Beijing's pollution turns office buildings into lighthouses :

Carbon monoxides, ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and alike substances - to put it short: pollution – are in rich supply here in Beijing and a big, burning topic.

Yesterday this was not only obvious to my lungs but also to my eyes. I was standing at the bus station, waiting, when I saw this:

Probably the one and only nice thing there is about pollution..! Hence, at days when the above mentioned factors are abundant and fellow sun strong enough to be visible, I recommend you going for a walk (It’s totally worth the health risk.. ;) ) in Jianguomen wai or anywhere else where there is facades that are round in shape. Great!

Well, this scene also made me feel like brainstorming about Beijing’s big, massive problem with pollution. So here we go: please feel inspired and free to contribute your thoughts, comments and don't hesitate to counter argue some of the below:

Within China, which has a problem with pollution in general (the WHO reported that 7 out of the 10 most polluted cities in the world can be found in China) – interesting to see how the presence of heavy pollution illustrated on the NCAR MOPITT satellite pollution chart follows roughly China’s national boundaries),
Beijing sticks out as one of the worst among all cities (comparison). From above smog looks a bit like a fluffy cushion and gives a good impression of how "clear" Beijing sky can get:

A random number (still very unscientific this post..) to put this roughly into relation, internationally: According to a Chart in the Economist the annual fine particle pollution (PM10) in Beijing still averages above 150 µg/m3. This is rather skyrocketing compared to cities such as Madrid (37 µg/m3), Paris (22 µg/m3) or London (22 µg/m3). China itself tracks pollution at the help of the API (Air Pollution index). Only in November Beijing hit zone 5 (out of 5) several times, where, according to official recommendation, “The aged and patients should stay indoors and avoid strength draining; the ordinary should avoid outdoor activities” (basically: stay indoors..!). Check out my colleague’s, the madphilosopher’s, site who tracks also the daily API.

So what are some of the reasons why Beijing’s sky is hardly ever clear and romantic evenings marvelling at the stars fairly rare?

• CONSTRUCTION – Beijing is currently one of the biggest construction sites in the world. Since the city wants to be ready to host the world in August 2008, every construction site needs to be finished by early 2008 so that the huge amount of particulate matter and other substances has time enough to settle a bit..
• TRAFFIC - This is a big topic providing enough info and anecdotes for a post of it's own. For the moment as much: have you spent a day without being stuck in a traffic jam? Yes?! You're definitely not one of our fellow Beijing citizens.. Bicycles are being exchanged for cars at a speed that the infrastructure (sometimes flawed in very interesting ways) can not catch up with.
• INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION – Due to the rapid growth of the city factories that were originally built in the "industrial zones" on the edge of the city have all of a sudden found themselves in the middle of urban development. In addition to this the pollution generated by the factories located outside the current city boundaries is carried in by the wind.
• DESERTIFICATION OF BEIJING - The desertification of Beijing and the corresponding sandstorms that sweep over the city more and more frequently cary considerable amounts of dust into the city.
• HEATING – Once the heating is turned on (November 15th for area’s north of the heating belt (topic full of anecdotes to be written about in one of the next posts)), it produces heat mainly at the help of charcoal, a big contributor to overall pollution in Beijing.
• JIANG ROU CHUAN - This mutton shish kebab is about as popular in Beijing as in Xinjiang - Mainland China’s western most, breathtakingly beautiful and diverse region - where they originate from. They are BBQ-ed, hence consitute another (yummie..) source of pollution using coal and covering whole hutongs in smoke (I actually kind of like (aesthetically) this athmosphere)…
• TOBACCO CONSUMPTION - ask Exoweb’s candidate’s to find out more about this.. ;)
• FARTS - nice, since there is this natural touch to them.. ;)

What to do (..take it with a grain of salt..;))?

• RAIN – Since it washes pollution (very temporarily) out of the air. July and August are in that sense the "cleanest" months of the year. However, they are also the nastiest ones, since who likes to like in a steam bath, even though it’s relatively clean..? ;)
• SNOW – Another temporary remedy.. Have you ever seen snow that is brownish to blackish in colour? Welcome to join in a nasty snow ball fight here in Beijing! ;)
• CURB PRIVATE - BOOST PUBLIC TRANSPORT - big issue, interesting enough for another posting. So far no “Transmillenio system” here in Beijing.
• AWARENESS RAISING – The officials seem to be aware of the problem. Next steps seem to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth and raise awareness among citizens. I would like to see a better implementation of the “polluter pays” principle.
• USE EVALUATION SYSTEM OF PART Y OFFICIALS - The evaluation system for assessing the performance of part y officials and civil servants should be adapted so as to boost “green GDP” – here.
• ANTI-POLLUTION CREAM – Invest 80USD in 30ml of hope and radiant appareance even at times of heavy pollution..
  
• PAINT - If you your house looks grey instead of white or is dirty, simply paint it over or clean it.. I still wonder how much money Jianwai Soho – an office and residential building complex next to Guo Mao sometimes referred to as “the mental clinic” for the fact that it’s kept in white, totally, radically.. – spends on keeping itself white.. Great encounter in this respect: when I opened my window (on 11th floor) yesterday morning I saw this:
  The new apartment building I’m currently living in is white again…
• SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCES – Economic development, (still) population growth and higher living standards will, without any doubt, further raise China’s need for energy. Therefore it’s essential to switch to energy sources that are technically more advanced and less energy intensive than the still overly prominent charcoal
• GREENEN LIQUID – If gras looks a bit brownish and withers: why not paint it green? Last used when the Olympic Committee came to town. Article here.

