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Life in China No Car Day in Beijing!
Life in China No Car Day in Beijing! | No Car Day in Beijing! |
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| China | |
| Friday, 09 June 2006 | |
 Beijing’s latest efforts to portray a green city in the run up to the Olympics were choked by heavy smog and traffic fumes on Monday - World Environment Day.
The first Beijing Environmental Bureau-backed “No Car Day”, in which citizens are encouraged to leave their cars at home one day a month, appeared to receive little interest from the capital’s 2.6 million vehicles. As familiar queues of traffic clogged up the ring-roads, the city’s long-suffering commuters poured scorn on the campaign. “No car day – you’re joking,” said taxi driver 123100. “It’s as bad as ever. Look at it; it’ll take us 15 minutes to get through this red light. I drive 100km less a day than I did three years ago as there are so many traffic jams.” The city's police chiefs responded to the campaign by sending 500 traffic police vehicles onto the roads to help keep things moving. This tactic only appeared to negate the efforts of 500 volunteers who switched to public transport. Melinda Turner, a teacher at an international school, said: “I drive to work everyday and today was no different. It took me 20 minutes to cover about two miles - the traffic was as bad as ever. And the pollution was the worst I’ve seen for weeks.” Zhang Jingchun, a spokesman for Beijing’s Traffic Bureau, confirmed: “We have not seen any changes to the amount of traffic on the city’s roads today.” Around 200,000 drivers from 79 automobile clubs were expected to support the campaign which was launched after officials admitted that the city is highly unlikely to meet its target of 238 “blue sky” days this year. It had fallen 16 days behind schedule by the end of April. Over the past week in the city, the sky has been smothered by a yellow haze. Monday was no different. A spokesman for China’s Meteorological Office, said: “There appear to have been no changes to Beijing's weather today. Pollution levels don’t seem to have changed from yesterday.” According to the city’s environmental research, motor vehicle emissions are the leading cause of Beijing’s air pollution, spewing out 3,600 tons of pollution each day. Around 1,000 cars are added to the roads every day, a statistic which highlights the difficulty of improving the air quality of a city that competes with Mexico City for the title of the world’s most polluted capital. House prices in central Beijing have risen dramatically in recent years resulting in more people buying property further away from the downtown area. Li Yonghe, a newspaper journalist, said: “I have to drive into work because my apartment is so far away from my office. It would take me over an hour to get in if I took public transport. It didn’t even cross my mind to leave the car behind today and I don’t know anyone else who has chosen to leave their cars at home.” Li Yunwei, who runs a Beijing car club, has spent over a month promoting the No Car Day. He said: “My club has more than 7,400 members and around 80 to 90 percent have said they would support today’s event by not driving to work. I don’t know how many actually will. The important thing for me is that this campaign has raised awareness about Beijing’s pollution problems. Like many other measures such as uprooting trees from the suburbs and planting them near Olympic venues, officials are planning a short-term fix for traffic pollution during the Games. Over the Olympic fortnight, the number of cars will be cut to one million. But this is hardly the long-term solution ordinary Beijingers are craving. Taxi driver 2220332 said: “This is not just about the Olympics, it’s about the city. I’m fed up with it.” The Chinese government has not denied there are problems. In a 45-page white paper published on Monday titled "Environment Protection in China 1996 to 2005," they described the situation of environmental protection in China as "grave," according to the state-run news agency, Xinhua. Chris O’Brien Having almost sated his penchant for a four-legged gamble, Chris traded London life as a horse racing journalist for Beijing life as a “Foreign expert”. Tom Mackenzie Tom is a British journalist who moved from Finsbury Park, London, to Chaoyang District, Beijing, at the beginning of the year. |
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