Steve's sandbox

Tag: pollution

  • Struan Rutherford, Beijing, China – November 2014

    Struan Rutherford, Beijing – Nov 2014

     

    在北京几个月以后，我现在习惯日常工作。我甚至在有些我最喜欢的饭店已经成为一个经常顾客。服务员现在认识我是我跟这些饭店关系的证明 （我也许应该去更多饭店…）不过，日常生活被假期中断，比如最近亚太经济合作组织假期 （APEC） 。

    几个星期前，很多亚太国家元首来到北京峰会。为了净化空气，中国政府暂时关闭某些北京工厂和道路。还有，很多人不可以在城市开车。由于这些措施，北京污染消失了一个星期。学生不需要上课！住在北京的人民享受好天气，万里晴空 （所谓“APEC 蓝”）。我最初很沮丧因为我不预订旅行但是我真的喜欢花时间在北京。每天是晴天，空气很干净。我希望城市天气未来那么好！

    我总是佩服中国的好客，不管中国跟别国家有什么争端和区别。通过热烈欢迎美国，菲律宾和越南的元首，中国显示他们的好客。而且，峰会的时候北京的气氛很激动。我不仅奥巴马和习近平签署一个历史性的气候变化协议的时候住在北京，我还有从我公寓窗户看到非常漂亮奥运会公园烟花汇演。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSATION

    After a few months in Beijing, I have now settled into my daily routine. I have even become a regular at some of my favourite restaurants in the area. The waiters recognise me now which is evidence of our relationship (perhaps I should go to some new restaurants…) However, this routine has been interrupted by holidays, for example the recent APEC holiday.

    A couple of weeks ago, many heads of state from the Asia Pacific region came to Beijing for a summit. In order to clean the air before the summit, the Chinese government temporarily closed certain factories and roads in Beijing. They also prohibited many cars from driving in the city. As a result, Beijing’s pollution was cleared for a week. Students did not have to go to lectures! People living in Beijing enjoyed the good weather and blue skies (so called ‘APEC blue’). Originally, I was sad that I had not managed to organise travel but it was very nice to spend time in Beijing. Every day, it was sunny and the air was clean. I hope the city’s weather is like this more often in future!

    I am always impressed at Chinese hospitality, no matter the arguments or differences between China and other countries. China demonstrated this in its warm welcome of the USA, Philippines and Vietnam for this summit.  It was also exciting to be in Beijing during the summit. Not only was I in the city when Barack Obama and Xi Jinping signed an historic climate change agreement, I was also able to see a beautiful fireworks display at the Olympic Park from my apartment window.

    Struan – Nov 2014

  • Settling into Beijing life – Struan Rutherford, October 2014

    In the past month, I have been settling into my new life in Beijing and regular classes at Peking University. I have been enjoying life in Beijing but the one thing I have not yet adjusted to is the pollution. The pollution was so serious recently that many athletes participating in the Beijing Marathon had to quit for fear of damaging their respiratory system. Luckily I have a face mask with me that can protect me from most of the air pollution. Despite the pollution, the weather in Beijing has been good recently. Winter weather still hasn’t arrived so I should not complain!

  • Struan Rutherford, Beijing, China – October 2014

    Struan Rutherford, Beijing, China Oct 2014

     

    过去的一个月，我在北京大学习惯我新的生活和定期班。我享受我在北京的生活但是一个我还没习惯的地方是污染。污染最近如此厉害，很多参加北京马拉松的运动员需要放弃，以免他们损伤呼吸系统。幸亏，我有口罩所以它能保护我免受大部分空气污染。尽管污染，北京天气最近非常好。冬天天气还没来到所以我不应该抱怨！

    最近有兴趣的新闻是中国对应对印度成功火星卫星的反应。有些我阅读中国报纸头条的报道称赞印度卫星的成功，祝贺印度人。我最初没想到中国国家媒体如此愿意恭维印度科学家因为印度（周边一个与中国有相似数量人口的发展国家）是中国的竞争对手。不过，我最初对中印关系和中国人对印度火星意见的视角是错的。

    这些报纸表达这个态度：不仅是印度的胜利，还有是亚洲的。印度火星卫星的工程是每个发展的胜利，特别是亚洲的。印度现在树立了一个榜样，所以其他有航天项目的发展中国家想仿效印度。因为中国正在发达它自己的载人航天工程，另亚洲国家成功第一发送卫星到别地球的尝试肯定鼓励中国推行更多太空工程。我新中国反应的解释是一个“友好的太空竞赛”。中国和印度都为了实现新成功竞争但是互相祝贺，支持对方的努力，也许来跟有太空项目历史的国家竞争，包括美国和俄罗斯。

    Sunrise Beijing, China

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    In the past month, I have been settling into my new life in Beijing and regular classes at Peking University. I have been enjoying life in Beijing but the one thing I have not yet adjusted to is the pollution. The pollution was so serious recently that many athletes participating in the Beijing Marathon had to quit for fear of damaging their respiratory system. Luckily I have a face mask with me that can protect me from most of the air pollution. Despite the pollution, the weather in Beijing has been good recently. Winter weather still hasn’t arrived so I should not complain!

    A recently interesting aspect of China is the responses to the success of the Indian Mars satellite. A couple headline articles in newspapers that I read have been praising the success of India and congratulating the Indian people. My initial thought was that Chinese state media would not have been so quick to praise the success of Indian scientists as India, a neighbouring developing country with a similar population, is a competitor to China. However, my initial perspectives on Chinese-Indian relations and the Chinese reaction to the Mars satellite were wrong.

    The papers expressed the attitude that it was not just an Indian victory but an Asian one too. The success of the Indian Mars mission was a victory for developing countries around the world, particularly those in Asia. India has now set an example for other developing countries with space programs. As China pursues its own space program, the successful first attempt of another Asian country to send a satellite to another planet will surely encourage China towards further space missions. My new interpretation of the Chinese response would be a ‘friendly space race’。 Both nations compete to achieve new successes in space but congratulate and support each other’s endeavours, perhaps in order to compete with nations with a history of space travel, including the United States and Russia.