Olympics anybody? We are all scratching our heads and wiping the dust out of our eyes. Since more than a week we are suffering from one of the worst pollutions since years and blown away by sandstorms.On Sunday 9 April I joined the annual Ekiden Relay Marathon in Beijing. I could not find my team at the start (Tiananmen Square) except for one guy who came too late to catch to bus to go to his starting point. He promised to take a taxi to get there, as I did not know him I was not really convinced. Just before I left with my bus to the relay point for my segment – 7.2K up to the finish on Tiananmen, there turned up the only guy I actually knew – Mike. So we all hoped for a miracle that the other team members would materialize. I calculated the time I could expect Mike to turn up at the relay point. Actually I thought he wouldn’t… but he did.
It was around 11:30 when I started running and I noticed there was somewhere a sun trying to get through the haze. The race is a challenge for amateurs (like me), you run nearly alone on the large 2nd Ring Road and it seems there is no end to it. Coming closer to Qianmen – a huge old gate at the south of Tiananmen Square I could hardly see it because of the pollution. I had trained reasonably well but I felt it was so hard running, my muscles seemed OK but my heart was at 150 plus and my body said – don’t overdo it (at 57 that wise). The last sprint I shared with a young Chinese girl, she was running hard, then walking, then running again. I encouraged her to speed up and she arrived some seconds before me. As soon as I finished I started coughing violently for some minutes. Another lonely teammate waited for me, from the Swissotel.
part of the team celebrating
Our “Swissotel Team” did not too bad – the 42.2 Km in 3 hrs 20 min and 39 sec. I was officially clocked at 32 min 22 sec for my 7.2 Km (Oh well… I had 38 min on my watch but maybe China uses different watches?).
In the afternoon I went on the website of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau and was shocked. The API (Air Pollution Index) was at… 500. Meaning: the highest possible on the scale. At 150 people with respiratory difficulties (asthma, etc.) should refrain from exercising outdoors. At 500, other cities simply STOP. No more traffic, factories shut down if possible. But Beijing was happily running a Marathon. I called Karl, a friend who was in another team – in the afternoon he was still coughing. The next day finally the press admitted “there was serious pollution”. You must be kidding. They should have cancelled the race all together. Note: pollution levels in Beijing of 150 are nothing special to write about.
The heck. I had 4 small cigars that day. What the point not to smoke under the circumstances? The 500 level continued for two more days. Then the sand storms started. Yesterday (17 April) I woke up, outside there was yellow dust everywhere. In the evening I went out to have a nice dinner with the unknown teammates, at the Swissotel. On the way. drops of “water” came from the sky – correction: mud. Later on I found out it was artificial rain…
According to Beijing Today Daily, that Sunday night 330,000 ton of dust fell on the city in one day, 15.5 Kg per inhabitant and 20 grams/sqm. But – good news, the particulate matter was bigger in size, though still less than 100 microns – still better than the usual one – less than 10 microns. If you are familiar with pollution terms, you’ll understand. If not, don’t bother to understand, it would be detrimental to your peace of mind.
Welcome to Beijing! We all just wonder how it will be during the Olympics in August 2008. Of course we have no reason: Beijing apparently will stop 2 million vehicles months before the Games, allowing only 1.4 million in the city. (guess who will be allowed to drive!?). No more construction, etc. etc. Many people will be encouraged to take “holidays”. If that does not work, the army (?) will shoot rockets to fight against too high humidity. I remember one recent August when Beijing has a free outdoors sauna exactly during “the” week.
The positive side: with that recent awful August in mind and the recent pollution levels/sand storms Beijing has been faced with the threat. Nobody wants the nightmare in August 2008, not being able to see Qianmen Gate.
See here Qianmen Gate on a better day!
As taxis will become more expensive in Beijing and sand is becoming a traffic hazard, China Daily suggested on 23 April to bring in camels from China’s Far West. Fares have not been set yet and we are all anxiously waiting.
