Living on fumes: China's war on pollution means little to a chemical park’s neighbours

HANDAN, China (Reuters) - Hebei province, home to many of China's most polluted cities, has promised to close down companies that are poisoning the environment, but after years of protests villagers living in the shadows of the Guantao chemical park remain sceptical. 

Though festooned with banners calling for the construction of "beautiful villages" and the "upgrade" of Hebei's highly-polluting heavy industries, the sprawling complex of chemical plants shadowing the villages of Nansitou and East Luzhuang often operates unchallenged by environmental regulators, residents say.