The Most Bizarre Reason for Beijing's Smog

Beijing's smog today (left) and what it looked like last month (right)

Now that Golden Week is over, everyone's back to work, and that means the smog has returned to Beijing.

This morning the air looked gray and the Air Quality Index measured at 213 -- which means heavily polluted.

The skies today were in stark contrast to August and September when there were clear blue skies that were hailed as some of the best air quality since officials began releasing data on PM2.5 -- microscopic particles that can be harmful to lungs.

A woman puts on a mask to try to avoid the smog

The smog congregated in Beijing because the air was static. But also officials are blaming residents from using everything from hair gel, perfume and air fresheners for the smog.

Really.

State media released a report from Beijing's Bureau of Environmental Protection from back in May, saying household emissions -- everything from cooking and hair sprays to perfume and air fresheners accounted for 12 percent of the city's total.

That would equate household emissions with industrial emissions.

How ridiculous is that?

Shi Aijun, deputy dean of the Beijing Academy of Environmental Sciences told Science and Technology Daily that daily emissions had been growing -- especially from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that give everyday products like perfume, hair gel and air fresheners their smell.

But Peng Yingdeng, a researcher from the Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection said it would be hard to measure the impact of these products on air quality.

Did hair gel, perfume and air fresheners cause the smog?

"It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how much these consumer products like hair gel contributed to PM2.5 levels since VOCs are not pollutants themselves and produce PM2.5 only after a chemical reaction. At the moment we can only calculate an estimate from the use of these products," Peng said.

So there is even disagreement in the scientific community about this.

State media reports said local emissions accounted for two-thirds of the pollution in Beijing last year, the rest from surrounding areas. Vehicle exhaust fumes were the biggest culprit, and the reports claimed households contributed the same level of pollution as mainly printing and vehicle manufacturers.

The population of Beijing was 21.7 million last year -- did all those people use hair gel, perfume and air fresheners? Highly unlikely.

Local authorities and the scientific community have to find another reason why the smog is so bad because the reasoning just stinks.

Living in a Haze

This picture of Central was taking at 6pm with a very hazy skyline

For the past two weeks Hong Kong has been shrouded in haze. Even periodic heavy rainstorms can't wash the humid grayness away from the city.

It's pretty much unprecedented and today was particularly gray.

Air pollution levels were off the charts today in Hong Kong

Many of my colleagues remarked about the hazy weather and one was so mortified by the air pollution readings that he posted on our internal messaging system that the AQI or Air Quality Index was 175, deemed "Unhealthy" in red type.

Thanks for that, but what can we do?

It feels very humid outside, but the recent and current typhoons around the region have caused air movement to stagnate. It's particularly bad for children and the elderly as well as people who have asthma, and I've been trying to stay indoors as much as possible.

The Environmental Protection Department issued a warning, saying the air quality would remain bad until next week, as light winds were unable to disperse the pollutants in the air.

Pollution was made worse by people burning money tonight

Tonight when I was coming home, I saw people burning things on the street and lighting candles -- it's the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival that starts tomorrow until September 9 this year. That means every evening people will be burning "hell money", creating even more air pollution.

I feel for the businesses that are near these people burning things, as the ashes end up blowing into their premises and they didn't ask for it, let alone breathing in the smoke.

While they are only burning money and incense in the evenings, creating less air pollution would help, especially when we're dealing with this terrible haze!

Yang's Life Lesson

Yang Shuping talks about learning new things, like fresh air, freedom of speech

Mainland Chinese student Yang Shuping gave a graduation speech on Sunday at the University of Maryland praising the United States, which instead of receiving praise from her fellow countrymen, was scathingly scorned at.

During her speech, she recalled how she felt when she arrived in the US.

"When I took my first breath of American air, I put my mask away," she said. "The air was so sweet and fresh, and oddly luxurious. Democracy and freedom are the fresh air that is worth fighting for."

She is a psychology and theatre graduate from Yunnan province and came to study at the university five years ago.

Yang quickly learned to appreciate the air quality in the US

From her experience of living in the US she appreciated being able to speak freely.

