--FILE--A vehicle transports slags of alunite to backfill a mine in Fanshan town, Cangnan county, Wenzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang province, 1 Novem
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Contributor:
Imaginechina Limited / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
W8YA7DFile size:
45.7 MB (1.8 MB Compressed download)Releases:
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4896 x 3264 px | 41.5 x 27.6 cm | 16.3 x 10.9 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
1 November 2013Photographer:
ImaginechinaMore information:
--FILE--A vehicle transports slags of alunite to backfill a mine in Fanshan town, Cangnan county, Wenzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang province, 1 November 2013. A Chinese highly-polluted town is struggling to transform itself from a notorious pollutant maker into a promising tourist attraction. Fanshan, a township administered by Wenzhou city in east Chinas Zhejiang province, is famous for mining and production of alum and is dubbed as the worlds capital of alunite. Its alunite deposit exceeds 240 million tons, accounting for 60% of reserves in the world and 70% in China. The town has a history of over 600 years for alunite mining and alum production since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 - 1644). However immoderate and unlicensed mining and production has darkened the small town by polluting the environment and eroding the health of local people. There are still at least hundreds of patients suffering from silicosis, a disease of the lungs caused by continued inhalation of the dust of siliceous minerals and characterized by progressive fibrosis and a chronic shortness of breath, in the mines though the local government has spent millions of yuan on pollution control and ecosystem improvement over the past years, according to a 57-year-old miner surnamed Zheng who has been working in the town for 40 years. Someone proposed to build an alunite mine park and apply for the UNESCO industrial heritage to attract tourists, just like Germanys Ruhr industrial area, in a move to transform the fragile old town into a promising attraction to revive local environment and livelihood.