An aerial panoramic view showcases how green the environment surrounding the Fenhe River, which runs through Taiyuan city, has become. [Photo/Xinhua]

Air pollution treatment

Taiyuan city has been implementing a major clean heating project in recent years, to reduce air pollution caused by coal-fired heating.

The city completed the renovation of 227,000 households for the clean heating project in three years, with over 80 percent of the city's rural areas now accessing natural gas or electrical heating, according to Song Li, director of the regional pollution prevention and control department at the Taiyuan ecology and environment bureau.

For the 40,300 rural households in remote areas that for the moment still can't get clean heating, Taiyuan has established 36 supply stations and 155 supply sites which have delivered 90,000 metric tons of more environmentally friendly semi-coke -- that gives off a hot, smokeless fire that can be used for domestic fuel -- to guarantee heating supplies for the villagers in winter. 

The conversion of coal-fired boilers weighing over 65 tons and 539 gas boilers in the urban areas of Taiyuan was completed by the end of 2019, reducing annual nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 380 tons.

"The switch from coal-burning heating to gas and electricity heating brought obvious changes to the city with the sulfur dioxide concentration reduced to 20 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019 from 68 mg per cu m in 2016," according to Song Li.

As for dust pollution previously caused by the city's geological location and urban sprawl, Taiyuan carried out seven major projects including bare ground and industrial dust treatment, as well as the construction of waste and muck disposal facilities.    

Thanks to those projects, the amount of dust fall in Taiyuan were not at the bottom of the dust pollution rankings among Beijing, Tianjin and 26 cities in Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei and Henan provinces for eight consecutive months from April 2019, according to Yan Wenbin, director of the Taiyuan ecology and environment bureau. 

Meanwhile, the city has been promoting green public transportation featuring a public cycling system and a more environmentally friendly taxi service to reduce vehicle exhaust pollution. In all, Taiyuan's 8,200 local taxis have changed over to electric vehicles -- making it the first city in China to have an all-electric taxi fleet. 

Urban development management

The biggest change in Taiyuan's urban development management in recent years has been to the shantytown areas. Once there were over 100 shantytowns with a poor environment and many hidden safety hazards in Taiyuan. After years of renovation and reconstruction, these shabby areas were developed into communities with beautiful surroundings and complete facilities. 

The rapid growth of the transportation infrastructure in the city also amazes people nowadays -- with viaducts, cross-river bridges, expressways and metro lines built and put into use in just a few years. 

For example, the 23.38-km north-south Taiyuan Metro Line 2, the city's first metro line with 23 stations, will be formally completed and have trial runs by the end of this year, ushering in a new metro era for Taiyuan.

In addition, Taiyuan has been improving its level of urban management to enhance the city's appearance and boost the quality of living for its residents.