Smog inspires environmental official to write novel

Undated photo shows Beijing is blanketed with thick smog. [Photo/the Beijing Evening News]

Li Chunyuan is at a book signing event in Langfang of Hebei province on Oct 17, 2014. [Photo/hebnews.cn]

In an effort to battle smog on two fronts, Li Chunyuan splits his life between two worlds -- the real and the virtual.

The 52-year-old deputy head of Environmental Protection Bureau of Langfang City in China's smog-blanketed Hebei Province, spends each day racking his brain to come up with solutions to the city's emissions.

In his recently published book "Smog Is Coming", he touches on bureaucracy, its impact on air pollution, environmental officials' dilemma and basic knowledge about smog through different stories.

With northern China shrouded in winter smog again, the novel, containing roughly 240,000 words, has gone viral. After it was published last June, his book sold 9,000 copies, with another 7,000 distributed to the public for free.

SMOG INSPIRES NOVEL

Langfang, stuck between Beijing and Tianjin, is among China's ten worst-hit cities by smog. It has been under tremendous pressure to cut emissions.

Li is among those who are most susceptible to smog, not only because he suffers from allergic rhinitis, but also owing to his role as a local environmental official.

Every morning, the first thing he does is open his curtains to see the color of the sky, using his cellphone to the check air quality data.

Writing is his hobby. He said it is easier to tell people something about environmental protection through literature than through boring lectures.

Starting in 2013, he spent a little more than three months writing his book. Most episodes were taken from real life including "media reports and examples given by other environmental officials," he said.