China pollution: second day of smog alert in Beijing

Beijing lifted its first red alert on Thursday noon as planned and residents started to breathe the long-awaited clean air, which is expected to last less than two days before air pollution comes back on Saturday.

Cars with even-numbered license plates were kept off roads, and schools and constructions sites remained closed. Over the worst of the bad air days it’s common to see much less activity out on the streets, and for those who are walking or biking around to wear face masks that help alleviate the intake of bad air. “In all aspects, learning at school on smoggy days better than doing it at home”, she said.

“There is gray fog everywhere”.

The report said parents have even banded together to buy high-end purifiers for their children’s classrooms because “too many kids fell ill during the recent smog”.

“I’ve already sold seven machines worth 30,000 renminbi”, or about $4,700, said shopkeeper Yuan Yuxia as she tried to keep up with the steady stream of customers pushing through the door just 90 minutes after the shop opened.

The capital issued its first ever red alert for pollution on Monday the highest in the four-tiered, color-coded warning system adopted nationally, but lacking in standardization, with regulations differing from city to city. The red alert is enacted when air pollution scales rest between 300 to 500 micrograms per cubic meter for 72 hours.

Mr Fruit, a fruit juice stand in the lobby of a Beijing office building, offered 12 percent off pear and pomegranate juice, which traditional Chinese medicine says can moisten the lungs and reduce phlegm.

The hazardous smog has enveloped much of the Northern China Plain between the East China Sea to the east and mountain ranges to the west.

When the U.S. Embassy in Beijing began issuing pollution readings several years ago, Chinese state media – and many ordinary Chinese – accused Ambassador Gary Locke of “meddling” in the nation’s internal affairs or seeking to embarrass the Communist Party.

China’s booming economy depends on coal for 64 percent of its primary energy, but the country has been trying to clean up or close the smaller, more polluting of its coal power plants, according to financial news agency Bloomberg. Residents are concerned that the polluted air could affect their health, as well as that of the children in the city.