2008 Olympic Nostalgia In Beijing - It's Not About The Event, It's That The Air Was Briefly Clean [View all]

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The beautiful, sunny days of August 2008 came as a relief to Olympic organisers. But for Beijing residents, they are no more than a happy memory. The political will to push cars off the roads, relocate polluting factories beyond the city and suspend industrial production in nearby provinces went away as fast as world sprint champion Usain Bolt left town.

Five years on, Beijing is notorious for its winter "airpocalypse", when thick and choking smog lingers in grey skies for months, only eased by occasional strong wind and rain. Most newcomers develop the "Beijing cough", a dry cough and itchy throat, usually between December and April.

In the first half of this year, according to official statistics, Beijing's air quality was deemed safe on fewer than 40 per cent of days - and that is based on mainland standards, not on more stringent levels recommended by the World Health Organisation. "Beijing's fast degradation of air quality since 2008 … has evolved into a public crisis, as more people worry about the pollution's health impact," says Li Yan of Greenpeace East Asia.

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Nearly ten months ahead of the Games, many factories in six provinces around Beijing were ordered to close down or partly halt production, senior officials from the environment ministry said. That came in addition to Beijing's efforts to move polluting factories - including a large iron and steel plant. "The whole of northern China was making sacrifices for Beijing before and during the Games, but it was unrealistic, or simply not legitimate, for temporary measures to be sustained," Li said.

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Yes, so unrealistic, so not legitimate. Please note the photographs at the link below and just imagine the flavor of the air you can see, the fruits of realism, the taste of legitimacy.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1295644/pollution-free-days-beijing-olympics-now-just-happy-memory