By Erik Crouch
Image via: Marty Halpern
Beijingers can breathe a sooty, PM2.5-filled breathe of relief after reading the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s January publication. Despite airpocalypse, the nation’s capital still ranks only ninth on the list of “Most Polluted Cities,” beaten out primarily by cities in Hebei province.
Here’s the list, published by South China Morning Post:
| Rank | City | Province |
| 1 | Xingtai | Hebei |
| 2 | Shijiazhuang | Hebei |
| 3 | Baoding | Hebei |
| 4 | Handan | Hebei |
| 5 | Lanfang | Hebei |
| 6 | Hengshui | Hebei |
| 7 | Jinan | Shandong |
| 8 | Tangshan | Hebei |
| 9 | Beijing | Beijing |
| 10 | Zhengzhou | Henan |
Hebei province has recently graced this website’s headlines because of its contaminated water, crazed gamers, and its residents’ giant balls. Now, it can also tout ownership of seven of China’s most polluted metropolises. Damn, Hebei.
