Tongchuan, a central Shaanxi city which was once so dirty that mainland media dubbed it 'the city that cannot be spotted from a satellite', has been working hard to shed its bad name in the past decade.
By closing down small concrete factories and coal mines, by encouraging manufacturers of coal, electricity, aluminium and concrete to recycle each other's waste, and by building a new town centre, Tongchuan boasted 296 'blue-sky days' last year, compared with a shocking 49 days in 2002.
'As an old manufacturing base for energy and construction materials, for a long time Tongchuan contributed greatly to economic development ... but it has created a legacy of serious environmental problems for itself,' Tongchuan party secretary Wu Qianjin said in April.
The new town is still taking shape but He Yan , 21, who works part time at an internet cafe, says she enjoys living in the green-conscious environment. 'It used to be the case that when I went out and took a walk my nostrils turned grey. I had to clean my shoes every time I went out. But now I only do it once a week.'
At the same time, the clean air has come at a price. Ms He's father owned a small coal mine that was closed down. He lost the 100,000 yuan he had invested, forcing Ms He and her brother to leave school early.
About 100 families still live on the mountainside site overlooking the state-owned Sanlidong coal mine. Conditions are so bad following mudslides that several elderly people had to move into makeshift tents.