Before I got on a plane to Harbin on Wednesday a friend gave me two large bottles of water and told me to hide them in my suitcase when I arrived, just in case anyone at the airport should try to steal them.
The previous day, Harbin had cut off its water supply for four days because a dangerous chemicals slick – the result of an industrial accident 200km upstream – was rapidly approaching the city.
Within half an hour of landing, my friend’s bottles, carried in those thin plastic bags with the handles that break so easily, had become a heavy irritation.