The heavy rain pounded down in the early hours of Friday morning, but paused for a short while to reveal the cloud shrouded surrounding hills. Then it let loose again. The small stream was surging to its highest level in memory, filled with water that was light brown from all the development taking place upstream. Its banks reached out towards the road but never quite made it. Suddenly, in the centre of the stream, a large black blob appeared.
Before it had time to wash downstream, more bubbles appeared adding more “dark matter”. After the initial rush, it settled down to the occasional bubbling effect with more of a grey colour. What was it? This unknown event leaves a big question, and a wondering about if this is a new brand of pollution. Two weeks of rain is not usual for Nanjing. Normally we have spells of afternoon thunderstorms coming and going. So some are suffering as the local rivers and streams break their banks. Xianlin lake has expanded, and pictures of brown muddy water abound on social media.
