Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Beijing, Bad Air and Building Cranes


Quintessential Beijing... Bad air and building cranes. The whole city is one big building pit, much of it in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. I'm not worried about the building activity. Rest assured that the most important stuff will be ready comfortably in time before the opening ceremony.

No, what worries me is the pollution. The air is so bad and the atmospheric circumstances so unfavourable (Beijing's in the middle of a plain shaped like a shallow bowl) that I keep wondering how many Olympic athletes will die trying to exert themselves in this sludge.

The buildings may be finished, but no way the Beijing authorities can get that smog under control within the next three years...

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