Landmarks in Xi'an go dark for Earth Hour

Many iconic structures in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, went dark from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 28, in observance of the annual Earth Hour event.

Landmarks -- including the Xi'an Drum Tower, Bell tower, City Wall and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda -- were among the structures to switch off their lights for an hour.

This year is the 11th year that Xi'an participated in the Earth Hour event. Since 2010, Xi'an has organized and launched linked initiatives every year and has received good responses and support from all walks of life.

The 2020 Earth Hour event focuses on biodiversity issues and encouraging everyone to pay attention to the continuous decline of global species.

Initiated by the World Wildlife Fund in 2007, Earth Hour has become a popular movement worldwide.

On every last Saturday of March, individuals, communities, enterprises and government departments around the world are encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour, with the purpose of inspiring reflections and actions regarding environmental issues.

During the Earth Hour event in 2019, Xi'an power grid reduced its electricity consumption by 157,000 kilowatt hours, which is equivalent to reducing the emissions of 549,500 cubic meters of smoke, 467 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 406.63 kg of nitrogen oxides.

"As people pay more and more attention to the protection of biodiversity and care for the natural ecological environment, these numbers are expected to continue to increase this year," said Sun Qiang, Party secretary of the State Grid Xi'an Electric Power Supply Company.