At the site of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, we quickly toured the the Birds nest stadium and the water cube.
That day the air pollution was so bad that we couldn't stand to be out in the air for more than 30 minutes.
The US Embassy in Beijing keeps a record of the air quality levels throughout the city on Twitter. The Chinese government uses a different system that relatively underrates the air quality. This has become a diplomatic dispute, but the Chinese government has agreed to start using the same monitoring standards within the next few years.
The day that we arrived the air was terrible. With air readings at over It caused my eyes to burn and felt like continuously smoking cigarette after cigarette.
"Hazardous" Air Quality Index greater than 300. This would trigger a health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.
The government has implemented a lot of policies to clean up the pollution, but the ever increasing amount of cars, dirty construction, desertification of the surrounding land, and the industrial ring make it a difficult problem to control. While environmental protection is critical goal that carries significant long-term benefits, the short-term pursuit of economic growth sometimes overshadows the efforts.
The next two photos are of an interested local that wanted to join us for our discussions on what we would do next, where we were going to dinner, and how we were getting home. Despite his expression of concern, he didn't offer any input.
Posted by: Lucas Vinze
China has recently introduced a performance rating system for officials that evaluate their performance on environmental protection as well as economic growth — Chinese government is becoming serious about environmental protection.
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ReplyDeleteFrom the news just the other day (BBC):
ReplyDelete"China warns foreign embassies not to monitor pollution
The new China Central Television headquarters building is covered in haze in Beijing in March Chinese cities like Beijing often have poor air quality.
Foreign embassies in China should refrain from publishing their own independent air pollution readings, a senior Chinese official has warned.
The deputy environment minister's comments appeared aimed at the US embassy, which puts out its own figures on high pollution levels in Beijing.
The US embassy has a monitoring station on its roof and publishes the results hourly on the internet.
Air quality in Beijing and other cities is notoriously poor.
Without mentioning the US, Wu Xiaoqing, deputy minister of Environmental Protection told a press briefing in Beijing that only the Chinese government is authorised to publish air pollution data.
In reply to a question, Mr Wu said that "some foreign embassies and consulates in China are monitoring air quality and publishing the results themselves".
He said that this contravened the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
"It is also against relevant environmental protection regulations," he said.
But many residents have questioned the accuracy of official government figures, which until this year did not include the most damaging particles.
The US says its own equipment should not be wholly relied on, as its data is compiled from only a single monitor. Its website makes clear that the measurements are for the benefit of embassy personnel and do not give citywide data.
The US monitoring helped spur a public outcry earlier this year that forced China to update its own standards, according to the BBC's Damian Grammaticas.
China has privately demanded that the US halt its readings in the past, but this is believed to be the first time it has delivered a public warning over the issue, he adds.
Using a device on its rooftop, the US embassy in Beijing releases the information hourly via Twitter. US consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou do the same."
The pictures from Lucas are an average day in Beijing.