The “Back Valley” and the “#1 Glacier”

Hou Valley and #1 Glacier

This is a photo slideshow of our visit to Xinjiang last year. We took a day trip to visit the Hou Valley, located along one of the most scenic highways that lead to the #1 Glacier in China. The valley is not as well known as it should be for its secret industry of lime, coal, cement and electrical transformers.

In early 2000, a series of news stories broke the silence on Hou Valley’s secret engine of industrial pollution. The government of Xinjiang suddenly “realized” that one of the biggest and the only fully state-owned enterprise Huanpeng Limited has turned Xinjiang’s mother river Urumqi River black. As a source of water for the capital city’s 3 million people, this was a big deal. The company then allegedly spent an estimated 50 million RMB (about 7.5 Million dollars) to clean up its operations.

We came here with Tian Leilei, a staff of our local partner Xinjiang Conservation Fund and Teacher Xiang from one of Xinjiang’s most prestigious high school. Tian Leilei has begun doing some research and investigation into the Hou Valley’s infamous industry, its impacts on the inhabitants and the river that carries all of its wastes. He mentioned one trip he took with a foreign visitor to this valley, who was so horrified by the bad air and dirty water that he refused to have lunch in the Hou Valley town’s restaurants. For many years now, Teacher Xiang has also been bringing her students here on environmental projects to learn about the valley and its many challenges. The students were often shocked by the level of pollutions and sadden by the powerlessness of the locals regarding their situation.

As we looked out the window during our bumpy ride, we notice the river was no longer gray. It was nonetheless much more tamed compared to its former days, according to our hosts. We noticed several water diversion projects along the road and small dams that have practically grounded the river to a halt in some sections. When we got out of the van, we smelt various chemicals and walked in a cloud of grayness with no end in sight. The few people who were willing to talk to us were workers of the company and didn’t have much to say about the pollution, but merely that “it’s much better now”.

After the Hou Valley, we visited the Heavenly Mountain Glacial Research and Observatory station en route to the #1 Glacier, the first glacier ever to be studied in China. A young and earnest geologist gave us a tour of the exhibition center. Amidst all the heavily scientific-based graphics and diagrams of the center’s research, one fact caught my eyes. This station was established in 1959 and 45 years after its first documented record, the Number One Glacier had retreated by a remarkable length of 11 meters. It is retreating faster every year, according to our young tour guide.