In one of northern China’s most notoriously polluted cities a young student’s been painting on trees turning them into colorful works of art. Wang Yue says she was inspired when out on a walk with her mother and found trees with knots she considered unattractive and began to paint onto them. The 23-year-old’s creations range from pandas to white cats, many of which can be seen along the 15 tree trunks lining the city’s Jiuzhong Street.
On average, it takes around 4 hours for Wang to finish an entire painting. She says the main motivation for her paintings was to raise residents’ environmental awareness.
“I just hope that people will protect and treasure nature after seeing my paintings which are all natural creations. In addition, I hope people will be happier, and not be depressed by the smoggy weather.”
Local environmental authorities say Wang’s water-colour paintings don’t harm the trees.
I – Word Understanding
Notoriously – widely known for something bad
Knot – place on a tree where a branch was cut off
Range – go from one place to another
Raise – put up
Unattractive – lacking beauty or charm
Smoggy weather – fog that has become mixed and polluted with smoke
II – Have your say
1. At present, China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon pollution. And as a developing country, China’s overall emissions continue to rise as they aspire to lift much of their population out of poverty.
2. Chinese state media said that China’s economic recovery, heavily reliant on industry such as steel, cement and power underpinning a housing boom as well as a surge in automobile ownership, was behind the increase.