"I have learned [that] the right to freely express oneself is sacred in America... I could even rate my professors online," she said. "My voice matters. Your voice matters. Our voices matter."

Yang also talked about watching her fellow students vote in elections, take part in political protests, and even watch a play about the 1992 LA riots that talked about the issues of racism, sexism and politics.

"I was shocked, I never thought such topics could be discussed openly... I have always had the burning desire to tell these kinds of stories, but I was convinced that only authorities owned the narrative, only authorities could define the truth," she said.

"Freedom is oxygen. Freedom is passion. Freedom is love. As the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said: 'Freedom is a choice'."

One might think it was wonderful that a Chinese student not only received a good education, but also learned some values and culture that helped her to further understand the differences between the US and China.

The University of Maryland sticks by what Yang said

However, people back home were not impressed, criticizing her speech, saying she was kowtowing to the US, or that she already came from Yunnan, a relatively clean province in terms of air quality. The backlash resulted in tarring Yang as a traitor, that she did not love her country.

A group of Chinese students at the university were offended by Yang's speech and set up a social media campaign showing their support for their country.

The students behind the #ProudofChina effort said they hoped to correct "wrong stereotypes" of the country and show their "courage to speak up".

But patriots, particularly The Global Times claimed the university should never have given Yang the opportunity to speak at such event, and for sticking by her.

Even the foreign ministry weighed in.

I believe China will encourage and welcome the students as long as they love their motherland from the heart and are willing to make a contribution," ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, without directly criticizing what Yang said in her speech.

"Any comparable Chinese citizen should make responsible comments on any issue, not only about China but everything."

Yang is in her early 20s and has learned so much in the past five years that she couldn't wait to tell others what she had observed. But she mistakenly thought everyone else was on the same page as her.

Meanwhile her critics were so overly sensitive about her observations, but for the most part they are true. It just reveals yet again how the Chinese are so insecure about their country and its faults, but don't have the courage to face them because their government insists that everything is fine.

Eventually Yang had to back down, apologizing on Monday.

"The speech is just to share my overseas experience and comes with no intention to negate or belittle my country," she said on Weibo.

China needs more people like Yang to help develop the country from within; ostracizing her is not the way. And from now on, no Chinese student will dare speak out again, for fear of the wrath of the online patriotic police. It's all too easy to destroy someone when there is strength in numbers.

But Yang is the strong one who has the courage to speak for herself and her own thoughts.

Hong Kong's Smog-Filled Air

The serious smog levels made it difficult to see across Victoria Harbour today

This morning I woke up to... haze.

Looking out towards Victoria Harbour, I could not distinguish between the water and land -- it was all like a fog, but it really was terribly polluted air.

At 2pm, readings at Hong Kong's 13 general stations as well as three roadside stations had reached "very high" or "serious" health risk levels. Six stations reported scores of 10+, the highest possible, indicating a serious health risk.

Children, the elderly and people with heart or respiratory issues were advised to avoid staying outdoors, especially in areas with heavy traffic.

And yet when I was out in the streets I hardly saw anyone of us don a mask.

Air quality readings went through the roof today

Are we the stupid ones? Or is the government stupid to let our air quality deteriorate so badly?

An Environmental Protection Department spokesman said the pollution was brought by high pressure over the western North pacific as well as light winds locally.

"In addition, Hong Kong is also being affected by an airstream with higher background pollutant concentrations from the Pearl River Delta," the spokesman said.

That's code for blaming the mainland for the pollution, but in the last few years most of the factories across the border have closed down. So where is the pollution really coming from?

The spokesman added that the sunshine, together with "higher than normal" levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulates, had enhanced the smog, resulting in high pollution.

Nitrogen dioxide comes from emissions from cars, trucks, buses, machinery and power plants. Surely a good chunk of that was pollution was made locally.

We can expect the air pollution to be bad these next few days... how visitor-friendly and how nice we get to breathe in this terrible air quality.

Why aren't our lawmakers pushing for the government to do more to improve our living conditions? Surely this is an issue everyone can get behind?

