Hong Kong has famously got one of the largest smog problems in Asia. This has proven to be problematic for tourists who have hoped to get pictures of themselves in front of the city’s famous skyline. However, China has come up with a canny solution – to use a backdrop of the city’s skyscraper-filled skyline for photographs.
Assorted Chinese websites have published a series of pictures showing tourists posing in front of the backdrop, which the International Business Times has pointed as yet another indicator of the country’s rapidly deteriorating air quality.
“Travel analysts at the UN World Tourism Organization have waxed poetic about the potential of China’s burgeoning market for both domestic and international tourism. Yet, while most Chinese data points skew upward (more money, more buildings, more factories), the total number of foreign travelers (both business and leisure) and residents entering China declined by five percent from January to June when compared to last year’s figures, according to numbers from the China National Tourism Administration quoted in state media.”
Despite these figures, tourism is continuing to decline with many people pointing to the city’s poor air quality and smog levels as a reason. According to the Wall Street Journal, “in the past year, [Hong Kong’s] administration has put forward a number of more-aggressive policies to try to clean up the city’s air, including a proposed 10 billion Hong Kong dollar ($1.3 billion) plan to eliminate old commercial diesel trucks—a major contributor to the city’s poor air quality—as well as tighter measures to ensure emissions from the city’s taxis are better measured and controlled.”
Via NPR
Images: Main image from Gawkerassets;xlibbervia Flickr