'PX—out of Dalian now!'
Four years after similar protests in Xiamen, residents of Dalian in northern China took to the streets in large numbers Sunday in protest of the Fujia p-Xylene plant which they feel is located too near to the city. Authorities said late this week that they would relocate the plant, but the sites under consideration have yet to be announced.
Public concern which led to today's protests was sparked by Typhoon Muifa last week, which Chinese media reported posed a possible threat to the chemical plant. Photos and updates from Dalian dominated social networking sites Sunday morning, and Sina Weibo began aggressively deleting related information and even user accounts just before noon.
Cell phone signal coverage was reportedly also being blocked at Dalian's People's Square, where the protest began before moving onto the street.
Follow Twitter users @WLYeung, FMN breaking news, @mightyboom and MissXQ for translated updates from others at the scene. Photos from Dalian are being aggregated here and can also be found under the #大连px Twitter hashtag [edit: and 100+ photos here].
12:45 PM photo update:
