Report: Land under 50-plus Cities Is Sinking - Caixin Online
Shanglantis! Skyscapers gradually sinking into ground in Pudong: Shanghaiist
Report: Land under 50-plus Cities Is Sinking
Due to the over-depletion of groundwater, over 50 major cities in China are sinking, Chinese officials recently announced
Slated to be the China's tallest building upon completion, the 632-meter tall Shanghai Tower conveys stability, if not permanence.
The ground under it, however, is another story.
Spectators were intrigued in mid-February when a giant 8-meter long crack appeared in the asphalt near the tower. The crack was a reminder of Shanghai's shifting and sinking ground, which scientists say makes the city vulnerable to rising sea levels.
And Shanghai is not alone. China's Ministry of Land and Resources recently reported that the ground is sinking under more than 50 cities. The culprit is the overuse of groundwater, the ministry's Geological Environment Department Deputy Director Tao Qingfa told Caixin.
When residents consume too much groundwater, water pressure underground depletes and causes the soil to shift and sink, Tao said. Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Xi'an are all sinking in certain places as a result, he said.
The State Council recently ratified a five-year plan to address the issue of sinking ground levels, identifying the Yangtze River Delta, North China Plains and Fenwei Basin in Northern China as the most serious cases.
"The pumping of ground water to support the city's industrialization is to blame," Shanghai Institute for Geological Survey Vice Chief Engineer Fang Zheng told CCTV recently. "The city began taking preventative measures in 2005, and now the land has been sinking seven millimeters annually."
Some cities have already recognized the need to limit groundwater exploration. Ever since Tianjin began to reduce its groundwater consumption in 1985, the city's land has sunk by 20 millimeters annually, down from 80 millimeters, the five year plan said.
Shanghai's soil has been sinking as early as 1921. In 1965, the city sunk by 11 centimeters. Beijing is also at risk with 2,815 square meters sinking having sunk by more than 100 millimeters in recent years. In 2009, a 1.85-centimeter ditch suddenly appeared near Beijing's Chang'an Street.
Shanglantis! Skyscapers gradually sinking into ground in Pudong: Shanghaiist
Shanglantis! Skyscapers gradually sinking into ground in Pudong
By Benjamin Cost
Shanghai, a city of over 20 million people and indomitable skyscrapers, is apparently giving indications that it's eager to join Atlantis among the great cities of the world that sank into the ocean. The quake-evoking cracks in the pavement around the new Shanghai Tower project in Pudong (the soon-to-be "world's tallest building") have measured up to 8 m long and 4 cm wide, inciting a mild panic in Shanghai. Residents fear that sinking ground caused by densely-packed skyscrapers will be to blame for the city's downfall.
Mogolian Yuan dynasty first set the capital in Beijing but it was pretty short. Ming dynasty drove Mongolians away and reset the capital in Nanjing (close to Shanghai). Even after that, Mongols still attacked northern border from time to time. Ming Emperor Yongle believed that the reason for that was that the capital city was too far from Mongol borders so resource can not deployed efficiently to defeat Mongols. Therefore the capital was moved to the Ming/Mongol border city Beijing and the famous Forbidden city was built. The move completely shaped the modern Chinese history and transfered Beijing from a border city to the metropolitan today. Later when Manchu Qing took control of China after Ming was overthrown by rebellion farmers, they just inherited the capital since they claim they were in China to drive away rebellions and re-establish Mandate of Heaven".
.. no trolls so far.. 
