As world leaders huddle in Copenhagen for crunch talks on a global climate change deal, Tian's story is an example of the huge struggle faced by some developing countries trying to fight pollution.

Her group, the Xinxiang Environmental Protection Volunteers Association, has helped close more than 100 polluting factories -- plants she says were responsible for illness and death among local residents.

But the sprightly 59-year-old's success -- not an easy feat in China, the world's worst carbon-emitting nation -- has come at a price.

"I'm scared, I don't dare sleep at a fixed place. Tonight I'll be at my son's, tomorrow at my daughter's, or I stay at my association," Tian told AFP in an interview at her office in a derelict former factory in Xinxiang city.

"We receive threatening phone calls, and volunteers have also got phone calls at home late at night," she said, adding she thinks those who call are thugs hired by angry factory owners.

Tian first started her environmental work in 1998, recycling used batteries.

In 2001, she decided to tackle air and water pollution, setting up her NGO a year later.

She and other volunteers take photos of waste discarded by factories, have river water tested and then hand the evidence over to the local environmental bureau for further action. They also help promote environmental awareness.

These are all steps Tian says she decided to take after people she knew died from diseases she believes were caused by dire levels of pollution.

"It's definitely due to air and water pollution. Lots of villagers use waste water to irrigate their crops," she said.

"People have died of liver cancer, lung cancer... They suffer from respiratory difficulties," Tian added, noting that strokes were also common.

In Hou village near Xinxiang, 62-year-old Zhu Jinxin points to the scars marking the numerous spots where tumours have been removed from his body, and says others in the village have fallen ill and died.

Although none can prove the link with pollution, they point to dirty ground water and the nearby pesticide and chemical factories.

"The air the chemical factory emitted was pungent, and people had problems breathing," Zhu said.

In 2005, in response to the complaints, the government helped villagers dig a well for safe drinking water.

"It's 156 metres (515 feet) deep. Wells dug by families used to measure just 30 metres," said Zhu.

The plant has also stopped emitting fumes during the day, though Zhu said it was operational at night.

"Tian's work is very important, and difficult," said Zhu.

"They (factory owners) want to make money, but she doesn't want them to make money -- she wants to clean up pollution."

In neighbouring Fanling village, where Tian was mayor for four years until 2008, residents also say their lives have been affected by a chemical plant.

"We can't eat the maize and wheat we plant in the earth around the factory, so we sell it," says one villager, who asked not to be named.

Nevertheless, Tian says the environment in the area has improved markedly since the 1990s, when she says rivers near Xinxiang were black from human and industrial waste. Now, most waterways near the city appear to be clear.

The Xinxiang government and environmental bureau refused to comment on the situation when contacted by AFP.

A report by the official Xinhua news agency in July said that since 2006, more than 500 heavily-polluting businesses had been closed along Henan's Hai and Yellow rivers that flow through the Xinxiang area.

But Tian soldiers on with her inspection tours, determined to catch out factories that discard their waste on the sly.

At one smelter, for example, where a foul stench of chemicals permeates the air, Tian sets off through wheat crops to get behind the factory, where she scales a small wall and climbs up a steep hill.

Hidden behind the plant is a huge pool of black water with meringue-like foam on top. White froth pours out of the back wall of the factory, flowing into a small stream and into a bigger river.

One of Tian's volunteers grabs a discarded beer bottle and fills it up with the water for further analysis.

"It's often really hard," Tian said of her work.

"Some of the factories breed dogs, and they let go of dogs to scare me. But when a polluting firm is closed, I'm really happy."

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