Monitoring Air Quality for the 2008 Olympics

Despite widespread concern that air pollution could pose major health problems for athletes competing in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China’s government insists its pollution control policies will be effective in curbing the air quality problem--at least during the games. 

Beijing’s municipal government, along with the Olympic Committee, has put together an emergency task force that will oversee all Olympic operations from a command post of sorts that will be staffed 24-7 for the duration of the games.  The task force will include representatives from eight focus areas that will include the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau--the organization that will be held chiefly responsible for ensuring clean air during the games.  During the games, BEPB says it will deploy a fleet of 20 vans with satellite transmitters that can send air quality measurements from the field back to the control center in downtown Beijing.  Officials could then potentially decide when it’s necessary to issue pollution controls such as shutting down factories or restricting automobile traffic.

Chinese environmental officials say that reaching the projected goal of 80% “blue sky days” during the Olympics won’t be easy, but they say the goal is well within reach. 

Beijing EPB Engineer Jingqi Liu explains different initiatives aimed at reducing the number of cars on the road

The bumper sticker for a program that encourages Beijing residents to leave their cars home at least one day a month to help reduce pollution

China: 30 More Years of Growth

One of China’s leading economists is projecting another 30 to 40 years of dramatic growth in a country already enjoying the world’s most improved economy.  David Li heads the Center of China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University.  He says China is driven by a strong human desire to improve living standards through hard work. “The typical Chinese worker now sees the possibility of a much better life,” said Li.  “They are willing to work hard to improve themselves.”

China’s gross domestic product—the total of all goods and services—in 2006 grew by a remarkable 10.6%.  Global domestic growth is at just 3.5%.  China’s 1.3 billion people have helped make China is the fourth biggest economy in the world.

Professor Li expects the double digit growth of recent years to slow to about the five or six percent range, but he says China is still on track to grow until perhaps 2040.  He says the only thing that might slow economic growth in China is major political problems.

The average Chinese worker currently makes less than $2,000 per year.  Li says he anticipated that may rise to $6000 per year.  Two Chinese workers at a American factory in Suzhou, China told me they can see their economic status is better than their parents. 

E-waste: The Home Front

Disposing of old State of Illinois computers is no small task.  State agencies and offices discard so much electronic equipment that there’s an agency whose job it is to deal with all the old property.  The IL Department of Central Management Services Property Control Division is housed in a warehouse in Springfield.  Walk in the door and a sea of computer monitors, Xerox machines, and printers greets you.  Most of these units will be auctioned to people who will recycle, refurbish, or re-sell them.  It’s the sellers the state is most concerned about because it’s difficult to tell if they are shipping the electronics overseas where they could be scrapped and dumped in rural areas such as Taizhou, China.  According to CMS, more than 90% of outmoded electronic equipment nationwide winds up in landfills or illegal dumps, risking toxic leaks that can pose health dangers.  Now, they say that will change, at least in Illinois. Gov. Blagojevich recently issued an Executive Order requiring State agencies, boards and commissions to safely dispose of e-scrap.

CMS says they will categorize e-scrap into two categories: 
1.) Useful working computer scrap that has value and can be sold to buyers with the hopes that they wouldn’t want to scrap a useful working system
2.) Useless non-working scrap that will not get sold and will go straight to a trusted local (state) recycler and scrapped there

This plan doesn’t eliminate the practice of overseas dumping; it just makes it less likely to happen. 

“Until we can control the export market and what’s going overseas, each state is going to have to do what it can to try to minimize the impact and do a better job of policing the environment,” said Curtis Howard, Manager of CMS State and Federal Surplus Property.

So far, only a handful of states, including Illinois have adopted or are seriously considering legislation to control e-waste and keep it in the U.S.

Interpreting China

One of the biggest keys to reporting from an international destination is understanding the language.  In China, that’s not easy.  Chinese is a complex language to speak and to read.  At our stops in Shanghai, and now in Beijing, we’ve been paired with a group of Chinese interpreters.  In Beijing, most of our interpreters are journalism students from Peking University.  We’ve also gotten help from nearby Tsinghua University.  They accompany us to many of our interviews, guide us in getting around town and even help direct taxi drivers to our destinations.  You might call ‘em lifesavers.  In Shanghai, we had interpreters from several places, but two of them were UIUC graduate students.  Jessie Chen, a Shanghai native, is a PhD student in educational psychology.  Zhu Chen is a UIUC graduate student in journalism and native of China. 

UIUC PhD student Jessie Chen, Shanghai native, with John Paul on The Bund

Great Wall

The group and I, in our convoy of taxis, traveled to one of the more remote entrances to the Great Wall, Mutianyu.  Our negotiated location was a place where tourists and curious Chinese travel to fulfill their pilgrimage, sans loud tour and travel groups.  We were greeted by a typical market scene, filled with it’s share of pushy shop owners and other interesting characters. However, within twenty minutes of our arrival we were making our up to the Wall, some via funicular, some by foot (myself taking the funicular).

I can’t be entirely sure of the typical person’s perception of the Great Wall before climbing it, but I certaintly wasn’t sure what to expect.
In each direction, the miles of brick cling to the every curve and dip of the northern China mountains. The paths and stairs of the Wall are interrupted by castle-like watchtowers, that now serve as shelters for the sun-exhausted. Our group scattered into three groups, each respective one maintaining it’s own pace and choosing it’s own direction.

The unofficial finishing line for our fraction of the Great Wall was drawn by what seemed to be 1,500 stairs at a 50º angle… a challenge we were more than determined to meet.  I would be bluffing if I said that I enjoyed that climb, but the view that followed was unrivaled. 
Rather than descend by way of open ski lift or stone walkway, Liz Reising, Ted Land, Sam Unger, and myself decided to take a path less traveled.  A few American families that we had shared a few laughs with along our walk on the Wall, spoke of a metal chute that adventurous tourists could travel down by toboggan.  It was a steel luge of sorts, and the engineering was questionable, but wow.. what an experience in its own right.  In hindsight, it seemed like an unusual thing to find, next to what is hailed as the oldest and most incredible work of masonry in the history of the world.
Overall, it was just an incredibly rewarding experience, as I am sure most of the group didn’t know entirely what they were getting themselves into.  Several hours of walking up and down the wall, meetings foreigners, and getting to know one another a little better all made for a great time.  It was hard to believe that the most touristy location in China was as peaceful as it was.

A Brief on the History:
The Wall, one of the largest construction ventures ever completed, began over 2,000 years ago by Qin Shi Haungdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin Dynasty. After conquering and uniting China from seven warring states, the emperor connected and extended four, old fortification walls along the north of China that originated from about 700 B.C. (over 2500 years ago). Armies were stationed along the wall as a first line of defense against the invading nomadic Hsiung Nu tribes from the north of China (today known as the Huns).  The wall, comprised of brick, rock and packed-earth, was enlarged to it’s current length during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The specific length has been widely debated; conservative estimates of 1,500 to upwards of 4,000 miles.
Historical Information borrowed from http://www.enchantedlearning.com