Picture of the Day: Challenging Conditions

Students had to sit outside breathing in air pollution while writing exams

In Linzhou, Anyang, Henan province, 480 students were made to sit outside in the choking smog to write their exams.

The eighth grade pupils had to take the exams on Monday afternoon when local education authorities said schools should close from Monday because of the severe air pollution, according to Dahe News.

Pictures taken by a parent show the students in a football pitch either squatting or seated with low stools used as tables.

Visibility was so bad that day, it was down to only 200 metres.

The school principal didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was about.

"We thought that since we had already organized it, why not just finish the whole process [despite the school being ordered to close]," the principal said.

Ah, the pragmatism of the Chinese wins over health concerns of sitting outside and breathing in severe smog...

Hong Kong's Polluted Air Persists

Hong Kong's air quality can go to extremes like these pictures show...

Well what do you know! Us living in Hong Kong are breathing in air that exceeds the World Health Organization's standards for over 280 days last year.

The black spots are Des Voeux Road in Central and Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay.

"The overall picture is worse than we thought," said Simon Ng Ka-wing, chief research officer at Civic Exchange, a think tank that worked with the University of Science and Technology on the research.

"Our government must make it a policy priority to improve roadside air quality in major urban street canyons."

It's interesting Civic Exchange says this when its founder Christine Loh Kung-wai is the Under Secretary for Environment...

The WHO daily air quality guideline says PM2.5 should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic metre. But in the Hong Kong study conducted between March last year and February this year, Central and Causeway Bay exceeded the standard by almost 280 days of the year.

In districts like Western, Admiralty and most of Wan Chai, the air quality standard was surpassed by over 200 days, while it was 150 days in North Point.

Des Voeux Road in Central was the most polluted at an average of 55 micrograms per cubic metre -- far exceeding the WHO guideline of 10 and the local guideline of 35.

It was followed by Hennessy Road, between Tonnochy Road and Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay, and King's Road in North Poing.

Professor Jimmy Fung, head of HKUST's division of environment, said areas with good ventilation and lower buildings helped disperse pollution.

He said the government should devise a long-term strategy to improve wind and air dispersion in urban street canyons through new developments and urban redevelopment opportunities, as well as policies to decrease traffic emissions.

Ng says hundreds of thousands are exposed to roadside pollution on a daily basis, and a recent University of Hong Kong study says a high PM2.5 concentration led to a higher death rate among the elderly by increasing their risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

It's shocking to find the PM2.5 levels were so high considering over two months in that study period the Occupy Movement shut down major thoroughfares and supposedly decreased air pollution... or so we thought.

In the meantime, Fung says the government should consider pedestrianization schemes and low-emission zones in locations where roadside air quality is really bad.

But will the government earnestly try to do something about this? With the task of trying to sell the electoral reform package to the people, air quality probably doesn't have as high a priority...

The Truth About Air Pollution in China

Air pollution in Beijing is apparently not as bad as some other cities in China

A new study by Greenpeace and Peking University shows that air pollution kills more people than smoking in many cities in China.

The smog-inducing pollutants known as PM2.5 caused 257,000 premature deaths across the mainland's 31 cities and provincial capitals in 2013 according to the study, an average of about 90 in every 100,000 deaths.

But the averages were higher in 12 of the 31 cities, including Shijiazhuang, Nanjing, Tianjin and Chongqing, where at least 100 out of every 100,000 deaths were caused by PM2.5.

These two averages were higher than the official mortality rate for smoking, which was about 70 per 100,000 deaths in 2012, according to Greenpeace.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, as there are some cities, like those in Hebei province that are even more polluted, but were not included in the survey.

Although many complain about Beijing's smog, the Chinese capital actually measured 79 of every 100,000 premature deaths due to air pollution, lower than 21 other cities featured.

Peking University professor Pan Xiaochuan said the survey team tried to collect data from more than 100 cities, but many had data that was either incomplete or inconsistent.

This says a lot about not only collecting data properly, but also the individual municipalities' and provinces' concerns about public healthcare issues. PM 2.5 are tiny particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns that can stay lodged in a person's lungs.

