Extinguish the Four Dangers!

This evening I received the following text blast text message from the Beijing Patriotic Santiation Committee:

The Beijing Patriotic Sanitation Committee health reminder: June 20th will be a whole city "Extinguish the Four Dangers" activity. For everyone's health, we invite the whole city population to motivate and stand up together to eliminate the threat of bugs.

I have to admit, I was initially a bit confused.

First, I made the rookie Chinese mistake of translating a title literally. The Chinese short name of the Beijing Patriotic Sanitation Committee is Beijing City Love Sanitation Committee (北京市爱卫会). Not that loving sanitation isn't a great reason for having a committee, but it sounded a little funny. When I went to their web site, I realized the Love stood for Love-Country, i.e. patriotic. I've definitely got to get back to formal Chinese lessons - when I forget that one character always stands for two, it's been too long!

Then, I wondered what were the "Four Dangers" Beijing citizens are coming together for fight? The rest of the message sounded so upbeat, yet eliminating the four dangers sounds so ominous. I could certainly think of plenty of dangerous things in Beijing that could use wiping out. The four dangers of transportation come to mind: wild taxi drivers, wild motorbike riders, wild bus drivers, and arrogant black sedan drivers. I didn't think the patriotic sanitation committee would target the roads, though, and I hoped friendly blogging foreigners wasn't one of the dangers tagged for extinguishing.

It turns out the "Four Dangers" are actually the "Four Pests": rats, cockroaches, flies, and mosquitos - all quite worthy targets for patriotic elimination.

The term Four Pests has not always referred specifically on these four. For instance, in 1955, Mao Zedong named sparrows one of the four pests, on the basis that they were menacing peasants by eating seeds and crops. By 1959, researchers had concluded that banging pots and pans to frighten sparrows and destroying sparrow nests were not productive uses of peasant time (a locust explosion in the absence of their natural predator, the sparrow, was one clue), and the sparrow was replaced by "stinky insects" on the list, and stinky insects were later replaced by cockroaches.

During the SARS epidemic, officials harkened back to the Four Pests as they called for citizens to get rid of civet cats and other rodents, in addition to rats and cockroaches. A web site dedicated to extinguishing the four pests (www.miesihai.com) has articles describing how to fight invasion by several different types of creepy crawlers.

Now that I think of it, I really hope the cleaning staff in my office are participating in the extermination activity, as the cockroaches there are decidedly unpatriotic, yet numerous and apparently invincible. Here's to patriotic extermination.

Cough, cough: It Couldn't Get Any Worse (but the scary thing is, it could)

421 was not, in fact, the height of Beijing's pollution the other day. That was the official Chinese Environmental Protection Agency reading in Beijing up to 6 pm. But the following day, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau reported that from noon Thursday to noon Friday, almost all of the monitors within the city limits of Beijing had readings of 500. Since the charts top out at 500, it is impossible to say how bad the pollution really was.

Follow this link to see the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau readings for Thur-Fri. It's in Chinese, but each line is a different district of Beijing, so all you need to see is how many readings are above 400 and 500 to understand. Also, it includes all of Beijing's surrounding counties, where the pollution indexes are generally much lower. www.bjepb.gov

At the bottom of this post, I have copied an AFP article that includes quotes from Beijing environmental and Olympics officials, but I also highly recommend reading this Dec. 29 longer, in-depth New York Times article by Jim Yardley that accurately describes both the Olympic and long-term aspects of Beijing's pollution problem.

If you don't read the NYT article - and again, I think you should - this quote the author got from a factor worker assessing Beijing's efforts to ensure clean air for the Olympics tells a large part of the story, and the first photo in the article, also pasted below, is chilling.

“Yes, I heard about it,” said an engineer at one factory that may temporarily be shut down. He refused to identify himself because he was criticizing government policy. “It is like you invite some guests to your home, and hide all your children underneath the bed to make the house look nicer. If all the polluting factories are shut down for the Olympics, there will be a major pollution outbreak afterward when all the factories restart, right?”

Picture of Tiananmen Square on Thursday, from the NYT article (Oded Bality/AP):


The AFP article is copied below. Don't miss the last line.

