Will the "Olympic Blue" become a normal state?

The soundslide is about Beijing’s air pollution treatment in the context of 2022 Winter Olympics.

Currently, Beijing is going with full steam ahead with the preparation for a big international event—the 2022 Winter Olympics.

On July 31st 2015, Beijing won the bid for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. In the run-up to, and aftermath of the vote, expectations are high that hosting the Winter Olympics will push Beijing to reduce pollution and improve the air quality.

“If we could speed up Beijing’s Clean Air Action Plan. Then we may be able to deliver the goal of a clear sky and white clouds ahead of the original schedule of 2030,” said Lv Xinhua, the deputy director of the NPC and CPPCC.

Will consecutive days of clear skies appear again? Is there any possibility that the wonderful but transient blue become permanent？

Beijing has been taking a series of anti-pollution measures. Zhang Jiandong, the deputy director of the Winter Olympics Committee, proposed several concrete measures. “The first is to compress coal consumptions from 23 million tons to 10 million tons. The second is to shut down polluting factories. Thirdly, strengthen site management in order to reduce dust. And finally, the air pollution control should be integrated into the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy.”

With less than five years to go before the Winter Games, the efforts are badly needed in Beijing, where the smog has caused public discontent.

Acting Beijing Mayor Cai Qi has acknowledged the public’s concerns and promised to take strong measures to combat the hazardous air quality.

“Like many of us, the first thing I do every morning is to check the air quality index of Beijing. I totally understand the public’s concerns and complaints over air pollution. There is still a long way to go to meet the expectation of the public.”

Phrases like “Olympic Blue”, “APEC Blue”, “Parade Blue” and “Disneyland Blue” emerged along with big events. None of them are normal states.

It is not a hard task to achieve “Olympic Blue” by keeping clear skies for 17 days. The real difficulty is to keep it for months and for years. Hopefully, blue skies will become a regular feature even after the Olympic Games.