Beijing: ‘Sorry the Garbage Plant Stinks’

It’s rare that Chinese officials actually apologize for anything.  Somehow, one way or another, it’s either someone else’s fault or it didn’t happen at all. But apparently, Beijing citizens were so riled up about the stench coming from a garbage plant in the city, officials decided to do something about it.  No, they didn’t put all of the protestors in jail, surprisingly.

From Reuters:

Several hundred people clashed with security forces in Beijing’s eastern Chaoyang district last week, complaining that noxious fumes from Gao’antun Garbage Landfill Plant were affecting their health, a Hong Kong-based rights group reported.

The local government promised residents the smell would disappear within 20 days, and that 91 million yuan ($13 million) would be spent to clean up the plant, whose fumes had kept nearby residents awake at night, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

“The smell from the Gao’antun Garbage Landfill Plant has affected the normal lives of surrounding residents. I apologize on behalf of the Chaoyang District government,” the paper quoted spokesman Yin Xiufeng as saying.

It seems that China has been growing so fast, new communities are popping up at never-before-seen rates – and the local governments aren’t communicating very well with each other.  That has spurred so many clashes between government and private citizens, who feel as if they’re being stepped on, that officials in some cases have no choice but to actually… address the problem.  Shocking.

So, they’re willing to apologize for a smelly garbage plant, but not for the insane pollution that’s killing their citizens at this very moment?

Link [Reuters]
Photo credit: Flickr user Boris van Hoytema

China Puts up Shiny Façade for the Olympics – Literally

Visitors walking down the freshly swept streets Luomashi Boulevard in Beijing don’t see the shops that are normally bustling with life on a typical day. Instead, they see an 8-foot wall, whitewashed and topped with roof pavers. It doesn’t just hide the shops. Behind them are the alleyway ‘huttong’ housing, which the government had hoped to clear out and demolish. Apparently, Chinese officials felt that the view of the shops and huttong would have put off foreign tourists, and they’ve been doing everything they can to make Beijing look nicer than it really is during the Olympic games. Residents didn’t leave in time, though – hence the wall.

From Boston.com:

“The government didn’t have enough time to get everyone to move,” said Zhang, a 40-year-old museum worker who only gave her surname. “So the wall went up for the Olympics. It is just to make a more beautiful environment for the city.”

She said she is willing to move if the developer offers her more money, though she declined to say what amount would be enough.

“I want to get on with my life,” she said. “Looking at the wall is very depressing.”

It’s yet another example of how Beijing is just putting up a façade for visitors from other nations, but this time, it’s literal. It makes you wonder how much the Chinese government cares about its people, considering that of the many promises it made during its bid for the Olympics, the only ones that were fulfilled were the ones benefiting tourists. Once again, China’s people seem to be left in the dust.

Link [Boston.com]

Beijing is Even Smoggy on Google Maps

There’s no hiding this kind of nasty funk in the air.  Beijing authorities might try to tell everyone it’s ‘mist’, but take a gander at the dirty lookin’ air hovering above the city on Google Maps.  Yuck.  How’d you like to breathe that in every day? Olympic athletes only have to deal with it during the games; Chinese citizens have to deal with it for life.

Link [Google Maps]