New Approach To Air Pollution In Beijing - "Stay Inside", Residents Told

[hatrack]

"Millions of Beijing residents were warned to stay indoors at the weekend as a hazardous smog choked the city, closed highways and forced the cancellation of an air show for the visiting French president, Jacques Chirac. The haze, which is caused by low-grade petrol used in the city's rapidly increasing number of cars, was said to be as bad as at any time for several years despite measures to clean the air in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.

According to the World Bank, 16 of the planet's 20 most polluted cities are in China. Beijing is one of the worst, but, even by its appalling standards, yesterday was grim. Having built up for several windless days, the pollution reduced visibility in central areas to a few hundred metres, blurring the edges of buildings and turning distant skyscrapers into giant ghosts.

To the embarrassment of the country's leaders an aerobatic display for Mr Chirac had to be called off. The Zhengyang Gate in Tiananmen Square, which had been illuminated red, white and blue in honour of the French leader, was also shrouded inmist. The meteorological bureau graded the air-quality as hazardous to human health - the third consecutive day in which the smog hit the worst ranking on the bureau's five point scale.

The city's government advised residents not to go outside and ordered the partial closure of some highways. But busy construction sites and crowded pavements suggested few people had heeded the warnings. Beijingers are used to foul-tasting, sulphurous air. For weeks on end this summer, yellowish-white clouds blocked the sun. Newcomers, however, were shocked. "It's just about the worst air I've ever breathed in my life. The sky looks really horrible," said Liu Ping, a 21-year-old waitress from Guangdong province. "Everything feels and tastes dirty."

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1324325,00.html

[bemildred]

1. LOL. "Breathe less".

[RobertSeattle]

2. Funny - I didn't know they had Republicans in China !

I'll add that to:
Republican Health Care Policy: Don't Get Sick
Republican Economic Policy: Be Rich, Don't be poor
Republican Air Pollution Policy: Breath Less

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Duh! Meanwhile the Chinese government is

encouraging people to buy cars.

When I was in Beijing in 1990, the air was bad because of coal smoke and dust from the Gobi Desert, but the addition of thousands of vehicles burning cheap fuel must make it unbearable!