Beijing air pollution 'as bad as it can get,' official says

BEIJING (AFP) — Beijingers were warned to stay indoors on Thursday as pollution levels across the capital hit the top of the scale, despite repeated assurances by the government that air quality was improving.

"This is as bad as it can get," a spokeswoman for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau told AFP.

"Level five is the worst level of air pollution. This is as bad as it has been all year."

According to the bureau's website, 15 out of the 16 pollution monitoring stations in urban Beijing registered a "five" for air quality rating.

The main pollutant was suspended particulate matter, which is usually attributed to coal burning and automotive exhaust.

"Old people and young children should reduce outdoor activities and protect their health," the spokeswoman said.

The Beijing Evening News warned residents not to do their morning exercises on Friday as pollution levels were likely to linger over the capital until a cold front moved in and blew some of the bad air away later in the day.

A lack of wind in the capital over recent days has led to a heavy cover of smog trapping in the pollutants, the paper said.

By nightfall, the pollution was still horrendously thick.

In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing has vowed to clean up its air and this year set a goal of 245 "blue sky days," or days with only light pollution.

As of Thursday, the city needed one more day to reach the annual goal, the bureau said. But official "blue sky days" are often hazy affairs with heavy pollution.

Beijing's air quality is routinely rated among the worst in the world by international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank, with rampant coal burning, regular dust storms and a growing number of cars cited as the main reasons.

The head of the government's information office, Cai Wu, told reporters on Thursday that Beijing's environment was improving and they should have "full confidence" that the Olympics would be pollution free.

The City in Smoke

Twice in my life I have thought, "This must be what it feels like in a war zone." Both times were in China.

The first time was in February 2004, as I celebrated my first Chinese New Year in Shanghai. I and a couple hundred other foreigners were holed up in the Blue Frog bar on the old Maoming Rd bar street, the bar filling with smoke and ash from the fireworks outside. Over a couple of hours, the scattered sound of fireworks going off in all the neighborhoods around us grew, like popcorn in a microwave bag, into a steady popping on all sides, then into a furious, dizzying stream of different explosions, crackling, booming, whizzing so loud that there was no guessing which direction they came from. I assumed the chaos would subside after midnight, but when we stumbled out of the bar two hours later, holding our ears and unable to talk, we had to dodge sparks and flame, trudge through the waves of ash and paper wrappings that were continuing to pile up, and communicate with hand signals through the din. On that festive occasion, the twinge of fear that mingled with the sensory assault only added to the novelty and excitement.

The second occasion was this afternoon, and it was neither exciting nor festive. Beijing is officially just one Blue Sky Day short of the 245 Blue Sky Day quota this year, and wind and storms are expected tomorrow. Confident the wind will clear the air enough to make a Blue Sky Day by Monday, the Beijing authorities have apparently given up all pretense of trying to protect the People's air. Not only that, they are refreshingly honest about it: the official pollution index was 421, the highest I've seen it since I started paying attention in July. Other days may have been just as bad - although today was certainly among the worst - but since no one wants to be the bearer of that kind of news, officials low-balled the pollution index.

When I first arrived to Beijing, I would gauge the pollution by how far a I could see or not see outside my window in the morning. Now that coal-heating season has arrived, I gauge by the smell. I woke up in the middle of the night Wednesday night with smoke in my nose. The charred pollutants in the air had completely permeated my tightly sealed 16-th floor apartment.

By morning, I could feel it in my eyes and throat. All winter, Beijing-ers from my employees to taxi drivers to store cashiers have been telling me, "Drink more water," as if that were the cure for living in a petri dish. Mostly they say, "Beijing air is dry, drink more water, drink hot water." The bolder sometimes day, "Beijing's air is bad in the winter, drink more water." Several times I've said to myself, if one more stranger tells me to drink more water, I'm going to wring his neck. Today, though, I was drinking that water. With a bottle of cool water and a tall mug of warm water with honey next to me at all times, my throat still felt parched and dusty all day. By closing time, I had used up a significant portion of my herbal tea and cough drops, but my voice was still raspy.

