Examining the fluff that frustrates northern China
An effort to improve the environment has had unintended consequences
LIKE MOST blizzards, it begins with just a few white wisps swirling about. Gradually the volume increases and the stuff starts to accumulate on the ground. During the heaviest downfalls the air is so thick with it as to impair visibility. But this is no winter scene. It is what happens every April across much of northern China, when poplar trees start giving off their cotton-like seed-pods.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “A puff piece”
From the April 20th 2024 edition
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