Air quality comparison · China, 54 km apart
Wuzhong vs Yinchuan Air quality index (AQI) today
Wuzhong has cleaner air than Yinchuan right now: AQI 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 142 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Wuzhong averaged AQI 74 against 115, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Yinchuan has lost more forest since 2001. Yinchuan has more tree cover.
China
AQI 103
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 46.2 µg/m³3.1× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 19:00 local
China
AQI 142
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 52.2 µg/m³3.5× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 01:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Wuzhong103Yinchuan142
Head to head
Wuzhong vs Yinchuan at a glance
Wuzhong is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Yinchuan on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Wuzhong | Yinchuan | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 103 (better) | 142 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 46.2 (better) | 52.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 74 (better) | 115 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | under 1 ha (better) | 12 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 16.0% | 16.4% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 59.6K | 58.1K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Wuzhong and Yinchuan right now?
Wuzhong has cleaner air than Yinchuan right now: AQI 103 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 142 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Wuzhong's PM2.5 is about 3.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Yinchuan's PM2.5 is about 3.5× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Yinchuan is read from a nearby ground station and Wuzhong is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
WuzhongYinchuan
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Wuzhong: Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Yinchuan and Yinchuan. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index.
Yinchuan: Ground station · College Road, Yinchuan (银川学院路), 12.6 km away. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Ningxia Environmental Protection Agency (宁夏环境保护网), China National Urban air quality real-time publishing platform (全国城市空气质量实时发布平台).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Wuzhong averaged AQI 74 against 115, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Wuzhong7Yinchuan0
- Average AQI
- Wuzhong74Yinchuan115
- Worst day, AQI
- Wuzhong84Yinchuan139
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Wuzhong | Yinchuan |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 73 | 139 |
| Nov 6 | 78 | 105 |
| Nov 7 | 84 | 104 |
| Nov 8 | 79 | 98 |
| Nov 9 | 67 | 108 |
| Nov 10 | 62 | 126 |
| Nov 11 | 77 | 125 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Wuzhong and Yinchuan today?
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Both are in the same EPA band today (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Wuzhong and Yinchuan compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Wuzhong's air is cleaner than 20% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Yinchuan's is cleaner than 12%. Within China, that is 50% and 25% of its 639 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Wuzhong
- Beats 20%
- Yinchuan
- Beats 12%
More tree cover than…
- Wuzhong
- Beats 37%
- Yinchuan
- Beats 38%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Wuzhong or Yinchuan?
Yinchuan has lost more: about 12 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Wuzhong. 3 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2001, with under 1 ha lost.
Worst year: 2001, with 4 ha lost.
| Wuzhong | Yinchuan | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | under 1 ha (better) | 12 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha (better) | 3 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Not classified | Towns and roads (20%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Wuzhong
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Yinchuan
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Wuzhong or Yinchuan?
Yinchuan has more tree cover: 16.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.0% around Wuzhong, or about 51,213 trees against 50,215.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Wuzhong | Yinchuan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 50.2K | 51.2K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 59.6K | 58.1K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.1M kg | 1.1M kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Wuzhong vs Yinchuan: your questions answered
Is Wuzhong cleaner than Yinchuan?
On air quality, yes, right now: Wuzhong reads AQI 103 against 142, a gap of 39 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Wuzhong averaged AQI 74 against 115, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Wuzhong and Yinchuan today?
The advice is the same for both today. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Wuzhong reads AQI 103 and Yinchuan reads AQI 142.
Which has lost more forest, Wuzhong or Yinchuan?
Yinchuan has lost more: about 12 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against under 1 ha around Wuzhong. 3 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Wuzhong or Yinchuan?
Yinchuan has more tree cover: 16.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 16.0% around Wuzhong, or about 51,213 trees against 50,215. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Wuzhong and Yinchuan need?
Wuzhong needs about 59,631 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Yinchuan about 58,083 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 54 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Wuzhong and Yinchuan measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Yinchuan is read from a nearby ground station and Wuzhong is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Wuzhong vs Yinchuan comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 25, 2026 and Sep 25, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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