The following letter was published in the April 5, 2010, issue of Chemical & Engineering News. I did not send in any associated pictures, but include them here:I would like to thank the authors of C&EN for their continuing coverage of chemistry in China. While I waited years to travel to China, I have found C&EN to be a good source of chemical and non-chemical insights about that amazing nation and its people. I recently returned from the long-awaited trip and noted the article “In Pursuit of Clean Water” and its discussion of pollution of the Pearl River (C&EN, Jan 4, p.14) . Having spent several days near a small portion of the Pearl River on Shamian Island in Guangzhou, I can offer some additional images of the river:
- a scenic, tree-lined long park/pathway along the Pearl River in parts of Guangzhou busy with pedestrians and a smattering of food carts
- a river confluence near Shamian Island where there are nightly spotlight, laser, and music shows which attract both land-based spectators and tour boats
- mornings on that same confluence, where multiple boats and people remove the previous evening’s accumulated debris from the river
- parts of the river (especially the more stagnant narrow channel along the back side of the island) smelling and looking like a sewer drain
- a couple of men swimming in the river near a bridge where the homeless sleep, hanging on to life rings and beverage coolers as they bob in a boat’s wake
As Guangzhou readies itself to host the Asian games this November, I hope that it can clean up the chemistry of the Pearl River as well as it has begun to clean up its cosmetic appearance.
Dean Campbell
Peoria, IL
- a scenic, tree-lined long park/pathway along the Pearl River in parts of Guangzhou busy with pedestrians and a smattering of food carts
- a river confluence near Shamian Island where there are nightly spotlight, laser, and music shows which attract both land-based spectators and tour boats
- mornings on that same confluence, where multiple boats and people remove the previous evening’s accumulated debris from the river
- parts of the river (especially the more stagnant narrow channel along the back side of the island) smelling and looking like a sewer drain
- a couple of men swimming in the river near a bridge where the homeless sleep, hanging on to life rings and beverage coolers as they bob in a boat’s wake
As Guangzhou readies itself to host the Asian games this November, I hope that it can clean up the chemistry of the Pearl River as well as it has begun to clean up its cosmetic appearance.
Dean Campbell
Peoria, IL
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