Cleanup plan restores faded rural beauty

Clear water, green hills

The unsupervised discharge of sewage no longer troubles Daxiba's residents.

With the help of the local government, an underground sewer network was laid in April to connect all the households in the village and treatment facilities were also installed, according to Chen.

"Since then, the villagers have stopped pouring wastewater directly onto the roads and have started pouring it into the sewers," he said.

The wastewater converges in two treatment tanks. After a number of treatments in the facilities, the dirty, smelly liquid is transformed into nontoxic, harmless clear water, which can be used to irrigate farmland.

"Daxiba's reputation as a dirty place is history," Chen said. "Now, the village is renowned across the county as a beautiful, neat and livable place."

Residents of Xiaomi, a township 30 km from Daxiba, were also accustomed to seeing the local roads covered by black water and mud.

However, the black water was not sewage. Rather, it was a result of water and soil leaking from an abandoned coal mine on a small hill in the village.

Though coal extraction ceased many years ago, the vegetation destroyed by the mining activities was not restored. When it rained－a frequent occurrence in Xiaomi－black mud slid downhill along with the water, entering farmland, rivers and even people's homes.

The runoff was a headache for local people until early 2018, when a project to restore the environment around the mine started, according to Yan Zhiwang, a villager whose home lies at the foot of the formerly barren hill.

Pine trees, camellias and grasses were planted to prevent rain from washing the soil away, he said. At the same time, a moat was dug to separate the hill from farmland, rivers and residences, said the 54-year-old, who participated in the project.

"Now, just two years later, the hill is green again and those of us who live at the bottom don't have to worry about dirty, unsafe mudflows," he said. "We are so happy with the changes."

Chen Xia'nan, Tian Zimu and Liu Yue contributed to this story.