When I left the office, the temperature was cold, yet it felt like walking into a burning building, where you can't see the flames but the smoke tells you there must be a serious fire. I could feel the grit in my mouth when I breathed. Although I could hear the ongoing construction on a nearby half-finished office tower and I knew where it always breaks the skyline, I couldn't see it until I was almost next to it. Wafts of a faint, almost sweet, chemical smell occasionally mixed with the basic underlying burnt odor the air.

On the way home, I was reflecting on how completely the smell and feel of smoke had covered the city. Everything was darker than usual, as thick layer dampened the glow of street lamps and fluorescent signs. The muted colors of Beijing, already a fairly gray place, faded into a e exhausted monochrome. Not only was there no identifiable source of the smoke and darkness, there's no way to know how long it will last - everyone tells me January is the worst month, and for all I know it might be this bad all winter. Everything looked depressed, from the tired commuters waiting for their buses with masks over their mouths to the coughing motorbikes to the friendly noodle shops that are usually oases of warmth and light. As I rounded the corner into my neighborhood, I saw one young child running. Her dainty, happy skip was so incongruous that it only magnified the gloom surrounding her. That's when, for the second time in China, I thought, it must feel like this in a war zone.

Yuck!

Yesterday, our Environment, Science, Technology & Health office sent out a notice informing everyone in the office that air quality was poor.

On Tuesday, they noted, Beijing's Air Pollution Index was 172. You didn't have to tell us - Tuesday evening, a group of us walked outside around 9:30 pm, and one of my friends said, "Jeez, can you see that?" And indeed we could. A thick haze blurred vision in every direction. The haze wasn't fog, it was particulate matter in the air. You could smell it, too.

On the Chinese EPA's scale, 172 is considered "lightly polluted," and the health effects are described as "healthy people begin stimulate symptom." The US EPA considers 172 "unhealthy" and states that everyone may experience health effects at that level.

Beijing, city of grand scale, was not ready to stop at an API of 172. Wednesday, the Air Pollution Index turned out to be 253! Even the Chinese EPA recognizes this level as "moderate-heavy polluted" and describes the health effects as, "the healthy crowds popularly appear some symptoms." The US EPA considers this level of pollutants "very unhealthy," meaning that everyone may experience more serious health effects.

I wonder if that's why several members of my staff have been off work sick each day this week with sore throats and colds? And those who are in the office are coughing and complaining of hoarse voices. I keep hearing about Beijing's winter pollution - I hope it's not like this for months!

August 8

Well, give Beijing one thing: they managed a blue sky day for August 8.

I really don't think we can give credit to Chinese calendar's assertion that
yesterday must have been a clear, warm day because it was the first day of autumn, though.

Yesterday, citizens of Beijing definitely saw blue sky. But while we were out there staring out the blue sky, we were sweating our eyeballs out: it was 93 degrees and humidity once again reached 100%. According to weather.com, the humidity went as low as 56%, almost refreshing, although I was inside at that time and can't confirm.

As for pollution, this could not possibly be a coincidence: the pollution index for Beijing yesterday was 88.

So how did the weather turn so blue and half-bearably dry? I am sure the rain storm the day before had something to do with clearing the air. Did the heavens cooperate to bring honor on the descendants of the dragon as they prepare for the historic 2008 Olympics? Perhaps, but the heavens surely had help from a little seeding of the clouds.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, don't mind that peasant farmer over there manning the anti-aircraft gun. Those shells he's shooting into the clouds will make it rain. Like all other Olympics preparation systems, the rain-making (in more ways than one!) system was tested for the one-year countdown. Beijing officials have committed to preventing rain at Olympic venues during athletic events, and they also plan to rely on manufactured rain storms to clean the air.

There are a few minor flaws in this plan, however. One, noted yesterday, is that the effects of a seeded rainstorm don't last that long. This morning looks a little bluer than normal, but in general these storms clear the air for only a little more than a day. On top of that, the effect is not always dramatic as one would like. Sure, the sky was blue yesterday. But would you want to be an Olympic marathoner in 93 degree heat and over 70% humidity most of the day? Even without pollution, August in Beijing is just not an ideal setting for athletic competition.