Well, a bit too long this brainstorming. Wonder what you think about this topic!

Caugh, caugh.. Dom J

Technology you need :

Sometimes people ask me how they could improve their work, create more value- in short how to make most of the lousy 24 hours they have per day.

Some of my favorite recommendations are:

Make sure to maximise your "productive" time from the very moment you get up each day. Some people say one should eat like a king in the morning. I say that's rubbish! Seriously, do you really want to wake up, waist some time kissing your partner good morning, go into the kitchen to put some croissants into the oven, cut fresh fruits into a Muesli, squeeze some oranges and go out into the cold to get the newspaper so as to read across it while talking to your partner? If you still do that, or parts of this ridiculous programm, then you have some great potential, at least 20 mins, right here! If you still insist on having some form of breakfast at home then make at least sure to use efficiency enhancing tools. Butter, Stick type, is a hot tip!


Alright, I do agree that one needs to sleep 4-5 hours per day. But hey, face it, do you really need to do this at home and in a bed? Are you that inflexible? What a waste of time! The average person spends quite an important proportion of his/her time on the way to work, respectively on the way back home. Do you really wants to sacrifice this time talking to random people about irrelevant things, observing the latest fashion trends showcased by the beauty standing next to you, listening to the revealing cellphone conversations of the person waiting for the same bus or snapping a scene with your camera that made you smile and might make others smile as well?! Forget about all this and use the time you spent in the subway/bus well. Sleep, and reduce the hours you spend at home sleeping accordingly. The technology has anticipated it, so what are you waiting for?


Another time serious killer is lunch. Seriously, isn't eating a big, fat, time consuming Sysiphus anyway? So why spend more time on it than striclty required? First rule: eat something cold because a) you don't have to wait for someone to heat up your food for you that you b) need to let cool down anyway before you can actually eat it (tell me, how silly can it actually get?). Should you be invited by someone that insists on ordering something hot for you: Don't forget to take along your chopstick fan. You'll gain some valuable minutes!


One of the most persistent ideas out there: one needs a partner! Get a grip, a partner can cost you about the same amount of time as having a TV. A partner wants to be cherished, listened to, complimented and taken out (hence, next to the hudge time investment you also loose money; not only the money you spend on food, drinks, flowers,.. but also the one you could have earned working instead of going out!) Hence, if you want to make a difference, be a really good worker, a really committed one, one that stands out and shines, then make sure to invest a couple of bucks into the right cusion and i promise you will gain, yet again, a lot of precious time...

Hm, guess I would be fired as an HR bum If I really believed in the above. Thanks Sanaty for sharing these pics of great innovations with me! :)

Taking flowers for a walk :

Lately, I've been profiting quite a bit from the beautiful weather (finally, after a somewhat "challenging" (humid, hot and smoggy..) summer). I took my camera, my lovely (that is, if she is not hungry..) roomie nina and hit the road. Destination: the hutong of Beijing. Hutongs or 胡同 (just to show how well I can copy paste Chinese characters in the meantime..) are narrow streets or allies formed by lines of siheyuan, which are traditional courtyard residences (still) frequently found in Beijing.


For me the hutong areas of Beijing are like a big treasure box. Take a couple of hours (bike or go on foot) and you will see all these little details that not only make your day but also bring you closer to Beijing life (well, or at least one, traditional, aspect of it). The lady taking her flowers for a walk, the somewhat shy first encounter of a unusual couple, curious kids, the local "Meister Proper", shitty news, etc (I've uploaded some more pics onto my flickr account) are only some of the details that made my day on Sunday 2 weeks ago.


Another experience I associate with hutong is the evening I spent together with Echo at a local taxi drivers' home. He, in the meantime an obliging and nice friend of ours, invited us over for dinner at his house somewhere in a hutong of Beijing. His house was one of several in "taxi driver lane" (a little alley of just about 20 meters in which roughly 20 people live; all of them taxi drivers). Even though it was very small and, seen with the eyes of an average Swiss, rather dirty, his home had this great, homey touch to it. Plus, it was filled with the incredible hospitality and warmth of our host, his wife and two of his friends who decided to join in. What I learnt during this evening are not only some additional Chinese words, but also that friendships are knitted at the help of Baijiu, the infamous Chinese liquor.. One good thing: The more I drank the more my Chinese seemed to work (or the drunker the others were the less they cared about my stumbling.. ;)). I enjoyed this evening a lot and "gan bei"-ed ("bottom up") quite a few shots.


What I'm going to do next week? Take my camera and ... ;)



pictures, chinese culture, daily life, beijing, hutong

Good morning, good night

So many things make my days here in Beijing, and I hardly ever take the time to share them / write about them. While I've taken the resolution to do so more frequently (have I heard anyone say: "yeah yeah, my eye!"?!) let me post this one picture of a stunning sunset we enjoyed while standing on the rooftop terrace (well inofficial one, but very convenient.. :)) of my "new" (in the meantime not all that new anymore (not only because of the "waterfall" we had in our apartment (one more story about Chinese heating system to tell..)) apartment. That's Beijing! ;)