Beijing Air Quality

by Tiki on Jul 12, 2008 8:36 AM EDT

So, in about four weeks, the Olympic cyclists will be racing in Beijing. As a resident of Beijing, I'm interested in seeing what the international community reports about the air quality problems there. I think the cyclists will race and survive, but I'm excited to see the international community wake up to the following facts:

- it is common for new arrivals to Beijing to fall sick with minor ailments relating to breathing. Sore throats, ear aches, bronchitis and pneumonia are common among new arrivals and little kids.

- the Chinese authorities block this information. They control access to the internet (blog sites are blocked in China) and their own internal media. They also control, to some extent, external media. If somebody like the New York Times or BBC reports stuff they don't like, they block their internet sites in the country, block distribution of their media in the country, revoke the visas of their journalists, and basically prevent them from both reporting and distributing in China. Because media organizations are capitalists, they are reluctant to face these problems, so they tend to be careful about what and how they report on China. As a result, you aren't getting all the facts.

- comparisons between Beijing and cities in first world countries are nonsense. The worst day of pollution in LA is the best day of pollution in Beijing.

- people don't realize this but the smog in China doesn't just cover Beijing. If you look at a satellite photo of China, most days you cannot see China. The smog stretches from the border of Mongolia to the ocean, and south to at least Shanghai, and some days further.

- increasingly, these levels of smog are common across India as well.

- in other words, the longer people put this off as China's problem, the sooner their pollution is going to grow so bad that it will make it across the Pacific and into the USA. If you think this sounds like hyperbole, read the first link I've pasted below.

- the following sites are not accessible in China:

http://asia-pacific-news.blogspot.com/2006/07/chinas-smog-reaches-us_29.html

http://mnweekly.ru/sport/20080710/55337102.html

http://www.pyongyangsquare.com/beijingair/

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1722450,00.html

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Qinghai is in the far west of China

But if you follow the links on the blog post on the race there, I challenge you to find a photo that doesn’t look like it was taken through a haze (it was) or contains a swatch of blue sky.

by Tiki on Jul 12, 2008 8:44 AM EDT reply actions

yes, people are making a big deal about the Olympics but the fact is the people there have to endure the horrific air quality every day.

Disgusting

by cyclingchallenge on Jul 12, 2008 11:19 AM EDT reply actions

There's an article in Boulder magazine

That reports that 38 of 46 competitors in the mountain bike challenge race last year withdrew because of the toxic smog. Really, is this the best that China can do? Clearly the IOC made a wrong decision if it is.

If I just had one more gear, I...

by SpunOut on Jul 12, 2008 11:25 AM EDT reply actions

well, gotta keep those cheap

goods flowing to Wal-mart somehow!

The world doesn’t really get to point its fingers at China. It’s not China consuming most of what’s coming from the factories.

by Sui Juris on Jul 12, 2008 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

You're correct

But if the IOC knew about these pollution issues prior and that it might be pose a health risk to the athletes there, then it is unfair and irresponsible to give China an Olympics.

If I just had one more gear, I...

by SpunOut on Jul 12, 2008 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions

On he evening news he oher nigh

by roadside on Jul 12, 2008 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

opps on the evening news the other night

it showed the chinese military cloud seeding to make rain to reduce the smog

by roadside on Jul 12, 2008 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah, I thought it was a little hilarious

and a little scary.

Some thousand number of specially fitted anti-aircraft guns will be in seeding operations just before the opening ceremonies. I think James Fallows (Atlantic) did a story on this not too long back.

by Sui Juris on Jul 12, 2008 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

This wasn't working two weeks ago

Two weeks ago, when I was in Beijing, they seeded clouds every day, and it drizzled every day. AND it was still smoggy. This was the first time I saw this happen in the year since I moved there.

Whoever the official is who is in charge of air quality during the Olympics is probably not sleeping much. The government will probably kill him soon.

by Tiki on Jul 13, 2008 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions

oh, they sure did know

The Olympics haven’t been about the athletes as long as I’ve been alive, as best I can tell.

