My limited , random visits in Guangzhou , Shanghai, and Beijing leave an impression of less smog than my equally random limited visits to the Los Angeles area….. well maybe not Guangzhou.

They just released news that May Day & October Holiday may be a thing of the past in 2008. Perhaps that is to offset the 2 week Olympic holiday?

Chinese government is very efficient. It takes them very little time to make a decision and make it stick if they want to. No forewarning is ever needed, and Chinese people will find ways to cope.

I just wonder what would those factory workers do with the weeks of unexpected holidays. Will they get paid ? Will there be enough transportation to take them and their families to other parts of China for an impromptu vacation ?

Josh: I guess the data proves me wrong. Trouble is, like All Roads, I have seen spectacularly clean and clear summer days in Beijing. Take this series of photos as an example of the kind of weather Beijing can throw up in mid-summer:
http://voicethread.com/share/18877/
I took those photos in August ‘06, and I assure you, they are 100% for real. The only fiddling I did was adjusting the light so you could actually see what I saw that day (my camera somehow likes to make things darker for some odd reason). Yes, I really could see the Jundushan to the north of the city from Jingshan. Those photos, though, are certainly not “typical” (and more’s the pity), but such days do happen.

I stand by my statement that last summer was unusual. Never before have I seen still, humid air settle over Beijing for two months straight. Every previous summer I have seen in Beijing has had a much greater variety of weather, from the spectacular clear, blue skies in my photos, to huge thunder storms, to still, humid, foggy, smoggy air like all of last summer. The data you provide suggests that air quality last summer was worse than normal, but not spectacularly so. I guess we should all remember that good air quality does not necessarily mean clear skies, just like bad air quality does not necessarily mean palpable smog. Different types of weather and pollution affect visibility and clarity differently.

Lastly, I’m inclined to agree with All Roads’ prediction for August ‘08.

However, I am of the mind that the air actually will be clean in August… really.

My evidence?

While living in Beijing from 2001 - 2002 I was witness to two events that give me hope.

1) During the middle of August 2001 there was a period of 2-3 weeks where crystal blue skies existed. It was odd… REALLY odd. By the third day, we knew something was going on.. by the second week, we knew we were going to pay for it! Turns out the IOC was in town the second week, and for the two weeks prior they had shut down factories and construction sites all over.

2) That same summer was the year that China was in the World cup.. and during every match that China played. China STOPPED. Now, I do not want to go to far out on this limb, but carry that out to the Olympics when there will be national teams playing for national honor for nearly every moment of 2 weeks in August.

That is my argument in a nutshell, and I am hopeful that I am right… but if I were a marathoner, I would pack an O2 tank just in case.

Nice reply there… trying to claim that almost any big city in China is not polluted is just crazy. But you know what, let the athletes deal with a few days or weeks of pollution. It should slow them all down about the same on average, plus it’s not going to cause any long term harm (you know, like living in one of the cities for years and years)

At least that’s the attitude the Chinese gov’t has about all of this.

You’re right in that they are breaking many of the original promises being made, though =)