Nothing spells trouble like dead pigs in a river. This week, more than 6,600 pig carcasses have been pulled from the river that runs through the heart of Shanghai, China’s financial hub, eliciting public disgust and anger.

However the dead pigs of Shanghai are hardly the worst thing to hit China’s rivers. After all, more than 39 per cent of the water in China’s main rivers is already so toxic that any human contact should be avoided, according to a 2011 government study. Shanghai’s main river, the Huangpu, is pristine by comparison – with or without a few decaying pig bodies. So perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising that city authorities swiftly declared that the little porkers had not affected the safety of Shanghai’s tap water. Continue reading »