Well, that is, if I want to breathe filthy smog (as if there was any other kind) and have my lungs burned from the inside out as if I was a villain getting killed at the end of a sci-fi movie.

It appears as though a really awful smogstorm has decided to settle in on Beijing just in time for the Summer Games.

The grayish haze was one of the worst seen in Beijing in the past month despite tough traffic restrictions imposed a week ago to help reduce pollution.

The city's notoriously polluted air remains one of the biggest question marks hanging over the games, which begin on August 8.

'The air quality in August will be good,' Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, told reporters on Sunday. He did not explain the reasons for his optimism.

Du blamed the thick haze on a combination of fog and light wind unable to blow away the pollution, but he said pollution levels now are 20 per cent lower than one year ago in similar weather conditions. He did not provide any details.

'Our job is to decrease the pollution as much as possible, but sometimes it is very common to have fog in Beijing at this time,' Du said.

Posted by: eddiebear at 10:28 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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