Changing China

The Battle for Beijing’s Air (video)

On the first day of the Copenhagen climate change summit, Beijingers were experiencing what authorities called a ‘slightly polluted’ day.

Air quality in the capital has improved, thanks in part to the movement of factories elsewhere and new traffic restrictions first experimented with ahead of last year’s Olympics.

Official weather monitors boasted over 80 percent ‘blue sky days’ in the first half of this year – the best air quality in over a decade (though the reliability of results is disputed – see the US embassy monitor’s take on Monday’s air quality here…) 

With an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 new cars hitting the city’s roads every day, residents like Mr. He (see video) are still waiting for a breath of fresher air.

Photo credit: Reinhard Krause

A cleaner Beijing would be perfect Olympic legacy

For those of us who live in Beijing, the air during the Olympics has been a real treat. It smells sweet and breathes in nicely. Even better, I feel like I can see forever — buildings that are more than a mile away, even the purple outline of the Fragrant Hills to the west of the city. 

There were a lot of worries about the Beijing smog expressed by athletes and foreign journalists before the Games began. But for the last week, there has been a lovely salmon tinge to the clouds — real clouds, not smog! — in the evenings.

All this is due to Beijing having booted well over a million cars off the streets, idled construction sites, and closed the worst polluting factories for hundreds of kilometers while requiring the not-quite-so-bad plants to install and actually use emissions reducing equipment.

The weather also helped. After a hot, muggy start to the Games when a heavy fog bank sat smack over the city, some rain and a breeze have cleared things out.  The numbers of days where the air quality is rated excellent have soared.

Unfortunately, most of those measures are temporary, so our eyes and lungs may only be getting a short holiday while the Olympics and Paralympics are going on. You can live with normal Beijing air, in fact I trained for a marathon in it last year, but most people agree it’s a lot more pleasant this way.

Still, there could be some long-lasting benefit, now that people see what the air could be like. Beijing’s environmental officials have promised to step up monitoring of pollutants and continue imposing new measures to clean things up.

And in the grimy provincial towns that ring the capital, better industrial controls could also mean a better quality of life.

Smogwatch (1)

After a promising start in the immediate aftermath of the “odd-even” car restrictions and factory closures on July 20th, the air quality in Beijing has slowly deteriorated, as this combination picture shows.

The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau says data shows that improvements have been made, but this is surely not the backdrop that organisers had in mind for the Olympics.

What chance the Beijing Meteorological Bureau pitches in with a little chemical-induced rain to clear the skies in the next few days?  

Combination photographs of Beijing skyline taken from July 22 to 27, 2008. Top row L-R July 22 to 24 and bottom row, L-R July 25 to 27 By Claro Cortes IV.

Never mind the pollution, it’s the Olympic Games

Former Olympic champion Cathy Freeman, the darling of the Sydney Games in 2000, was in Beijing at the weekend with a few words of advice for Liu Xiang.

I also asked her about pollution and, although she is now long-retired, I think her reply might still reflect the attitude of many of the top athletes coming to Beijing. 

“When you become that focused, you don’t really pay that much attention to elements that you can’t control like weather or pollution,” she said.

“In my career I ran in countries where it was 45 degree (Celsius) heat and incredibly polluted but you deal with what you have to deal with.

“The fact that it is an Olympic Games should help you rise to the occasion. Sure, it’s a concern but it’s an Olympic Games.”

Picture by David Gray

“Vicious cycle” of bike thefts

China has appealed to residents to take “green” transport ahead of the Olympics, casting the city’s pledge to provide clean air and unclogged roads as a civic “duty”.      

I used to take green transport to work, cycling a round trip of 14 miles five days a week in the cooler months, and three days a week in the summer.

And then, last week, my bike got nicked from inside the Central Academy of Fine Arts. I have lost count, but this was either the sixth or seventh bike my family has had stolen since arriving in Beijing in 2003.      

China is home to a world-record 470 million bicycles, but theft is widespread. A common topic of discussion among bike owners is the latest loss, despite chains and padlocks, either in the street or in the lobbies of high-rise apartment blocks.      

Selling stolen bicycles is big business in China, prompting buyers to turn to the second-hand market to minimise their loss should their bike be stolen.      

“In this vicious cycle, those who steal bicycles and sell them on the black market benefit while urban residents suffer,” the China Daily said in December.      

My bike was a red Giant and it got me to work in 35 minutes in peak hours, compared to sometimes double that by car. If anyone thinks they’ve seen it, I’d be grateful if you’d give me a call.