Photographer Benoit Aguin was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2008 Lux imaging awards in Canada
for his 2007 story titled "China Dust Bowl," which recently ran as an extensive photo essay on Time.com.

China Dust Bowl
Benoit Aquin

Coal-burning power plants line the rail route from Beijing to northwest China. The combustion of
coal releases soot and other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.

In the town of Sanggen Dalai, the dusty weather season lasts from January to May.

Xu Li Song, 62, surveys his crops. "Trees around here are withering, they are half-dead," observes
the former Communist Party village leader.

A truck fire spews smoke across a highway in Bayannur, Inner Mongolia.

A statue of Genghis Khan braves a dust storm in Xilinhot City.