Shanghai'd

Sick.

Some musings on being bing le (again!), the pollution in China, the 2008 Beijing Olympics and how it's all connected. Last week was the 4th time already this year I've been out sick. Nothing serious, just a nagging cold, but well above the norm for me. Just another one of those hidden hardships in living abroad in a place like China where the sanitation, environment and overall living standard is not on a par with the US.

It's no secret (except maybe in the state-owned media) that China's environmental problems are a ticking time bomb. Just check out this downright frightening NY Times article. Scarier still are the innumerable unreported "incidents" and those still waiting to happen. One potential bright spot is the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing. For better or worse, the entire country realizes that the international spotlight will be focused directly on China and the environmental impacts that have resulted from years of unprecedented economic development. The hackneyed adage of "losing face" most definitely applies here. The last thing China wants is an Olympic marathoner to succumb to the smog and collapse just before the finish line. Bad PR for the PRC. Beijing (and the rest of China) have therefore been putting their best face forward recently. Olympic construction is scheduled to finish months ahead of the opening ceremony and a city-wide construction ban put in place to allow ample time for the dust to settle. There has also been lots of talk of restricting car usage and even seeding clouds to artificially generate rain in an attempt to control the troublesome dust storms that plague Beijing.

One of my favorite blogs has some more information here.

Laurel and I experienced a small, yet highly visible "Green-washing" last weekend in Qingdao, which will host the 2008 Olympic sailing and windsurfing events. The picture below shows a line of wind-powered street lights at the venue.



Throughout Qingdao, there was also a huge crop of propaganda posters and banners touting such slogans as "Sail with Heart, Sail to Success" and "Green Qingdao, Green Olympics". Interestingly, Qingdao literally means green island.

Will any of this make a measurable difference? Unfortunately, probably not. China still relies heavily on coal-powered electric plants and the growing urban class is demanding 1st-world automobiles and consumer goods at a dizzying pace. But change has to start somewhere, and if the highly-visible Olympics can be a catalyst for real environmental reform, however modest, I'm all for it. Maybe it'll save me a few sick days.

Final note. I recently discovered this interesting website which records daily air quality levels in Shanghai, in case you want to keep tabs on my lungs.