While 21 cities have introduced plans to tackle air pollution, setting themselves reduction targets to be met by 2017, Greenpeace says even if such goals were met, only 26,000 deaths could be avoided annually.

The environmental activist group says the entire country needs to make a concerted comprehensive and collected effort to reduce pollution.

There are no official statistics on premature deaths caused by air pollution. In 2013, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention launched a study on the impact of smog on public health, but the results won't be ready until later this year.

Interestingly last year former health minister Chen Zhu and three other authors estimated in The Lancet medical journal that air pollution caused 350,000 to 500,000 premature deaths per year.

But an earlier study in the same journal said air pollution accounted for 1.2 million premature deaths in 2010 alone.

So what are the real numbers? Perhaps China is too scared to find out... or more importantly be blamed for these deaths...

Beijing Deja Vu

Here we go again... China bidding for another Olympic Games...

Have you heard that Beijing wants to do what no other city has ever done before and become the first metropolis to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games?

The Chinese capital has already put in its bid for 2022 and the only other city competing for the honour is Almaty, Kazakhstan because Oslo, Norway gave up, along with Lviv, Ukraine, and Krakow, Poland.

These other cities withdrew their applications either because their citizens were not interested in hosting the event, or the cost was too much -- particularly after it was revealed Russia spent $51 billion on the Sochi Games, more than the $40 billion China spent in 2008.

Here's the video to evoke the warm fuzzy feelings of the Olympic Games all over again:

It's pretty bizarre watching some of the Summer Olympics venues be turned into winter sport locations. The Water Cube transformed into the curling venue? Are they going to freeze the Olympic-sized swimming pool?

And Wukesong where basketball matches were held would be transformed into an ice hockey rink?

The city doesn't get much snow these days, which is why the downhill skiing portion would be held in Zhangjiakou, 200 kilometres northwest of Beijing.

So it pretty much looks like Beijing is the hands down winner -- but wait -- what about the air?

A few weeks ago the Beijing Marathon took place and city officials were embarrassed as runner had to breathe in the toxic air and several quit part way through the race, unable to breathe.

And now with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit happening in a few days, the Chinese capital is still covered with haze and dangerously high air pollution levels.

Media director of Beijing's bid committee Wang Hui -- who by the way was also the media spokesperson during the Summer Games -- said the city would implement a two-step plan to clean the air with targets for 2017 and 2022.

"Beijing has called upon cooperation in major provinces and districts in northern China and will mobilize all its resources to clean up the air and bring down the air quality index value," Wang said. "We'll make sure by 2022 the air quality in Beijing is the best for athletes to compete."

Why should they only be concerned about athletes? Why not clean up the air for the residents of the city?

The China Face machine is back up and running again, fulfilling this need to present an image to the world and not being concerned about its own citizens.

If China wins again, what will Ai Weiwei do in response?

Exiting China in Droves

With the CCTV tower in the foreground, hardly anything visible behind it

A few years ago China used to be a hot place for expatriates to be posted, with economic development going through the roof and lots of growth in various sectors.

But nowadays the fears of pollution levels have scared many expats who are starting to worry more about their health than their bank accounts or resumes.

The air pollution is getting so bad in China that multinational companies are now offering extra compensation for expatriates based in the middle kingdom. Seems they are leaving in droves and so companies are trying to retain staff with a financial incentive.

It is believed Japanese electronics company Panasonic started paying its expatriate staff "hazard pay" in April to compensate them for the hazardous air quality.

And now Coca-Cola is offering its expat staff an "environmental hardship allowance". The allowance, which was introduced "recently" is apparently a 15 percent increase of the employee's base salary.

A company spokeswoman confirmed the introduction of the additional pay, but would not comment on the amount.

"Our competitive mobility package includes an environmental allowance for postings to China," she said in an emailed statement.

Last year only three of 74 cities in China met the minimum government standards in air quality, and air pollution has become a key issue for foreign companies posting employees to cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

Companies now offer better medical insurance benefits, more paid trips home and subsidies for air filters for the some half million foreigners working in China.

