With exactly 10 days to go before the Beijing Games opens on August 8, the organizers still face a daunting challenge -- the weather. A whole week of hot and humid weather with no rainfall and a persistent haze dampened people's mood and undermined a newly-built confidence in the city's air quality.
IOC's Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli said the low visibility doesn't necessarily mean the air quality is bad.
"Most of the people see the fog, they say it's pollution. But we know here it's not pollution. It's mist, a fact of the nature," Felli added.
In the final month before the Games, Beijing sealed off two thirds of government vehicles, and imposed a traffic ban on private cars ending with odd and even number plates on alternate days as of July 20. The policy cut the number of cars hitting Beijing roads every day by about two million.
Other pre-Games environment measures included closing polluting factories in Beijing and some neighboring provinces, suspension of most urban construction projects, and removal of vehicles failing to meet emission standards. The most significant step over the years, however, was a thorough relocation of the gigantic Capital Steel company which used to occupy a large area in western Beijing.
Green consciousness
Beijing Olympic organizers established a special room in the Olympic Village, for the first time in Olympiad, to raise green consciousness, where pamphlets and leaflets are available and documentaries on environment protection are played on TV.
Meanwhile, volunteers for the Games are encouraged to take buses and subways to their workplaces, instead of driving cars; to turn off the screen while the computer is on standby, and to write on both sides of the paper.
Both the location of Olympic stadiums and the selection of competition routes have avoided important water resource conservation areas and natural reserves.
China has intensified its efforts to raise "green consciousness" before the Olympic Games. At a recent energy-saving work meeting, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said it was necessary to further raise environmental protection consciousness among the public and step up efforts to build an energy-saving and environment-friendly society.
He urged the capital city to do more to save oil and energy to provide a cleaner environment and fresher air for citizens and visitors.
