Reuters AlertNet Lite - China villagers see red over green-painted quarry

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China villagers see red over green-painted quarry

14 Feb 2007 07:23:47 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Residents in a southwestern Chinese village are baffled by a local forestry bureau's decision to paint a quarry near their homes entirely green, state media said on Wednesday.

The forestry bureau of Fumin county, in China's southwest Yunnan province, paid about 470,000 yuan ($60,600) for a team of seven painters to spend 45 days daubing the disused quarry at Lihua village in green paint, the Beijing News said.

"When they first started, we thought they were applying a pesticide, and then would plant some trees," the paper quoted a Lihua resident as saying.

"The painters were saying it was to adjust the hill's 'feng shui'," he said, referring to a traditional Chinese belief that people's fortunes are determined by their surroundings.

Residents discovered the disused quarry was "directly opposite" the site of a new office for the county forestry department, the paper said.

"How could they be so superstitious?" a resident said.

The forestry bureau confirmed ordering the paint-job but did not explain why, the paper said.

China has a history of slapping on a coat of paint to smarten up public buildings and conceal eyesores.

As part of Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympics, city authorities repainted scruffy apartment buildings and even painted some brown lawns green to impress Olympic inspectors. ($1=7.754 Yuan)

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Last updated:Wed Feb 14 07:24:12 2007