A BLACK WORLD: Coal brings both wealth and challenges to Datong (WU DI)

We had been forewarned that Datong would be extremely taxing on our lungs. The city of 3 million in northern Shanxi Province lies at the center of the country's largest coal-producing region in north China.

But as we got off the overnight train from Beijing the hazy morning air was not as bad as expected. Datong, the province's second largest city, has the greatest coal deposits in China. Those who have been there more than once attest to the strong, ever-present smell of burning coal that prevails most days, making the city heavily polluted and dirty.

Most visitors from both inside and outside China come to the area not to see the city itself, but to visit the hanging Buddhist monastery built into the cliff near the Hengshan Mountain, about 65 km southeast of Datong and the 1,500-year-old Yungang Grottoes 16 km to the west. Because they are closer to the city, the Buddhist grottoes bear more signs of the area's coal production activities. A massive mine complex, which employs more than 10,000 workers and has its own hospitals and schools, is just across the street.

When we set out for the grottoes the next morning, the air in the city proper was much hazier. Our local guide, whose English name was Molly, surmised that a minor sandstorm, not coal ash, had blown across the region as we headed west of town. Perhaps the haze had also been caused in part by the dust and particles from the many buildings that were being reduced to rubble heaps in downtown Datong. They were tangible signs that the city's new mayor was trying to keep his promise to spiff up the place to try to attract more tourists.

The small museum at the entrance of the grottoes displayed photos showing that the pollution from coal production and transport had been much worse in the past. Written descriptions said the Buddhist carvings were "covered with coal dust just like a black yarn," as thousands of coal-laden trucks from the nearby mine trundled along the old road in front of the grottoes, leaving behind miasmas of dark dust in their wake. A railway built specifically to transport coal from the mine eventually replaced the need for truck transport. But the coal-fired locomotives probably brought no real improvement, and coal dust still hangs in the air today.

"Even today when we enter the caves you can smell the coal dust," Molly said.

Alan, a Beijing-based tour guide who led our group, has been to Datong several times. He said another local guide once told him the grottoes would probably disappear in 20 years as a result of deterioration from coal dust. This glum scenario seems unimaginable considering that what's left of the sandstone carvings has been around since the second half of the fifth century and is in relatively good shape despite some black patches.

Today, coal fields cover about one 14th of Datong's more than 14,000 square km of land and account for more than 72 billion tons of explored coal reserves. The more than 500 mines in the area are a mix of state-owned, collectively owned and private enterprises, the last of which lets farmers and others lease land from the government and mine it. Workers dig down about 300 meters in caves, not open pits. The mining activities have taken their toll on local groundwater supplies. Although Datong has about 20 rivers, the ones we saw were mere streams. Molly said the area's underground water levels had dropped greatly in recent years because mining depleted the water reserves.

Many of China's deadly mining accidents occur mainly in small mines in Shanxi and elsewhere, because operators cannot or do not buy the heavy machinery that could make them more efficient and help prevent accidents, Molly said. But larger operations are not immune from accidents, including those in Shanxi Province. The last deadly accident there occurred in late February when nearly 80 workers died after an early morning blast at the Tunlan Coal Mine of Shanxi Coking Coal Group in Gujiao City near Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

To reduce the number of deadly mining accidents and clean up the environment, the Central Government is in the process of closing small and dangerous mining operations and consolidating the industry into a handful of state-owned mega-mines by 2015. There have recently been calls to make the adoption of "new energy," or cleaner energy forms such as nuclear power, a top government priority to reduce the country's reliance on coal.

Despite this, the fact remains that coal accounts for two thirds of China's energy consumption, so that major coal-producing provinces like Shanxi and cities like Datong will continue to be major energy and heavy industry bases for the foreseeable future.