Green heating

Beijing will achieve natural gas-powered heating in its six downtown districts this winter as part of its anti-smog efforts.

The third and final phase of Beijing’s southeast thermoelectric* center in Chaoyang District has begun a one-week trial period. The gas-powered plant will be officially put into use prior to the start of the heating period this winter.

Luxury baths discovered

Archaeologists* recently found three 2,000-year-old luxury baths in Xi’an, the local heritage department said on Monday.

Three ancient city sites, dating back to different dynasties, were discovered by a team at an archaeological site at the ancient city of Liyang, according to Liu Rui, a researcher on the team. Liyang, the former capital of the Qin and Han dynasties, is now located in the Yanliang District of Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province. Three baths and a fireplace have been excavated at one site. The baths were built with beautiful tiles and bricks and sewage outflows.

Infrastructure growth

China has built more than 800,000 highway bridges, and over 10,000 km of high-speed railway bridges, transport authorities said on Sunday.

There were 805,300 highway bridges across China at the end of 2016, Zhou Wei, chief engineer from the Ministry of Transport, said at an international bridge expo held in Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei Province. China had completed 22,000 km of high-speed railway lines as of last year, and bridges accounted for over 50 percent of that length, said Yan Hexiang, a director of the National Railway Administration.

Waste control

Chinese lawmakers have called for prompt action against hazardous* waste dumping which they believe has become a serious problem.

Hazardous waste is among the most urgent issues in solid waste control, Luo Liangquan, member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), said at a panel discussion on Thursday. A report from the NPC Standing Committee has warned against the grave situation in solid waste control, particularly concerning hazardous waste. (SD-Agencies)