The one day when the wind started to blow from the North-West is over. Now Beijing is again under South-Westerly slow wind pushing air pollution in the basin. It is a sad picture: can't see far, people vomit on the street and others wearing face masks. Looked at the energy mix of China today. No surprise. Chinese were often fighting for the "right to pollute", as if more pollution would mean more "development". Remembering well the Chinese delegation to the Copenhagen Climate Summit, where they literally were "pissing everybody off" with their arrogance. Not that not also other cities in the developed world were polluted. But treating pollution as a must to become wealthy is a bit missing the point. Nice that copying is a core competence. But must not copy also the mistakes, right? At least not the very obvious ones.
Perhaps I am just a decadent capitalist, who is a bourgeois wimp. Breathing might be even counter-revolutionary. Sorry, if it is. Please then take me just as one of these silly foreigners who does not understand Chinese "Culture". But when I leave the door, it takes me a few moments of holding breath, not to throw up. Everybody moves slowly. Only a few still do exercise. Face masks are sold out. All you can now order online are fake cotton masks which have only the effect of keeping your nose warm.
I guess, when the Chinese New Year is coming it will be possible to cut down emissions finally, as many will leave the city to go home. Perhaps also the wind will fresh up and change direction. Many Chinese cities now have been set targets to achieve PM 2.5 targets of 35. Sounds like utopia, as now we are constantly around 500. The worst time was 700-1000. It might be just a Communist style target again, like being 99.9% being one opinion, or 100% forgetting June 4th, 1989. Wondering why for a while authoritarian regimes have been seen as the ones who "get things done" and contrasting Western democracies as "debating clubs". Right now here, they can not even operate the restrictions of a normal Smog-Alarm. Not even to talk about implementing the rules which they already have. Congratulations for achieving what you asked for in Copenhagen. Enjoy.
