Fear and mistrust in Chinese town where more than 200 children poisoned by lead in their food

Taped doors and quiet rooms tell a story about what happened at Heshi Peixin kindergarten.

A huge scandal in a tiny town, a barely believable failing, in a place where children should have been safe.

As soon as we arrive in the northwestern Chinese town of Maiji, it is clear that almost everyone knows someone who has been impacted.

After multiple children were found to have high levels of lead in their blood, police say staff at the private kindergarten had been adding paint powder to food in an apparent bid to make it look more appealing.

A total of 233 of the 251 children had unhealthy levels and 201 needed to be hospitalised, say local authorities.

Two food samples were seized and both had lead levels 2000 times the legal safe limit.

Eight people have been arrested, including the principal and the kindergarten’s financial backer.

On one street in this town, a series of shops sell clothes and goods for babies and toddlers. The women who work there all knew the principal and many of the families affected. One even used to work there.

They tell us how distressing it’s been for the community.

One lady whispers with tears in her eyes about how a neighbour’s child was found to have lead in her blood at 38 times the normal level.

What surprises us is how the kindergarten and its staff are by far the sole focus of their anger.

In fact more than one person speaks fondly of the principal, citing her extensive charity work and dedication to children.

There might have been huge failings at Heshi Peixin, but here they clearly feel there are failings in the system too.

Indeed, most affected families have chosen to leave here to seek treatment in major cities, mainly in Xi’an, the closest major city, which is a four-hour drive away.

We are told multiple times that the local hospital returned tests for lead showing much lower levels than at the bigger hospitals.

‘This is a cover up’

On the street corners, it’s all they are discussing, tapping into veins of distrust.

“I don’t know much, but I think this is a cover up,” says one woman who we meet at the side of the road. “I just think local government is too dark, they suppress the news.”

Another young mother talks about how she lived just around the corner from the kindergarten.

“Who will be willing to have children? Who dares to send the children to kindergarten?” she asks.

“Now if people send children to primary school, the first thing they ask is are you safe? Is the school safe? Can it guarantee the personal safety of our children in the future, right?”

There is no clear evidence of a cover-up, but it’s telling that it’s what people expect.

There is clear anxiety about the fact we are here. The police intercept us and hold us up for over an hour. And perhaps that is no surprise because in China a history of food safety scandals is a sore point.

Cooking oil was last year found to be being transported in containers used for fuel without proper cleaning in between.

And most famously, in 2008, milk powder laced with the chemical melamine, left six children dead and hundreds of thousands unwell.

Food scandals here are a source of real rage and resentment, dangerous things for a government that people cannot choose.

Cases like this are just a glimpse into how deep that frustration can run.