{"id":107,"date":"2025-12-14T15:52:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T07:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/?p=107"},"modified":"2025-12-14T15:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T07:56:24","slug":"when-snow-lingers-beijing-is-using-less-deicing-salt-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/2025\/12\/14\/when-snow-lingers-beijing-is-using-less-deicing-salt-this-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"When Snow Lingers: Beijing Is Using Less Deicing Salt This Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Yan Chang | Pixel Insight | Beijing, Dec. 14, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 12, snow fell across Beijing. By evening, the city was wrapped in a familiar winter quiet, softened by thick white layers settling on streets, rooftops, and open spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Distribution of precipitation (snowfall) in Beijing, from 12:00 a.m. on Dec. 12 to 6:00 a.m. on Dec. 13.<\/strong> The map shows heavier snowfall in Haidian District, where Tsinghua University is located. Source: Beijing Meteorological Service<\/a>.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At Tsinghua University, the Zijing Playground quickly turned into a snow-covered field of laughter. Students gathered to throw snowballs, take photos, and enjoy a rare pause from academic routines. Footprints crisscrossed the ground, and the snow felt soft underfoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students at Tsinghua University\u2019s Zijing Playground spontaneously split into two groups for a snowball fight on the evening of Dec. 12.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But by the next day, Dec. 13, the atmosphere had subtly changed. While the joy of snowfall remained, many roads, sidewalks, and campus paths were still covered with visible snow and ice. In some areas, clearing was incomplete, and snow lingered far longer than Beijing residents had come to expect. According to The Beijing News<\/u><\/a>, by the afternoon of Dec. 13, Jishuitan Hospital had treated 170 orthopedic patients following the snowfall, with a large share involving e-bike riders and young people who slipped while taking photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At midday on Dec. 13, Zijing Road at Tsinghua University appears cleared, yet remains covered by a thin layer of ice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For a city known for its rapid response to winter weather, this raised a question: why hadn\u2019t the snow melted away as quickly as before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer lies not in delayed management or reduced effort, but in a deliberate shift in how Beijing deals with snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Previous Response<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In previous winters, snow in Beijing often disappeared within hours. Deicing salt, commonly referred to as snow-melting agents, was widely applied to roads and pavements. Large amounts of white granular material were spread across streets, quickly melting snow in surrounding areas and making driving and walking easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Workers spread deicing salt from buckets onto the ground. Source: Guangming Daily<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While effective, this approach came with trade-offs that were rarely visible in the short term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Hidden Costs<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Deicing salt is effective because it lowers the freezing point of water, allowing snow and ice to melt even in low temperatures. In dense urban environments, this efficiency has made it the default choice for decades. Yet its side effects are increasingly difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental damage is one major concern. When salt dissolves, it does not disappear. Instead, it enters soil, waterways, and groundwater systems. According to the <\/u>World Economic Forum<\/u><\/a>, elevated salinity from road salt can damage urban vegetation and disrupt aquatic ecosystems. Cao Jixin<\/u><\/a>, director of the Soil and Water Research Institute at the Beijing Academy of Landscape and Greening Sciences, has also warned that repeated exposure weakens roadside trees and degrades soil quality over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In previous years, when deicing salt was used, Beijing municipal departments installed salt shields to protect vegetation, though certain risks remained. Source: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscaping and Greening<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Infrastructure corrosion is another serious issue. According to research published in the journal Total Corrosion Control by Zhang Taoying<\/u><\/a>, salt accelerates the corrosion of steel and concrete, affecting bridges, roads, and underground pipelines. While a single winter\u2019s use may seem insignificant, repeated exposure year after year shortens the lifespan of infrastructure and increases long-term maintenance costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this sense, deicing salt offers a classic example of short-term convenience creating long-term expense. The snow melts quickly, traffic resumes faster, but the city quietly accumulates environmental and structural damage that must be paid for later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

From Speed to Sustainability<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reducing deicing salt does not mean abandoning snow control. Instead, Beijing is adopting a more labor-intensive but environmentally cautious approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Beijing Daily<\/u><\/a>, small snow-removal machines are used to physically push and collect snow, especially in residential streets, sidewalks, and pedestrian-heavy areas. Manual cleaning fills in the gaps, particularly where machinery cannot operate efficiently. While this approach requires more time and manpower, it avoids introducing large amounts of chemicals into the urban environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After the snowfall, staff from the management office of Tsinghua University\u2019s Environment Building<\/a> cleared snow using small machines and manual labor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The slower pace is noticeable. Snow-covered sidewalks may remain slippery for longer periods. Commuters must walk more carefully. For residents accustomed to chemically cleared roads, the lingering snow can feel inconvenient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet this inconvenience reflects a conscious trade-off: accepting temporary discomfort to reduce long-term harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Governance by Design, Not by Accident<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Snow lingering on Beijing\u2019s streets this winter reflects a deliberate shift in urban governance. The city is moving away from prioritizing immediate visual cleanliness and toward managing long-term environmental and infrastructural risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By reducing the use of deicing salt and relying more on mechanical removal and manual labor, Beijing has chosen transparency over invisibility. Snow is cleared gradually in ways residents can see and understand, rather than disappearing overnight through chemical means that leave lasting damage behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letting snow melt more slowly is not a failure of governance. It is evidence of a city learning to plan beyond the next snowfall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a snowfall on Dec. 12 left snow lingering longer than usual on Beijing\u2019s streets, the city\u2019s reduced use of deicing salt has drawn attention. The shift reflects a move away from short-term efficiency toward more sustainable, transparent snow-clearing practices that aim to reduce long-term environmental and infrastructure damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19,18,16,17,20],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-beijing","tag-environment","tag-snow","tag-tech","tag-tsinghua"],"views":236,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pixelinsight.becyan.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}