One piece of good news from the Guizhou forum is that local authorities are experimenting with assessment of officials in terms of how well they protect their environment.

There is the so-called "one-veto" mechanism that effectively kills their promotions if they fail in a certain area - which could be intercepting disgruntled petitioners, or maintaining work safety. We yearn for the day when this "one-veto" also denies opportunity to those who fail to curb pollution.

Besides bureaucratic penalties, the law also has a role to play.

In many ways, environmental laws have toughened up on polluters and on the watchdogs that shelter them.

The draft of the amendment to China's Environmental Law, currently under deliberation, stipulates that polluters be fined by the day if they are found to be illegally discharging waste. This proposal is widely considered to be a milestone, Beijing Times reported on Wednesday.

Moreover, officials could be disciplined or sacked for withholding pertinent environmental information from the public, fiddling statistics and inaction, according to the amendment, which is publicized to seek public input.

At a time of seemingly enhanced environmental awareness, the Guizhou forum has sent a message loud and clear. If a poor, peripheral province can dream a different dream about how to prosper - unlike others hell-bent on cluttering their skylines with high-rises to resemble Manhattan, Tokyo or Hong Kong - then the local policy makers deserve some credit for venturing off the beaten path.

Switzerland is a far cry from and thus a distant goal for Guizhou, which starts from a low base, but it is at least more suited to its conditions.

Changsha folly

Hurray for Guizhou, but thumbs down to Changsha. The capital of central China's Hunan Province recently planned to build an 838-meter-high, 9 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion) skyscraper. If completed as scheduled and unchallenged by rival construction, it would be the tallest building ever in the world, the Hunan-based Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported on July 20.

Grave risk lurks in this ambitious goal. Changsha planned to build the skyscraper from scratch in a matter of 10 months, defying common sense about engineering and construction safety. Following an outcry, the project was halted for "lacking proper legal paperwork."

Such haste may be inspired by its neighbor. Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, topped off a 636-meter-high tower last year. Back then, media reports said it would be the tallest building in China, but soon that superlative was surpassed by a record-breaker elsewhere.

The race to rival others, especially neighbors, in lifting skylines is a reflection of how Chinese cities today are superficial, unimaginative and criminally destructive in urban planning.

On his recent visit to Ezhou City in Hubei, President Xi Jinping said creating a beautiful countryside is not about "applying makeup," referring to vanity projects.

For years we have witnessed too many Chinese aspirants heading to Dubai on "study tours," even after the city lost its glamour in the 2009 debt debacle.

Guizhou's choice to model itself after pastoral Switzerland is a welcome deviation from this trend. An oasis in the sand could be a spectacle, but it could also be a mirage.

An ecological destination that balances nature and development, however, is the future.