Yao and his family are among millions of people across northern China preparing for their first winter to be heated by gas – part of a government effort to wean the nation off dirty coal and improve the nation’s notoriously bad air.

The massive effort involves almost 4 million homes in 28 cities. The government is plowing tens of billions of yuan into the project to install equipment, build thousands of kilometers of pipes and subsidize the higher costs of gas.

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The air quality index for the area around the village on Thursday morning was just 4, a low level anywhere in the world. But when smog shrouds the capital during the winter, the index often rockets into the hundreds to hazardous levels.

Air pollution caused by coal-fired winter heating has slashed life expectancy in the north by more than three years compared with the south, according to a recent study by the University of Chicago (EPIC).

Among other measures, China has pledged to impose tough industrial and traffic curbs this winter and is also in the process of shutting thousands of coal-fired industrial boilers. Continue Reading…