in 2014 than the US, said the flower show highlighted his city’s determination to pioneer the “green development of this resource-based city”. |
| Tangshan’s horticultural expo is an attempt to remake the image of a city that outsiders associate with two disasters: one natural, one man-made. | Tangshan’s horticultural expo is an attempt to remake the image of a city that outsiders associate with two disasters: one natural, one man-made. |
| A catastrophic earthquake in 1976 – the year Chairman Mao died – is thought to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and levelled most of the city. | A catastrophic earthquake in 1976 – the year Chairman Mao died – is thought to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and levelled most of the city. |
| After rebuilding, Tangshan, which is about 200km south-east of Beijing, became a heavy industry powerhouse, creating great wealth for some but also a severe and deadly pollution crisis that sees the city regularly cloaked in toxic smog. | After rebuilding, Tangshan, which is about 200km south-east of Beijing, became a heavy industry powerhouse, creating great wealth for some but also a severe and deadly pollution crisis that sees the city regularly cloaked in toxic smog. |
| Now Tangshan’s rulers are billing the horticultural event – which has the theme “City and Nature, Phoenix Nirvana!” – as a chance to show the world another side of their much maligned city. | Now Tangshan’s rulers are billing the horticultural event – which has the theme “City and Nature, Phoenix Nirvana!” – as a chance to show the world another side of their much maligned city. |
| A promotional video boasts that the expo will highlight the “harmonious coexistence between human and nature”. Visitors will witness Tangshan’s attempts to transform itself into “a new model of the times” as well as “a comprehensive beautiful coastal city with prosperity and harmony”. | A promotional video boasts that the expo will highlight the “harmonious coexistence between human and nature”. Visitors will witness Tangshan’s attempts to transform itself into “a new model of the times” as well as “a comprehensive beautiful coastal city with prosperity and harmony”. |
| Organisers say the exhibition will feature a series of international-themed floral exhibits including British Garden: Maze of the Rose, French Garden: Exquisite Life and German Garden: Dream of romance. | Organisers say the exhibition will feature a series of international-themed floral exhibits including British Garden: Maze of the Rose, French Garden: Exquisite Life and German Garden: Dream of romance. |
| For all the florid rhetoric Tangshan is currently at the sharp end of a major crisis that is gripping the Chinese steel industry as Beijing grapples with the problem of massive over-capacity in the sector. | For all the florid rhetoric Tangshan is currently at the sharp end of a major crisis that is gripping the Chinese steel industry as Beijing grapples with the problem of massive over-capacity in the sector. |
| Some once bustling corners of the city are now eerily deserted with mills forced to close down as a result of over-capacity and plummeting demand. | Some once bustling corners of the city are now eerily deserted with mills forced to close down as a result of over-capacity and plummeting demand. |
| “Domestically, problems and risks that have been building up over the years are becoming more evident,” Chinese premier Li Keqiang admitted last weekend at the start of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. “But we will not be daunted by these problems and challenges.” | “Domestically, problems and risks that have been building up over the years are becoming more evident,” Chinese premier Li Keqiang admitted last weekend at the start of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. “But we will not be daunted by these problems and challenges.” |
| Additional reporting by Christy Yao | Additional reporting by Christy Yao |