A Chinese official says all the smog is just from smoking bacon

Smoking bacon has a long history, but smog does not.

A Chinese official recently offered an intriguing explanation for his city's pervasive smog: bacon.

Xinhua, China's official press agency, reported that Rao Bing, an environmental official in the city of Dazhou, blamed the smoking of bacon for the city's air pollution. And, in response, civil servants began raiding and destroying facilities where meat is smoked.

Some onlookers, however, suspected that bacon was being scapegoated. Chinese skeptics took to Sina Weibo (China's equivalent to Twitter) to mock the decision: "Smoking bacon has a long history, but smog does not," one wrote.

And war on bacon aside, air pollution in China keeps rising. Smog in Beijing has once again reached hazardous levels — 20 times higher than the recommended limit in mid-January. Most experts tend to think the increasing numbers of cars and factories throughout the country are much a bigger culprit than bacon smoke. Still, the bacon uproar highlights how air pollution has become an increasingly incendiary issue there.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via