For those of you who have not had the good fortune to visit the capital of China, Beijing offers a lot of opportunities for the visitor: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Pearl and Silk markets...and it is all viewed through a pollution haze that makes Los Angeles look the five-time winner of the U.N.'s Pristine Air Quality Award (I feel obligated to state that no such award exists, but if it did Los Angeles would not be in contention). I have been to numerous global cities and the air quality allows the following to take place:
-you feel particles in your mouth as you breath in the outside air
-people on motorcycles and pedestrians wear masks on their faces
-after a day in the city you have a layer of fine yellow grift on your skin and clothes
When you arrive in Beijing you notice the haze first, and then second only to pollution awareness is the promotion of the 2008 Olympic games. Banners are everywhere, and I did purchase an Olympic t-shirt for $2 at the Pearl Market. This leads you to wonder, "Why would the Olympic committee select a city with such horrible air quality for such a grand exposition of global athleticism?" The answer lies (in many ways) with China's Weather Modification Office. Believe it or not this is the name and mission of a real China government agency, and they have guaranteed great weather during the 2008 Olympics. Yes, that last sentence is true. Can China control the weather? Apparently the answer is yes. This feat is accomplished by the government shooting chemicals into the clouds and the result is good weather or, if a drought is occuring - or a bad spell of pollution and dust - a man-made rainy season. Apparently the agency uses cloud-seeding aircraft and rocket launchers and are experimenting ways to make the sky blue. What else would you expect from a country that has given us the world's biggest dam, highest railway, and the world's biggest ferris wheel?
The source of all the pollution is unregulated factories, coal-burning power plants, and the large number of cars (even five years ago bicycles outnumbered cars). When the Olympic Committee arrived (and again for the summer games next year) the factories halted production for months, no coal was burned, and our cab driver told us people with cars will be assigned only certain days they can drive, all in an effort to curb the excessive pollution.
I have visited Beijing twice, and on both days the school counselors indicated we were visiting on a "clear day." My pictures will demonstrate the definition of "clear" in Beijing...it is more like defined lower expectations. Luckily on this recruiting trip we were only there for less than 24 hours, so no damage was done before we jet-setted off to Shanghai.
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