Finally, cloud seeding is just one of many, many aspects of Olympic preparations where the effects on ordinary citizens don't seem to be taken into account. Last year, farmers complained when officials seeded clouds to make a convenient rainfall. Without interference, they pointed out, the rain would have eventually fallen on their fields, instead of falling prematurely on the city of Shanghai. Their crops suffered in favor of Shanghai's cleansing shower.

Waiting for August 8

For the last eight weeks, Beijing has been a humid, soggy, gray mess. I have seen blue sky twice. It's hot - in the 90s almost every day. And, it's wet - humidity over 90%. I used to believe that 100% humidity = rain, but that's not true. Beijing reaches 100% humidity, and it doesn't rain. For days.

With this level of humidity, it's impossible to differentiate between the fog and the pollution. You know they're both out there, but on any given day, you can't tell which one is responsible for the fact that you can barely see across the street.

The Chinese government's Air Quality Report (SEPA) gave Bejiing a "3A" rating for yesterday, which means, according to SEPA,

"The symptom of the susceptible is aggravated slightly, while the healthy people will appear stimulate symptom. The cardiac and respiratory system patients should reduce strength draining and outdoor activities."

As a healthy people, I can confirm I did appear stimulate symptom: nose running, sneezing, and an occasional stinging in the eyes when outdoors.

I should be clear, though, not all of the blame lies on the pollution or the failure of the authorities to curb pollution. Even with a normal level of pollutants, it would be difficult to be outdoors in this weather, and in the States it would be recommended for many folks to reduce strength draining and outdoor activities. And, with this level of humidity, it would be difficult for even minor levels of pollution to dissipate from the city air.

When one points out to Chinese acquaintances, especially Beijingers, that even if Beijing achieves its pollution control goals, 90-degree heat with 90-percent humidity are not conducive conditions for Olympic athletic performance, they all say, "It will be clear by August 8." Every one agrees, on August 8, the heat will break. On August 8, the air will be dry. August 8 is a magic date. And so, I wait, for August 8.

Why do Beijingers have such faith in August 8? There are probably a few reasons. The first two are most straightforward:

• August 8 is 8/8. 8 is the most auspicious number, so this date must be an auspicious one. Not as auspicious as it will be next year, when the Olympic opening ceremonies will begin at 8 pm on 8/8/08, of course, but an auspicious date in any year to be sure.
• August 8 or this year kicks off the 1-year Olympic countdown activities. As part of the countdown kickoff activities, sporting events are being held all over the country to test China's level of preparation. Festivals and banquets will be held to evaluate the progress of the service industry. 1 million cars will be taken off the road in Beijing to practice for the Olympics and see if it makes any difference in the air. In case you're curious, the way officials get 1 million cars, 1/3 of the automobile population, off the road in Beijing, is to tell all the public servants not to drive. (No, foreign diplomats don't count.) When 1.3 billion people, all descendants of the dragon, join forces in this way to bring honor to the Middle Kingdom, it's not too much to expect the heavens will force the weather to cooperate.
  

But there is another reason, entirely separate from the Olympics. In the Chinese traditional calendar, August 8 represents the beginning of a new season: Autumn. By the time we in the West start Autumn on September 23, the Chinese are halfway through it.

The Chinese also subdivide their seasons into smaller portions, so that August 7 (today!) is not only the last say of summer, but also the last day of the most unbearable sub-portion of the hottest sub-season of summer.

Summer starts in early May, on a day called 立夏 (li xia), or the standing up of summer. But the real heat starts at the beginning of the 三伏天 (san fu tian), which literally means three lying down days, and perhaps could be described as the three periods when it's so hot you want to lie down all day. This stretch of time is about 30 days of the hottest, most humid weather in China.

More over, the hot san fu tian 三伏天 is further broken down into three 伏天 (fu tian) periods of about 10 days (I say about, because there are some years when the whole 三伏天 period is actually 40 days - a fact that requires a far deeper understanding of the Chinese calendar than I posess.) There's early fu, middle fu, and end fu. End fu is the hottest and most humid of them all, and August 7 is the last day of that final fu.

