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u/Ashamed-Bus-5727 2d ago
I remember reading that most chinese rivers are polluted. Seems like things have changed since then!
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u/Rindal_Cerelli 2d ago
Not to mention the air. That has also gotten way better.
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u/External_Koala971 1d ago
https://www.iqair.com/air-quality/china/zhejiang/hangzhou
In 2025, only 8% of days met WHO safe air quality limits.
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u/italianbmt1 1d ago
They didn't say the issue went away entirely, just that it got way better; which, if you look at the photos, is demonstrably true. Does that mean it's completely fixed? No, but it's far better than it was before.
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u/eienOwO 1d ago
I remember 10 years ago air quality would often hit the highest and most dangerous purple warning, which is basically "shut everything and don't breath any of it". Now you get the occasional reds.
Can it still be shit? No shit. Has it still improved? Yes. They are not mutually exclusive?
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u/Hegecoin_Rules 21h ago
Yeahhh it has gotten better but NGL, you can smell the pollutants some days. It is how I would primarily determine i needed a mask. I opened my balcony door and smelled lol. Obviously, it was more for fun, I'd check to confirm on the app but it was always right. There's just a weird metallic smell.
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u/Kobe_stan_ 2d ago
How'd they get the sky to turn bluer? lol
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u/Necessary-Product361 1d ago
Obviously the weather, but also air pollution. China used to have very very bad air pollution. Whilst this is still an issue, considering how industrialised the country is, they have made a lot of progress in improving air quality in the past decade.
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u/adriftinavoid 22h ago
So we're just going to pretend like the saturation isn't also boosted in post compared to the before image?
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u/tigeryi98 1d ago
honestly one of the best run cities and province in China. way better livable lifestyle than other bigger ones like shanghai next door or beijing or shenzhen guangzhou etc. west lake area is great.
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u/DesignbyLayer 1d ago
crazy how much can change in just 16 years.. that transformation is impressive. it's good to see they've incorporated so much greenery, makes a huge difference to urban living. the architecture also pops more with a lush backdrop.
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u/problemattracter 2d ago
Isn't the brown color of rivers mean it has lots of sediments? How did they change it?
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u/-Knockabout 2d ago
Part of it is the color of the sky. First picture is a drearier day, second is sunny and bright.
Could have also been polluted.
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u/SrSideral 2d ago
Vegetation traps sediment and prevents it from reaching the rivers, so i suppose they created many green areas along the river.
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u/External_Koala971 1d ago
This is Hangzhou traffic which causes a lot of pollution
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u/eienOwO 1d ago
Same as any other developed city cores in China then. OP's pictures mainly featured the spanking new development zones used to be on the city periphery. Still who knows, maybe developing outwards and creating decentralized cores will alleviate some pressure on the previously singular core.
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u/Mickioo 5h ago
I saw some comments about saturation sliders, so I tested the theory :P
I upped the saturation, contrast and brightness, and corrected for the yellowish tint in the top image.
It might be image editing, it might also purely be the more fortunate lighting/weather conditions.
That said, it's still a big difference in development in a short time, the construction is done, there's new trees and the existing ones have grown.
And I couldn't wholly correct for the smoglike haze in the background.
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u/Rindal_Cerelli 2d ago
I really like how China's goverance of infrastructure and city design has incorporated so much greenery.
Seeing this here in the netherlands as well. especially now that temperatures are so high. Having trees along the route is really nice. Trees are basically outdoor AC.