CHONGQING EXPRESS
JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY · Chemical & Engineering News · 2004
IF ONE IMAGINES CHINESE INDUSTRIAL cities as gray, smelly, crowded, and dirty then Chongqing fits the bill. Walking through the central district, one's eyes are irritated by air thick with dust and smoke. Looking out from a height, one finds that haze makes it difficult to see further than a few hundred yards. But the city is a work in progress. Under threat of nonrenewal of their licenses, taxi drivers are this month converting their engines to compressed natural gas instead of gasoline and diesel. Large portions of the central business district are being rebuilt at a furious pace. Real estate prices are rising rapidly. Upscale neighborhoods are sprouting up. A few more years of frantic activity and the city may start to look like Shanghai, China's sparkling metropolis. Many of the changes under way are the result of Chongqing's shift in status four years ago. In order to bring prosperity to the heart of ...