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Life in China Sandstorms
Life in China Sandstorms | Sandstorms |
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Governments are sometimes guilty of pissing on the people from a great height but China redefined the phrase this month. After a sandstorm dumped 330,000 tons of dust on Beijing at the beginning of May, drastic action, or just some rain, was needed to save residents from suffocation by smog.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has an office for every eventuality so step forward the Beijing Weather Modification Office and their “seven rocket shells containing163 cigarette-sized sticks of silver iodide”. The result was a valuable 10mm of fake rain. Don’t ask me about the science - all I know is my baguettes were soggy after the walk home from Carrefour. I am not a religious man so at least now I have someone to blame when I get wet. The capital is suffering its worst drought in 50 years. And when it does rain, the water droplets sting my eyes as I cycle across the city. Premier Wen Jiabao is calling for more money to be spent on pollution control “sooner rather than later” but it seems the city’s officials are more preoccupied with the short-term target of August 8, 2008. After the Olympic flame has been carried out of China, some people won’t know what to do with themselves. Sandstorms have sparked repeated statements on how the city will be buried in rainforest in time for the Olympics. Assurances on the future of the environment are lower down on the podium. The Beijing News reported a few days ago that the municipal authorities are aiming to create a city “shrouded in green and wreathed with flowers” for the Games. Apparently scientists have discovered a way to prolong the fluorescent colour of chrysanthemums into the summer of 2008 and are looking into ways of transplanting trees from the suburbs to the downtown Olympic venues. How? Special containers and special root powder of course. Skipping through streets of shrubbery sounds very nice but it seems harsh to reduce the oxygen supply of the suburbs. And there would have to be strong evidence to suggest the trees could be replanted to no ill-effect. There is also a “green roof” project underway to add life to concrete blocks. The Beijing News reports that green plants will be planted on 80,000 to 100,000 square meters of roofs by the end of this year. A good idea which would be welcomed in areas other than beside the Olympic venues. “Everything is about the Olympics,” is a common comment from taxi drivers and endangered hutong residents. The city’s preoccupation with face-value is in danger of dampening ordinary Beijingers’ enthusiasm for the event. And they still have to suffer 27 more months of 10-minute long Olympic TV commercials. 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”. The phrases “One-China policy” and “the creation of a harmonious society” have become etched in his vocabulary through working for the state-run Xinhua News Agency and he has quickly accepted that being 6ft 4in tall is not particularly normal in China. |
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