Grade of China Great Lakes

residents at Wuxi collecting rainwater after Lake Taihu's pollution - photo by xiaoxiniang

If placed along a lake pollution scale from Grade 1-5, Taihu will no doubt be placed at Grade 5. I found this information on Wepa's website (www.wepa-dp.net), on how the other lakes in China fared in pollution index.

Grade 1-3 are considered clean to OK, while Grade 4-5+ are considered seriously polluted.

Grade 2
Xingkaihu Lake

Grade 3
Erhai Lake

Miyun Reservoir
Qiandao Reservoir (scenic and famous)
Shimen Reservoir
Bositeng Lake, XinJiang - 10th largest
Dongpu Reservoir

Grade 4
Hongzehu Lake, JiangSu (scenic and famous)

Poyanghu Lake, JiangXi (scenic and famous) - 2nd largest

Yuqian Reservoir
Danjiangkou Reservoir

Grade 5
Dongtinghu Lake, Hunan (scenic and famous) - 3rd largest

Dahuofang Reservoir
Songhuahu Reservoir
Xihu Lake (West Lake), Hangzhou (scenic and famous)
Xuanwuhu Lake, Nanjing
Kunminghu Lake, Beijing
Taihu Lake, Suzhou (scenic and famous) - 4th largest

Dianchi lake, Yunnan (scenic and famous)

Grade 5+
Baiyangdian Lake
Dalaihu Lake
Jingbohu Lake (scenic and famous)
Donghu Lake, Wuhan (scenic and famous)
Daminghu Lake, Jinan (scenic and famous)
Lao PDRhan Reservoir
Nansihu lake, Shangdong - 9th largest
Menlou Reservoir

It is funny how I won't be bothered by such news years before, and would just accept it as "part of the price to pay for industralisation". But since kayaking for quite a few years now, I am more acutely aware of the fragility and beauty of waterways.

Looking at the list, half of China's ten largest lakes (a staggering 12, 000 sq kilometers of freshwater, 12 times the size of Hong Kong) are seriously polluted. And more than half of its scenic and famous (those mentioned in classical texts and heavily promoted in tourist brochures) are equally polluted.

But to close a few thousands factories and put millions out of work? Too drastic, got to be another way to balance growth and pollution.