So, today I will bask in the end of the 末伏 "final fu" of the sanfutian of summer. And let's hope Chinese are right about tomorrow!

Samburu Safari - Total Sensory Experience

Even ignoring the amazing elephants, the safari in Samburi was a veritable buffet of wildlife sights and sounds.

The safari adventure started at Nairobi's Wilson Airport, a small domestic airport where we were not required to show photo ID, but we did have to show proof we had paid in advance for our lodging at the safari camp. There was a metal detector, but the security guard didn't stop me from entering when I set it off. Once we climbed into the prop plane with about 6 other people, the pilot turned around and called out a request that we refrain from smoking and we remove any "sick bags" from the plane if we use them during flight. After that, we flew over the awe-inspiringly impoverished Kibera slum, passed some beautiful green hills and Mt. Kenya with enough time to get a few decent shots, and stopped briefly at an airstrip on the equator before landing in Samburu.

The airstrips at Samburu and Laikipia were just stretches of gravel with safari guides waiting in trucks alongside, and of course, all-natural "restrooms." The primitive facilities did lead Melissa, who has also worked in China, and me to marvel at the fact that a hole in the ground inside a wood shack was remarkably breathable, whereas even marble restrooms that look clean in China suffer from a persistent smell of - well, you know. Why is that? It's particularly puzzling because many such restrooms in China have a constant attendant with a mop and rag, but no matter how much they wipe, the odor remains.

The African savannah was just as you've seen it in National Geographic and Animal Planet specials, with a clear azure, almost turquoise sky providing the background for reddish-tan dirt plains, greenish brown grasses & shrubs, and flat-topped acacia trees reaching their perfectly delicate, spiny branches. Tall grass had flourished after recent rains, making us worry we'd have a hard time seeing animals, but in the end no one was able to hide from us and Charles the tenacious guide, not even the notoriously anti-social leopard.

The very first animal I saw on safari was a dikdik (above), an itty-bitty antelope or "dear-like creature (DCL)" as Melissa calls them. I won't bore you with pictures and descriptions of every DLC I saw, but this one was special because he launched my successful game-hunting experiences, so here he is. We also saw his mate, not far away because dikdiks mate for life and travel in pairs.

Surrounded by wildlife in its natural environment, you just can't help but marvel at the fact that everything in nature has a purpose. Giraffes, for instance, have antiseptic spit. Huh? Well, they eat almost exclusively those thorny acacia trees, constantly puncturing their tongues. The antibiotic properties of their saliva heal those wounds almost immediately.

And yet, with a reason for everything, there are some things that always defy explanation. One inexplicable fact is humans' willingness to kill animals like elephants, giraffes, oryx, and all the others solely for the ornamental value of their skin and appendages. On a happier note, our guide told us the improbable story of a female lion in Samburu National Reserve who adopted her prey instead of eating it. This lioness, now featured on the entrance sign that reads, "Where nature defies itself!" is apparently barren, as she has never borne her own cub. Unlike most lionesses, who stick with a pride, she seems to have always been a loner. She adopted a young oryx one year and raised it until another lion killed it when she went to drink water. She was despondent and later exhibited the same behavior toward another oryx, but game keepers this time decided to separate the pair. She continues to wander alone.
After seeing elephants, lions, giraffes, oryx, a secretary bird, guinea fowl, and countless DLCs the first and second day, the only thing left to pursue late in the afternoon our second day was the elusive leopard. Charles doubted we would find one - he pointed out that leopards surely had been watching us as we drove around the park, but they were very difficult to find; he hadn't spotted one in three weeks. As he drove us up into an area he called "leopard country," Charles said if a leopard were anywhere it would be basking on top of a rock.

We were creeping - and bumping - up a very rocky road, and Tim, Melissa, and I were dutifully scanning the boulders above, when Charles breathed, "There is the leopard." Sure enough, a leopard walked around the front tire of the truck, along the side, and leapt up top of the rock to our right, barely 10 yards away. He walked in a circle and settled down to rest and lick his fur, just like my Chinese stray, General Tsao.

