Pollution Worsens Following Traffic Restrictions (a lot)

Posted July 28th, 2008 by Josh

A funny thing happened after the traffic restrictions, designed to reduce air pollution, went into effect: air quality got much worse. In addition to the obvious negative change in visibility, even the government’s own numbers (which many suspect are manipulated anyway) back it up. Before July 20, when the restrictions went into effect, there were [...]

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Hey! This Olympics Thing Might Work!

Posted July 20th, 2008 by Josh

We know there won’t be any foreign, Xinjiang or Tibetan tourists in Beijing during the Olympics. But that (or at least the first part of that) might not be such a bad thing. Aside from that inconvenient fact, what if these Games basically go off perfectly? It seems entirely possible, depending on your definition of [...]

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Ready is a Relative Term

Posted June 5th, 2008 by Josh

About 60 days before the Olympics begin, there are some worrying signs about the readiness of Beijing. It is truly great to see police out in full force cracking down on the country’s endemic drunk drivers, but the fact that the airport rail still has a huge chunk missing is more than a bit ominous. [...]

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Beijing, You Beautiful Bitch

Posted February 18th, 2008 by Josh

Oh Beijing, why do you torture me so? Isn’t our love pure, and true? And yet you find the need to pretend your are someone else, as soon as we have guests. You are ashamed of your smoke-filled restaurants, buses and even taxis, so you ban smoking in public places during the Olympics. Do you [...]

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