Beijing Smog Blog, An Update

"Like a giant kid who's been holding a fart in during a three week [now nine week] elevator ride, Beijing has apparently relaxed its many industrial sphincters and let a big one rip." -Imagethief

My brother Gene just returned from his first trip to Beijing. He arrived a few days after emergency measures to clean Beijing's air for the Olympics and Paralympics ended on Sept 21. The following, including three photos taken 1 day, 3 days, and 5 days after a rainstorm, is what he reports.

Beijing - America in a different (and hazier) font.
Beijing is pretty much America at this point. I'm sure smaller cities and especially cities in Western China are very much, not America, but Beijing is. It's a great city. Massive in size. Very much on-the-move. It's an exciting and busy place to be. The food is great and plentiful. The history is rich and long and apparently if you were in charge in Beijing ... you built another palace inside the Forbidden City. I think every castle of Europe could fit inside the Forbidden City. There is some great new architecture that's really impressive: from the bird's nest and the water cube to the CCTV building and more. I met with several people at different high-tech companies and they were all very helpful in aiding our understanding of doing business here, and they were all very excited to be part of this raging economy.

The following are the differences between Beijing and America as I see it.

Air quality: Indoor air quality with all the smoking is disgusting - ok, I'm a spoiled Californian who never has to experience indoor smoke at home. Outdoor air quality - well see the pictures attached. The first was taken the day after it rained. The rain scrubs all the particles out of the air. The second photo was taken two days later. Ouch. I went for a run today and I am wondering how many cigarette-equivalents I have just inhaled. I don't think I could live here because of the air.

Language - ok, that one is obvious.

Red. Ok, people, I know red is the big, important color in China, but seriously - explore the color palette a bit more.

Traffic. They are way more 'green' than Americans in that there are tons of people who bike or ride small mopeds which guys in America could never be seen riding. They drive their cars on the freeways like one would drive a bike - as though crashing into something is not likely to cause any damage. Therefore going backwards on the freeway, dropping off passengers in the middle of the freeway, or getting to a freeway exit and stopping at that mid-point between taking the exit and staying on the freeway are all completely normal.

Food. The waitresses will wait forever for you to give an order. In the US if you aren't ready to state your entire party's order back-to-back, they say "I'll give you a minute and come back". Chinese menus, of course, are gi-normous with about 150 different options. The waitresses are all too willing to hang out, answer questions, watch you rub your chin, turn the page, discuss with each other ... they are very patient. Of course there are a few things I've eaten here that would not be on a menu in America: bull bladder, pig trotter (foot), chicken feet, some kind of frog and marinated pig's ear. They were all good. The food here is awesome. Even 'fast food' in China can include vegetables. When's the last time you got broccoli at a fast food restaurant?

Pre-reported news: I was lucky enough to be here when the Chinese astronauts (Taikonauts) took off and did the space walk. There was much excitement about this at our office and we watched the space walk live through the internet. Prior to the astronauts even leaving the earth, however, the Xinhua news agency reported the mission a success, noting that they 'captured the target' 12 seconds ahead of plan, and even included dialogue that the astronauts said to each other. The Chinese team in my office said it's common to have stories that describe how things will be before they happen. Like America, the engineers I work with here are a bit cynical on the manned space mission. They said "Yeah, China wins bronze in space-walking" and they ridiculed how some Chinese official tried to convince people that there was some scientific reason to do the mission. Sounds similar to the debate in the U.S. whenever manned space programs are announced.

Mao: They say that people over 50 like Mao better than Deng and people under 50 like Deng better than Mao. Let's see, Mao killed more people than anyone else in history combined. Deng changed China to capitalism and brought more people out of poverty than anyone else in history combined. Well, I guess people over 50 in America have their odd bouts of nostalgia too.

I asked my guys here how they thought China would change the world in the next 20-50 years. guy said the world would change China more than the other way around. A few stressed that China loves peace and it would not be changing the world in the way America has been. One expressed that China might bring a lot of help to Africa where they have been investing heavily. I said I wished America would be influenced by Chinese art and culture and particularly that we could learn to be more patient and long-term in our planning, like the Chinese appear to be.

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The Beijing Smog Blog

The Olympics are exactly one month away and the games have already begun.
We’re told that on July 1, 300,000 heavy polluting trucks, most of which roll into the city at night, were banned from Beijing.

Yet so far, nothing seems to have changed. If anything, it may have gotten worse.

Beijing smog watcher and reporter James Fallows suspects factories have increased production in recent months in order to reach their quotas before a forced 2-month shut down begins on July 20. Fallows has been taking semi-regular picture’s of Beijing’s air from his apartment window since moving to town last fall. Based on his images—see a couple pasted here—he may be on to something.

For a bit of contrast I’ve included a photo, taken July 2 from our little Shangri-La here in the western suburbs. Visibility changes day by day—more a reflection of humidity than anything else, though it’s often hard to tell when you’re swimming in it.

The real test for the city will come after July 20 when, in addition to closing factories, half the city’s cars will be pulled on any given day,
major construction will halt, and, supposedly, even spray painting
will be banned. If local measures don’t clear the air, it seems that factories across much of northern China will also shut down.

As fun as it is see if such a polluted city can clear its skies for a fleeting moment, I’m also encouraged to read that not all of the measures are temporary. Again, Fallows tells us that between 2000 and 2006—a time when Beijing’s population increased by 50 percent and paved roads doubled—the levels of all major pollutants—including ozone, nitrous oxide, benzene, etc—dropped. He attributes much of this to both a closing-or relocating-of the heaviest polluting factories and, more significantly, the introduction of tough auto emissions standards that surpass those of the US.

One month to go and part of me is counting down the days, anxiously waiting for the skyline of the city to magically open up before me. Another part of me saw the above satellite image (also from Fallow’s blog) showing all of northern China obscured by a thick haze and wonders if such a feat is really possible.

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