We were all in awe, even Charles, and just about the only thing that would have made us more so was the appearance of another leopard - which is exactly what happened. Leopards are solo wanderers who only get together for about three days per year to mate, and we fortuitously caught this pair at exactly that time.

The leopard only rested a moment before jumping down to follow his prospective mate. We followed the white tips of their tails for a while as they disappeared into the brush up the hill. I was almost as struck by the intense interest and fascination on the part of Charles and the other guides as by the sighting itself. They ride back and forth throughout the park every day, and anything that can get them this excited is truly special.

I lack the eloquence, the energy, and the bandwidth to represent even a fraction of what we saw and heard on safari in Samburu. To see more images, follow the photo link below:

Samburu

For an even better sense of the absolutely foreign, divine sensation of waking up along the banks of the muddy Uaso Nyiro River in central Kenya, click play below to listen to the sounds that roused us before our 6:30 a.m. game ride. After listening to this, it was painful to wake to the jarring sound of Chinese talk radio on my alarm clock back in Beijing...

Kenya - Elephants First

I know I'm not the first to say this, but I'll reinforce whatever you have heard: If you ever have the chance to go on safari in Kenya, do it.

The best thing about my trip to Kenya was seeing my friends Melissa and Tim, who took wonderful care of me and introduced me to a drink they designed themselves, which I took to calling The Smithereen. Among other things, the Brits brought Pimms to their colonies, a contribution for which all should be forever grateful.






For those who won't have the opportunity to take advantage of Tim & Melissa's friendship and hospitality, the best thing would undoubtedly be the three days we spent on safari in Samburu National Reserve.







My memory of Samburu will always be characterized by the elephants - there were so many, and they came so close to the car we could feel the breeze when the larger ones flapped their ears. We were barely inside the park when Melissa asked, "Do you have many elephants here?" Charles, our guide, had barely uttered his affirmative response when three elephants came into view munching some bushes to our right.


As we approached them, we saw about 25 more elephants frolicking - and I'm not trying to be dramatic here, they truly were frolicking, fighting, pushing, rolling around, and throwing water - in the river beyond.

Another family of elephants joined them and we watched almost 50 elephants play for about half an hour. I took the attached really shaky video of the elephants on my little handheld digital camera. It won't win any prizes for videography, but you can see the different ages and sizes of elephants and hear some of the sounds they made.



Back at camp, we played Scrabble, swam, and ate during the heat of midday, when the animals tend to hide out from the sun as well. As we wandered back from the pool toward our tents for a little siesta, Tim stopped and pointed out an elephant just on the other side of the fence. An old, solitary bull with damaged tusks seemed to enjoy grazing on the bushes just outside of our camp's swimming pool area. With damaged tusks, Charles told us, he probably would never be able to mate again, and was likely pushed out of his herd. Although elephants are social animals and like to stay in herds, the weakest and the ones who make life difficult for the rest are left behind or banished.

As I learned on the safari and at the elephant orphanage in Nairobi, elephants are extremely emotionally sensitive and have a highly developed social structure. This makes them incredibly fascinating to watch. It also makes raising elephants for re-introduction to the wild an extremely delicate process.







The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi takes on this exact task, rescuing babies whose mothers have died naturally or by human hand, and training to be well-behaved elephant citizens so wild elephants will accept them into their families once they become adults. The babies and adolescents at the orphanage were charming - how can something so big with such rough skin still seem so cuddly? - and playful, but their keepers confirmed they grow up to be truly wild animals once they leave the program.



I saw lots of animals on safari in Kenya, but the elephants really blew me away - they are huge, intelligent, and personable. I doubt anything will replace the tiger as my favorite animal, or the pink flamingo as my favorite animal rendered in plastic, but the elephant has rocketed to the top of the list behind those two.

327 Gets His Groove Back

Regular readers will notice another lag in my blogs for the next week and a half, as I am fleeing the Chinese International Workers Day "Golden Week" and going on vacation in Kenya.

