荒诞者共和

On Tuesday, the day the ban was supposed to be implemented, representatives of the BEPB confirmed that it did not go into effect as planned. They refused to provide any explanation.

Not surprisingly, the majority of morning commuters on Tuesday had no idea that a car ban was even supposed to go into effect. Of eight commuters, two taxi drivers and a station manager interviewed, none witnessed any noticeable decrease in traffic on the roads or an increase in the number of people on the train or bus.

Tian Hui, a human-resources associate working in Beijing's Central Business District, said he felt that "yes, a car ban should help reduce pollution a little, but I think traffic will be worse because there are fewer cars to carry people. More subways and fewer cars and buses on the surface will help reduce pollution more."

The proposed car ban was intended to be a trial run for the two-week Olympics period next year when China plans to implement strict controls to ease traffic and improve pollution in the capital.

The World Health Organization has cited Beijing for having the highest average concentration of airborne nitrogen dioxide in Asia from 2000-05. High concentrations of particulate matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 millimeters continue to be a problem in Beijing.

This year, the capital has suffered from a high number of days with poor air quality, recording 15 days with a Grade III or above on China's air-quality index in June alone. A Grade II or below of air-pollutant concentrations is considered a normal or "blue sky" day. In January, Beijing announced an ambitious plan for 245 blue-sky days in 2007, improving on 2006's 241 blue-sky days.

Spending on environmental improvements in Beijing has reached an estimated US$13 billion, but the city recorded only 110 blue-sky days in the first six months of 2007, less than half its goal. The norm this summer seems to be the reflective, grayish gloom so common in Beijing instead of the government's promised "blue skies".

Vehicle emissions, along with construction dust and industrial pollutants, all impact Beijing's air quality. The number of registered automobiles in Beijing swelled to 3 million in 2006 and is projected to reach 3.3 million by next August, the month the Olympics begin.

Yu Chunquan, BOCOG transportation department director, said, "There will be limited or modified road access during the Olympic Games. As is the custom, special routes for Olympics use only will be put in place, which non-Olympics-related vehicles will be restricted from accessing." Yu failed to mention anything about the proposed car ban or other measures to counter the growth in vehicle ownership and emissions.

Christopher Green, second secretary of environment, science, technology and health at the US Embassy in Beijing, shared his thoughts on Beijing's pursuit of a "green" Olympics: "Based on what Beijing has been doing, I will have to say yes, they will meet air-quality goals during the Olympics. A lot of people are measuring the performance of this [the car ban] test and the actual Olympics as examples for the rest of China.

"Yes, a significant part of Beijing's pollution comes from outside the city," Green responded to how much of Beijing's ambient pollution is within the city's control. "Even with everything shut down in Beijing there would still be high levels of certain pollutants blown in by the wind. Beijing has gotten rid of most coal-burning boilers within the city and replaced them with natural gas; still, sandstorms blow in from the northern deserts of China and Mongolia. Nearby Shangxi province is China's main coal source and most of the country's heavy industry is to the south. Basically, the pollution gets trapped over Beijing."

As part of the move to clean up Beijing's air, the BEPB has replaced 8,000 buses and phased out 50,000 taxis; the buses and taxis are being replaced with vehicles that meet the stringent Euro III emission standards. Other successes in and around Beijing include the planting of 28 million trees and the installation of a wind farm in neighboring Hebei province.

At a press conference on Monday, BOCOG cited successes in transportation and the environment by referring to its "cheap-bus-ticket policy" and gradual improvements in "air and water quality".

BOCOG is taking its drive to clean up Beijing seriously. Its prominent campaign to teach Beijingers "good manners" employs men and women, adorned with bright red caps and armed with triangular flags, to shepherd riders into queues and flag buses down in an exacting, almost scientific fashion out of place in China.

Despite the scientific manner Beijingers now sporadically use to ride the bus, traffic was as bad as ever on Tuesday evening. With no car ban in effect and an afternoon rainstorm, one bus rider, Jao Qian, prophetically summed up the impact of the capital's car ban: "I think maybe the car ban will be invisible because most people who have a car oppose the idea."

As always, buses crawled during the evening rush and night descended on to Beijing's ever persistent haze. With the Games due to begin on August 8, 2008, Beijing has at this writing 364 more days to hope for sun.