I’ve a strong love/hate with the Olympics. Loved living in the middle of it in 96, hate what they do to communities and people under guise of sport when it’s just a giant excuse to divert resources and slap ads on everything in sight. And the IOC itself is a supervillians convention right out of James Bond.

by Sui Juris on Jul 12, 2008 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I was stationed at Osan AB during the 96 Olympics

But I’m from Valdosta and know people that attended the Olympics in Hotlanta and relayed the info.

If I just had one more gear, I...

by SpunOut on Jul 12, 2008 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

It's presumably pay-offs to someone in the party structure

that allow/encourage companies to low-bid beyond the point of minimal air-cleaning technology. Serious race to the bottom in all ways.

What amazes me is that they don’t seem to realize how bad and disgusting it makes them look. So freaked about Tibet and Everest and looking bad politically, when they’re going to put on a “come wallow in our filth” show.

by JFS_PGH on Jul 13, 2008 1:08 AM EDT up reply actions

They care about one thing, and one thing only

Staying in charge of China.

by Tiki on Jul 13, 2008 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Dont eat the chicken

I read his back in March

“When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken - half of a breast - that measured 14 inches. "Enough to feed a family of eight," said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues."We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive."

Because of this he US was going to bring their own food
“The United States Olympic Committee, which will have more than 600 people in its delegation, is planning to transport its own produce because of fears about public health and food standards in China.The athletes will eat their three daily meals at their training camp at a local university, which is outside the official confines of the Olympic Park
The Chinese government is said to be very “offended” by this US decision; outraged, even. Regulations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) forbid teams bringing their own food to the Olympic village (which is why the American team is staying off-site, to avoid that regulation). This is to prevent teams sneaking in illegal performance-enhancing substances, and also to protect the profits of contracted caterers—a very big deal in China.

I dont know how this has played out since this article

by roadside on Jul 12, 2008 12:10 PM EDT reply actions

I remember reading that. Anyone have any follow up?

Isn’t DZ one of many that won’t eat meats and such over seas?

"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."

by nikki on Jul 12, 2008 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions

At some point the Chinese might wake up

to the environmental degradation as people in the US did--in the 1970s-only about 100 years after industrialization. I think the realization is something like:

“hey, all the natural resources are being destroyed to make a few people rich”.

I was just up at Mentor Headlands beach, (on Lake Erie) which is really quite lovely. There is also a great view of the former Diamond Shamrock toxic waste site where they found the lake a convenient source for water, plus the view was great, so you had something to look at while dumping heavy metals and other nastiness into settling ponds.

At least it’s being cleaned up now (30+ years after the shit hole closed)—all the dirt is being removed and processed. Pure craziness.

Of course, it’s easy to point fingers. Now CO2 is viewed as a pollutant. In 10 years we might think that it’s just as crazy to spew CO2 into the air as it was to use leaded gas.

But enough of that…

I’m totally tired of the Olympics. It’s a crapfest.

by KevinK on Jul 12, 2008 12:27 PM EDT reply actions

"My lungs hurt to breathe but it's not the dirtiest place I've raced," - Cadel Evans

From an article on CN from last year.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/aug07/beijing07/beijing071

He says it is worse in Italy!

That’s why I think the race will be dominated, and ultimately won by the Squada Azzura once again.
They’ve been training in crappier air then Beijing their whole lives!
Hahahahaha . . . . .

by Ryan_Liles on Jul 12, 2008 1:16 PM EDT reply actions

Something you might not know about Chinese factories

Oddly, all the things that the Chinese make in their factories that are then exported to the US are not available in China. In China, factories can make stuff for export or for the domestic market, not both. In order to sell goods intended for export in China, factories must first export them to Hong Kong, then import them, at which point they are taxed. The taxes make them about 10 percent more expensive than the prices they charge for the same stuff at Walmart.

In other words, the factories that are polluting China aren’t really making any stuff FOR China.

by Tiki on Jul 13, 2008 9:54 AM EDT reply actions