It turns out I am not the only Chinese resident seeking adventure in Africa this week: a four-year-old stud tiger from the Suzhou zoo was flown to South Africa on Monday as part of a conservation program. Although tigers are neither indigenous nor naturally present in Africa, the environment and habitat is well-suited to them. Beginning a couple of years ago, China and South Africa have been cooperating to raise a few tigers in a reserve in South Africa. The goal is for the nearly-extinct animals to breed and learn to hunt prey before being released into their natural environment in China.

The rare successful conservation story out of China always makes me smile, but I find one aspect of this story particularly entertaining, and I'm sure it says something about the cultures involved. The Chinese simply call their tiger "327", which is his breeding registration number; the South Africans, on the other hand, have given the tigers lively monikers like Madonna, Hope, and Tiger Woods. Hoping this stud will mate with a female named Cathay, they have already begun calling 327 "Boyfriend."

Arbor Day in China

Chinese mobile phone customers received the following broadcast text message today (both of the mobile phone companies in China are state-run, which makes text messages an extremely effective way for the government to inform The People):

国家林业局提醒您：今天是植树节，请您积极参与义务植树活动。

The National Forestry Office reminds you: Today is Tree Planting
day. Please energetically participate in voluntary tree planting activities.

Beyond the green-for-the-Olympics hysteria that resulted in a mountain being painted green, the Chinese government is quite seriously and realistically concerned with the destruction of China's forests and the spread of the Gobi desert. Ask any Beijinger about Arbor Day, and they will immediately mention the intense sand storms that sweep into the city because there is no significant forest between the desert and the city to stop the wind and sand.

This Chinese article about Arbor Day and the tension between economic development and forest protection also mentions that Arbor Day in China is the anniversary of Sun Yat-Sen's death. As the founder of the Republic of China in 1911, Sun Yat-Sen is known as the "Father of Modern China." Although his Nationalist Party later fought against the Communists and set up its own government on the island province of Taiwan under Chiang Kai-Shek (leading to the current issues of cross-straight relations, "One China" policy, etc...), Mao Tse-Dong believed in Sun Yat-Sen's political message and praised him for bringing China out of its feudal past. Thus, both Mainland China and Taiwan honor Sun Yat-Sen on the anniversary of his birth and death. Apparently, Sun Yat-Sen initiated the tradition of planting trees on a day in March back in 1915.

You'll be glad to know, Arbor Day was a gloriously clear blue sky day!

The Drawbacks of Blue Sky Days （蓝天的坏处）

I looked out the window Monday morning, and thought, "Beautiful!" It was so clear, and the sky was a sparkling blue - not the sun-reflecting-off- strange-chemical-dust sparkle of a Beijing sunset, but a true blue. I was so excited, and rushing out the door of my building I noted how refreshing it was to be able to breathe easily.

But ask yourself, what makes a Beijing morning clear? The answer is wind. Oh, yes, wind. I should have realized this, because the night before was Lantern Festival, and the wind battering the apartment building was so loud it drowned out the sound of the fireworks.

It was 18 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday and the wind was only about 1000 miles an hour from every direction. Despite my religious and extensive morning moisturizing routine, my face and hands were stinging dry within minutes. And I was out in the freezing wind for many minutes, because taxis in Chinese cities magically disappear in any sort of bad weather. Although the minimum taxi fare (10 RM/ $1.25) is more than 20 times the price of a bus ride for a holder of a public transport card (4 mao/ .4 RMB/ 5 ¢) - I have one! - it is still cheap enough that Beijingers jump into them at the slightest spot of rain or apocalyptic gusts of wind, thus exhausting the supply.

One poor foreigner at the front gate of my building waited for 1 hour for a taxi. My fearless neighbor Mark and I were not that patient and chose instead to dive in front of a 67-pound Chinese girl who was also racing for the one available taxi we saw after about 20 minutes of searching.

Later that evening, a taxi driver went through a very convoluted string of logic to try to convince me the sudden onset of chilly blasts was good for Beijingers' health. Something along the lines of, if it were too comfortable this early in Spring, people's bodies would get accustomed, and sprout like young shoots too early in the season. Then, a stiff chill could be lethal. So the cold weather now prevents that situation by sending people back into their homes to nurse their windburn. I fully allow that my Chinese language skills might have made this even more confusing than it already was, but this guy was talking for a while, and he was pretty adamant about his opinion. I left the cab wondering if perhaps a serious but subtle Chinese political commentary had just gone over my head.

