A program in Hebei province to beautify villages has had some good result in its first phase, with 1.15 million people now living in a better environment.

An inspection tour of 219 villages, contained in 80 pilot projects found that 90 percent had improved their waste management systems and 70 percent had finished various engineering projects, such as pipe laying for sewage treatment, in 2012.

The villages around the cities of Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Chengde and Xingtai showed the greatest progress, while some others were seriously behind and were having problems with waste disposal. The project is intended to improve the environment in all of the province’s villages and is expected to run for three years.