Plan Late Autumn BBQs and Picnics: Gov't Gives City a Week Off to Host APEC Summit in Nov

Get those late autumn barbecues and picnic plans rolling folks, as the city government has cancelled work for non-essential government employees and is closing all public schools for a week to host the all-important APEC summit, in which the heads of state of the trade block's 21 member states will be descending on Beijing from November 7-12.

In a bid to make the city hospitable for what amounts to the most significant event (at least politically speaking) Beijing has hosted since the '08 Olympics, the city is pulling out all the stops to prevent the typical bugbears of pollution and traffic from ruining the party.

That means telling all non-essential (read: most) of the city's bloated bureaucracy to stay home and closing public schools, thereby alleviating some of the ordinary traffic nightmares that surround downtown public schools at pickup and dropoff time.

You can bet they'll be shutting down many of the region's pollution-belching factories as well (or at least require them to turn on the environmental controls) to make the air nice as well. Nothing says "shitty host country" more than AQI 400 air quality. China Daily reports the city is also banning all construction during the meeting period.,

What this all adds up to is that these days will likely be great days pollution-wise and traffic should be way down.

But before you plan on going anywhere in your car, keep in mind that between November 3-12 from 3am to midnight traffic will be switching to the odds-evens rule last utilized for the Olympics, with odds (those license plates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) being able to take to the streets on odd-numbered days (Nov 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) and the evens (those license plates ending in 2, 4, 6, 8 and 0) being able to take to the streets on even-numbered days (Nov 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12). To tackle the likely run on public transportation, the city is adding 400 buses and also exempting taxis from the odd-even restrictions, according to China Daily.

The workaround looks like this: Friday November 7 and Monday through Wednesday November 10-12 will be off; and to make sure the populace does not get lazy and complacent nor the economy coming grinding to a halt, the powers that be have ordered Sunday November 2 and Saturday November 15 to be make-up work days. Public schools will follow the same schedule.

Given they've been planning this meeting for at least four years you'd think they could give us citizens a bit more notice than 24 days before the start of the event, but hey, no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth -- days off with likely great weather and reduced traffic are rare around these parts.

You'll probably want to avoid Huairou, as the main meeting will be held at Yanqi Lake, about 50km north of the city. Likewise the Olympic Park should probably be avoided, as the rest of the meetings will be held at the China National Convention Center at the site of the 2008 Olympics.

Do expect there to be various motorcades stopping traffic around town and if you're planning to go so any wild parties, performance art exhibits or mass gatherings of any sort in early November, don't be surprised if they are cancelled at the last minute or shut down.

The only other time China has hosted the event was in 2001 in Shanghai. Perhaps the most charming (or I should say only charming) part of the meeting is the tradition of the various assembled leaders gathering for a group portrait dressed in some traditional garb from the host country. Given the classic Chinese-style jackets were used in 2001 (see above), one can only hope for another Chinese-style fashion statement from world leaders for 2014.

Photos: apec.org