Here is the view from my apartment on the blue sky day:

In & Around Beijing 2007

Speaking of Weather...

I guess I forgot an entry in my guide to weather forecasts for Beijing:
Light Snow = light snow

I was surprised to wake up this morning and see snow! It's so dry in Beijing that snow is pretty rare, despite the cold climate. So, although it is still not a clear, blue sky day, here is what my apartment complex looks like in snow.

Beijing Weather Euphemisms

For those of you who love The Weather Channel as I do, here is a guide to understanding TWC's weather reports for Beijing, China, on www.weatherchannel.com.

Smoky = Beijing wrapped in a warm blanket of pollution
Foggy = fog trapping pollution in the city; result: same as "smoky"
Light Rain = clouds and light mist trapping pollution in the city; result: "smoky" + damp
Heavy Rain = acid rain and liquid coal dust pouring down on Beijing
Sunny = visibility unknown; possible "blue sky" day!
Windy = wind may blow pollution out of city, possibly resulting in "blue sky" day!
Windy = wind may blow pollution and sandstorms into the city, preventing "blue sky" day
Clear = please confirm you have actually searched for Beijing, China

2/18 & 2/20 hiking trips

Fortunately, Sunday & Tuesday were "blue sky" days, great days for outings with the Beijing Hikers Club. Follow the links below for photos from the trips.

Sunday, we went to Ya Ji Shan, where we hiked up to a Daoist Temple and beyond. Ya Ji Shan is in Ping Gu County, outside of Beijing.

2/18 Ya Ji Shan trip

Tuesday, we went to the JianKou area of the Great Wall in Huai Rou County. We walked the "Upside Down Flying Eagle" portion near Xi Zha Zi village. Apparently a British man who is legendary in the area for walking the whole Great Wall bought a house in this village because he proclaimed this region of the Wall the most beautiful. It is also near the "Chinese Knot" or "Beijing Knot", a spot where three parts of the Wall come together.

2/20 Great Wall Hiking Trip

NOT a "blue sky" day (蓝天)

I got up this morning and thought, did I miss the apocalypse? Am I the only person left alive in Beijing? The air was such a thick, dense grey, I could not see across the courtyard even to the buildings I knew should be there.

I took the attached pictures out the window at 7 (sun still not completely up) and 8 (sun fully up). After I opened the window for about 15 seconds to take the picture, the outside smell permeated the entire apartment and made me sneeze. It also hasn't gotten any better in the last 4 hours since I've been up.

YUCK. I was planning to go to the Lama Temple today, but if I can't see anything, what's the point? Better to stay inside and protect my lungs.

So why the ick, you ask? A colleague confirms this is unusually disgusting, even for Beijing. I'm sure it's a combination of weather and pollution - although the Weather Channel does not show clouds over Beijing, there is likely some moisture holding the pollution in the city. The weather report does say "fog", but here that often means "smog" anyway. The odor of the air that got into my apartment definitely carried more than a hint of stale firework smoke, but as last night was the 3rd night of Spring Festival and not a particularly firework-heavy night, that can't be the only culprit. We may never know. Meanwhile, enjoy the um, scenery!

By the way, the term "blue sky" day is not mine. The Beijing municipal government (or someone official - perhaps the national govt, I don't know) evaluates each day's conditions. Sunny days with good air quality are labeled 蓝天 "blue sky" days. Days when clouds or pollution occlude the sun are not blue sky days. The government's goal is to increase the number of blue sky days by reducing pollution. They are making progress: there were 241 blue sky days in 2006, up from 234 in 2005 and 100 in 1998. Mind you, there are some days when your, my, and the Chinese government's definition of a blue sky differ greatly, but the intention is definitely there. More in this in an article in the People's Daily Online: http://english.people.com.cn/200701/23/eng20070123_343837.html.