From April to October, Greenpeace visited Xintang, the "Jeans Capital of the World," and Gurao, a manufacturing town 80% of whose economy is devoted to bras, underwear, and other clothing articles.
We found high degrees of industrial pollution in both these towns.
Gurao, in Shantou, produces 200 million bras every year and is known as one of China’s leading towns for underwear manufacturing.
Xintang, in Zengcheng, is devoted to the complete manufacturing process of jeans, from weaving, dyeing and washing to tailoring and packaging. More than 60% of China’s jeans are produced in Xintang, which also accounts for 40% of all of China’s exported jeans.
These are a few photos documenting what we found. It's not pretty.