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Current Affairs

The fluff stops here: Beijing’s battle against the green wall ‘snowstorm’

Beijing residents are once again bracing for a seasonal nuisance that has become something of a tradition: the city’s annual “snowstorm” of willow and poplar…

By Samantha Johnson / April 16, 2026

Beijing residents are once again bracing for a seasonal nuisance that has become something of a tradition: the city’s annual “snowstorm” of willow and poplar catkins.

The catkins are essentially seeds from female willow and poplar trees, encased in downy fibres. After pollination in spring, the female trees produce seed pods that split open upon ripening, releasing the fluffy seeds to disperse in the wind.

The wisps absorb bacteria, pollen and dust from the air, triggering respiratory and skin allergies in many people.

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But municipal authorities have ruled out cutting down the trees.

In an article published on Monday by the municipal government’s publicity department, Jiang Yingshu, head of the technology division at the municipal forestry and parks bureau, said that instead some trees would be sterilised.

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How is China building a great green wall to protect itself from desertification

How is China building a great green wall to protect itself from desertification

While old, diseased or weak female trees would be gradually replaced, mature healthy ones could not be hastily cut down because of the important environmental role they played and the decades required to grow them, Jiang said.

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