Video sounds environmental alarm bell

Chai Jing, former presenter and journalist with China Central Television, presents a self-funded documentary about smog in Beijing, Feb 28, 2015. [Photo/CFP]

With national deputies and members of China's top political advisory and legislative bodies gathering for their annual meetings in Beijing, Chai Jing, a former China Central Television news anchor, has helped set agenda of discussions for them in the next two weeks with her self-funded video Under the Dome, which investigates China's appalling smog and pollution.

Chai talked to scientists and researchers and concluded that the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal and oil, are to blame for the country's severe smog. She also explored the consequences of the air pollution and ways to address it.

The 100-minute video, which has been widely circulated online has provoked much comment, with some saying it has helped raise the awareness of ordinary Chinese and mobilized them to live simply to help reduce the air pollution.

Chai has hooked the audiences not only by the topic, which is related to everybody's daily life, but also by her own experiences. Immediately after she gave birth to her daughter, before she even have a chance to look at her, the baby had to undergo an operation for a tumor.

In an interview, Chai said: "If I am alone, I have life of decades. But I have a daughter and this is about life continuity." This sense of continuity and responsibility encouraged her to produce the investigation piece.