An Australian architectural firm called Hassell gives its staff face masks to travel to and from work. It also changes air filters every week during heavy pollution.

"In Australia, you might do that every year," said Peter Duncan, Hassell's managing director for Asia, who is based in Shanghai.

Headhunter Peter Arkell, managing director of Swann Global, says the Coca-Cola allowance indicates the company is having trouble retaining and attracting staff to China.

"I hear more and more stories about executives not extending their contracts because they don't think China is a good place to bring up a family," he said. "It [the environmental payment] is a way of addressing the air pollution issue, but it does look like a pretty generous payment to me."

But is it really worth taking the extra money and greatly increase your chances of developing some respiratory disease or cancer?

China used to be a great place for young executives to cut their teeth in new territory, but with many of them having babies and toddlers, they worry about their exposure to the polluted air that could lead to asthma and possibly developmental problems.

Will the new financial incentive stem the exodus? We shall see...

Convoluted Language

What would be the Chinese euphemism for iPhone?

Ah, leave it to the Chinese government to try -- once again -- to ban foreign words from the language.

The Communist Party's mouthpiece the People's Daily has published two editorials this week waging war on the use of such words as "Wi-fi" and "iPhone", saying "mingling foreign words in Chinese has damaged the Chinese language's purity and undermined communication".

To solve the problem, the Guangming Daily urged the Chinese government to quickly provide Chinese translations of imported foreign words before they became widely used by the public.

But many people online mocked the latest attempt to get rid of foreign words from Chinese, calling it the "grand competition to keep the purity of the Chinese language". The phrase received almost 130,000 hits.

"Excuse me, do you know where the Very Important Person lounge is?", pretending to have a conversation without using the word VIP.

Another wrote: "Today's level of 'atmospheric particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 micrometres of less' has broken the record again," making fun of not being able to use the term PM2.5 that measures air pollution.

This comedy show about geeks is now not available in China

Previously China Central Television banned its anchors from using the term "NBA" during broadcasts and they had to refer to the organization as the "US professional basketball association".

Basketball fans were not amused, and the severe backlash resulted in CCTV backing down.

The Chinese government is trying hard to clamp down on foreign influences with further tightening of the media. This week top video sites like Sohu video stopped providing online streaming for such popular TV shows as The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife.

Why The Big Bang Theory? It's just about a bunch of geeks, unless the Chinese government thinks they are revealing state secrets in code...

The Smog of the Orient

Shanghai topped the charts

Beijing is known for having notoriously bad air -- its reputation was sealed back in January when the air quality index jumped to 755.

But it seems Shanghai is fast catching up.

Today the Pearl of the Orient had readings over 500 AQI, forcing many residents inside or if they had to go out, to don face masks.

The weather was so bad today that hundreds of flights were either delayed or cancelled, as smog levels were 23 to 31 times the levels recommended by international health officials.

It's particularly embarrassing as the city is trying to set up its free trade zone to attract foreign investment, but so far most of the companies settling in the zone are domestic.

Perhaps more frightening is that the local environmental authorities have decided to adjust its air pollution standards to reduce the number of alerts, saying there would be many of them through the winter.

There will now only be alerts when the concentration of PM2.5 -- particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that can be found deep in human lungs -- falls below 115 micrograms per cubic metre. Previously it was 75 micrograms per cubic metre.

Shanghai's Environmental Protection Bureau said haze is common this time of year as the warm air in higher altitudes trap the cold air in winter, making it harder for pollutants to be dispersed. In addition, the cold air meant more energy was being used to keep warm, resulting in more pollution into the air.

It's shocking but perhaps not surprising that Shanghai would end up being in a smoggy haze at record pollution levels.

We should bear in mind it was only a year ago that the government decided to be more transparent about air quality, but not much has been done about it across the country. While we applaud having a bit more transparency, it's not really dealing with the issue.

Since President Xi Jinping is pushing through economic reforms at the moment, could he perhaps throw in measures to tackle air pollution earnestly? People's lives are at stake -- which affects the country's productivity -- so if the government wants higher productivity, surely it needs to ensure cleaner air for its citizens?