Hegang

Wang, the Wudaogang farmer, has two sons, both living 15 kilometres away in the city of Hegang, and earning around 3,000 yuan a month in wages.

People walk next to residential buildings in the coal city of Hegang, Heilongjiang province, northeast China January 2, 2020.

In northern Heilongjiang Province, the city of Hegang announced that it would not hire any more “low-level” workers.

In Hegang, a “ghost city” in the province that has lost almost 10 percent of its population since 2010, homes cost so little that people compare them to cabbage.

The cities of Harbin, Jiamusi, Shuangyashan and Hegang were covered in a blanket of chocking smog on Oct.18-20, with concentrations of hazardous particles, known as PM2.5, reaching over 400 micrograms.