Striving for Blue Skies

Beijing is confident to meet its air quality commitment by maintaining clean air during the upcoming Olympics, the Olympics organizers recently said.

Beijing committed itself to the three aspects of air quality, namely, daily monitoring of the four major pollutants of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and inhalable particulates, striving for improving air quality throughout the year, and maintaining good air quality during the Olympics, said Du Shaozhong, Deputy Director with the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

So far, the city has succeeded in realizing all of its commitments, he added.

On improving air quality throughout the year, Du said the number of clean air days increased from only 100 in 1998 to 246 last year.

Follow the Money

A Web-based donation system for the May 12 quake was put into use to facilitate more transparent public supervision on domestic and overseas contributions, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs said recently.

The website (www.donation.gov.cn) can provide such services as online donations and donation enquiries. It also allows donors the opportunity to monitor the use of their money or goods and download certificates confirming their donations.

Netizens’ checks on each donation are also permitted by the system.

Presently, more than 80,000 records of cash donations received by the ministry have been entered into the system.

According to the ministry, domestic and foreign quake donations had reached 58.6 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in cash and goods by July 24.

More Aftershocks

Three aftershocks that jolted southwest China’s Sichuan Province on July 24 had left one dead, 17 injured and about 1,200 houses destroyed as of 5 p.m.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, three tremors measuring 5.6, 4.9 and 6.0, respectively, on the Richter Scale, hit the juncture of Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province and Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province early July 24 morning and in the afternoon.

According to a Xinhua report on July 24, about 140,000 houses collapsed and another 1,500 houses were damaged.

Picturing Olympic Cities

The 2008 London/Beijing Sister City Photograph Exhibition opened on July 25 in the exhibition hall of the Confucius Temple and the Imperial Academy in Beijing. The exhibition is co-hosted by the Beijing Municipal Government and the London Mayor’s Office.

The exhibition displays 140 images from different time periods of both cities. Among them, 70 images reflect London’s development changes and characteristics from the 19th to the 20th century. The other 70 images show Beijing’s urban development and local customs (focusing on preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games), reflecting the city’s change from an ancient historical and cultural city to an international metropolis.

Antarctic Conservation

China is setting up its first Antarctic Specially Protected Area in an effort to protect the rare glaciated and wind-erosion landform in the region from harmful human activity, China Ocean News reported on July 28.

The 12 km long, 10 km wide area straddling Mount Harding in the middle of the Grove Mountains in East Antarctica, and is 400 km from the Zhongshan Station, one of China’s two permanent research bases in the Antarctic area.

Work teams from other countries and regions assigned to the protected area are required to obtain permits.

The plan was passed at the 31st Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 2-10, according to the Xinhua News Agency.