The clouds of toxic smog that hang over the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong are no secret, but where exactly do they come from and how bad are they? Post reporter Cheung Chi-fai and photographer Robert Ng went to the heart of the delta's industrial zones to find out for our three-part investigation starting today
Yuelisha village in Nanhai could easily be the place the song Where Have all the Flowers Gone? was written about.
It used to be surrounded by beautiful rose farms. But many have gone since the Guicheng power plant was built next to the village more than a decade ago.
Black smoke and dust from the plant killed the flowers and pollution made the soil increasingly unsuitable for growing flowers.
The village, with a few hundred residents, is sandwiched between the power plant and a nearby aluminium smelter operated by a Hong Kong-listed company.
'There are tiny black particles falling on the farms from time to time and it makes us choke,' said 60-year-old villager Wu Runshui . 'At night we have to close all the windows for a good sleep.'