China Environmental Law

We don’t want to leave the Heilongjiang Province cities out of our discussion of China’s top “environmentally satisfying” cities.  Two of the province’s urban areas made the all star, 90%+ satisfied list: Daqing (大庆) and Heihe (黑河).  They are located here: 

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Unfortunately, it was hard to find much information for either city as to what they were doing right in terms of environmental protection that lead to their list-topping success.

Daqing (大庆)

While Shandong’s Dongying (another all star) may sit above the country’s second largest oil deposit, Daqing  is ground zero for China’s largest oil field.  It was founded in 1959 to house workers extracting oil and gas from and to host industries which could take advantage of the energy and petrochemicals.  This founding scenario would not ordinarily be a recipe for an environmental paradise.

A website promoting northeast China notes that Daqing in 2001 became the first “inland” city designated as a Model city of Environment Protection.  

I’ve never been to Daqing, but it actually sounds like a nice place:

Daqing is surrounded by clusters of greens and lines of trees with brightly shining lakes scattered. The city’s tourism industry promises great potential for growth, and various tourist facilities have taken an initial shape, At present, more than 10 scenic areas have been developed such as popularizing the knowledge of petroleum, waterfowl hunting, spa recuperation, appreciating wild cranes, tasting Mongolian customs and visiting scenic grasslands.

In the final analysis, any city that can be both a center for the petrochemical industry and satisfy its citizens as to its environmental protection efforts, must be doing something right. 

Heihe (黑河)

Heihe sits on China’s border with Russia and is a “major centre of Sino-Russian trade.”  I’m afraid, however, that I have no clue as to what makes it a standout in the environmental protection area. 

Here’s a picture of some volunteers handing out “leaflets highlighting the importance of environmental protection,” in Heihe in June of this year, but presumably it takes more than pamphleteering to achieve a 90%+ satisfaction rate. 

If anyone can speak on Daqing’s or Heihe’s behalf, please do so.