Just got back from Beijing

H

Hornin Hong Kong

1,000+ Posts
Went up yest morning for a meeting. The smog is the worst ive ever seen it and it breaks my heart. The new airport terminal is awesome, essentially just like HKs.

I don't think they are going to be able to get the venues done and get rid of the pollution in the 30 days they have left.

Millions of Chinese people have worked for years to have this 'coming out party' and I'm not at all sanguine it won't be a disaster.

Visbility at noon was maybe 200 yards and the air tasted like a steel mill. This is fairly typical but I shudder to think about the 24 hour news cycle crusshing everyone here.

On another note I found the third or so worse bathroom I've ever seen in an otherwise nice restaurant where we were eating sihuan beef and hot peppers.

I've been to somalia and ethiopia and India by the way so that should give you some context.
 
I'm surprised there were/are people with brains that EVER thought China could work the greatest environmental miracle in the history of man and change things in time for the Olympics. I thought it was a joke when I first read about what they had to change and how they thought they could accomplish those changes.
 
I thought all the venues were already done. Also - arent they essentially banning private automobiles and shuttering factories upwind from Beijing starting a week or so before the Olympics? I think it will be ok, but obviously at an enormous cost.

Also, I would be interested in hearing about the worst and second worst bathrooms you have seen.
 
China for the Olympics.
South Africa for the World Cup.

Effing brilliant. Maybe we could get the Tour de France to move to Somalia.
 
yeah, china is by far the most polluted country in the world...the coastal areas are extremely polluted, they are killing the coastal waters, you can't breathe. I think the olympics might have worked better in Shanghai but both cities are pretty bad. i laugh whenever i hear about how bad the united states is by the little greenies but they have no idea of the status of China or don't care. I think the statistics that are published about china's pollution is a fraud, it is much worse.
 
I was in Beijing in May, and I was wondering if there was going to be any improvement in the smog after the factories had been shut down...apparently not.

Landing there was odd - going from the beautiful blue sky and making a descent into what looked like a carpet of brown. The sun doesn't come out in Beijing, it just gets lighter in the morning.
 
That sounds just awful, is this what the late 19th century American northeast looked like? How much cleaner can you make heavy manufacturing? Obviously transportation pollution can be cut down dramatically with catalytic converters, fewer cars, and better public transit, but I don't know about the factories. It's a dirty job but someone in some country has to do it.
 
In 4 trips to Guandong province I have never seen a live bird other than chickens in cages. No kidding.
 
800px-Beijing_pollution_.jpg
 
I will take photos tomorrow and post. Im going back for the afternoon then back in HK that evening.

As an aside the girls are stunning. Even the girls who doing airport security are 5' 9", 110 pounds and beautiful. The flight attendents, fuggedaboutit.
 
Was the bathroom like that scene in Trainspotting?
First Olympics to watch in HD and it'll be smoggy. Suck! You can see where my priorities lie.
 
Will the air really clear out by stopping most car travel and shutting down the factories? Is it really a product of that day's output of pollutants, and will the wind disperse it that quickly?
This will be interesting to follow.
 
just got back again, a little better, 300 vs 200 yard visibility but surely untenable for outdoor athletics.

Less cars - I think they are startubng. No aircon in the terminal - saving electrical polluton
 
I'm living in Nanjing right now, and the pollution is pretty bad, but still doesn't compare to what I remember of Beijing back in 2005. I just arrived in Huai'An, about 2 hours away to teach kids for a few weeks, and holy God....this place is the definition of 2nd world country. The roads are absolutely sickeningly dirty....rocks, dirt, mud, dust and construction EVERYWHERE. And this is a relatively small Chinese town (3.5 million). This country is a generation or two from fully modernizing. Bank on it.
 
Beijing smog watch: The Link

This is the most ridiculous Olympics hosting there has ever been. I can understand diverting traffic or asking some business to shut down if they are interfering with the Games. but shutting down an entire region for weeks on end just to clear up the air? Is this supposed to impress the world?
 
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