In other words, this weekend is bad but its certainly been as bad in the past (we just didn't know the numbers back then).
Based on my very unscientific recollections, I remember plenty of blue sky days in BJ the late 90s and early 2000s, but the air quality degraded similarly abyssmal level in 2005-2007 - and then seemed to improve somewhat in the years around the Olympics in 2008.
As for more Blue Sky Days - I would even dare to venture that there probably was some improvement in the past couple of years in frequency when compared to the mid-2000s, but it doesn't mean that the "Crazy Bad" days have gotten any less crazy and any less bad.
I read a while back that many factories around Beijing cannot afford to implement the necessary controls for emissions - can't find the citation, but if anyone out there has a link, please feel free to comment.
Meanwhile New York Times correspondent James Wang (@comradewang) points out that "Xinhua [via Global Times] continues to call the pollution across North China "dense fog."
"Beijing police announced [earlier this week] that they had seized over 37,000 bottles of fake alcohol (including beer and spirits), much of it set to be sold to Sanlitun bars. Five different groups of people have been arrested on suspicion of producing fake liquor, fake beer and fake packaging."
Ever have any new news? This happens every day in sanlitun.
this any better?
"Beijing police announced [earlier this week] that they had seized over 37,000 bottles of fake alcohol (including beer and spirits), because someone forgot to grease somebody's palm. Five different groups of people have been arrested on suspicion of producing fake liquor, fake beer and fake packaging. Meanwhile, third-tier bars in remote areas of town are now reporting a new source of cheap alcohol"
a lot of commentators are saying the indexes are higher than ever this weekend -- numbers in the 700s and 800s -- I believe that this is due to the fact that the monitors used to stop at 500 (which the people who built the machinese probably assumed "it couldn't ever get worse than that".
In other words, this weekend is bad but its certainly been as bad in the past (we just didn't know the numbers back then).
Now with more transparency on the Chinese side (reporting PM 2.5 is now par for the course in Beijing, and reporting on the issue is now more open) I expect the guages have been adjusted
Slight technical problems with making corrections to the post right now but just wanted to point out that the BJKids post was written on Jan 8, the one clear day we had last week, while the sentence in the last paragraph should read "The cloud of smog over Northern China is so bad that it can actually be seen from space, but unfortunately there it remains difficult to pinpoint why, exactly, things have gotten beyond "Crazy Bad."
"Beijing police announced [earlier this week] that they had seized over 37,000 bottles of fake alcohol (including beer and spirits), much of it set to be sold to Sanlitun bars. Five different groups of people have been arrested on suspicion of producing fake liquor, fake beer and fake packaging."
Ever have any new news? This happens every day in sanlitun.
Oops, an earlier version of this blog said that Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant was in London, but it's actually not. The post has been amended accordingly.
We were excited to read Josh's review review about us! Update: we’ve changed our name to “Waygo” rather than “Waigo” so there is less confusion about pronunciation, especially since many users are unfamiliar with pinyin. If you’ve already downloaded the app, you’ll see the name change reflected as soon as you update your apps.
Check out blog post about Josh's review at blog.translateabroad.com:
We totally agree with Josh about giving users more insight: “Lots of Chinese dishes have these inventive names, so mysterious translations like this are a pretty common occurrence. I'd like to see a small note with some background on how the dish is usually prepared.”
Even with an accurate translation, you have no context if you would even like a dish. For example, if you are unfamiliar with Kung Pao Chicken, it would be helpful to know it’s a (usually spicy) dish of diced chicken, peanuts, chili peppers, and veggies. We would love to provide this extra information to Waygo users so that you can spend your money wisely, and arguably more important, save your tastebuds from any preventable dining disasters. Stay tuned for product updates!
We were also curious to learn about the infamous 老干妈西葫芦 dish that Josh found while using Waygo. Waygo translated it as “Aged Godmother Squash.”
老干妈 (lǎogānmā): Old godmother
西葫芦 (xīhúlú): Cucurbita Pepo A.K.A., summer squash or zucchini
While Aged Godmother Squash is an accurate translation, most foreigners have no idea what’s behind the dish. We can only imagine what Josh’s imagination came up with! After investigation, we discovered the dish is a stir-fry made up of zucchini, seasoning, and black bean sauce. Where does the name come from? The black bean sauce used is the 老干妈 lǎogānmā brand, but could probably made with any ole’ black bean sauce.
Sound yummy? Here’s a recipe to make it. And one of the best parts? It’s classified as easy--制作难度：简单--and takes only 10 minutes to make! Sounds like you’ve got tonight’s dinner menu all set.
Thanks again to Josh and The Beijinger team for helping us get the word out about Waygo! With Waygo in hand, we hope you can go places you’ve never gone before, like those hole-in-the-wall noodle joints that don’t have English menus.
We appreciate any and all feedback in order to make Waygo the most useful app possible, so please feel free to sign up as a test user.
How to Become a Test User:
Download Waygo. Once the app is open on your device, hit the “i” button to take you to the Info screen. Next hit the “Feedback” button and then the “Tester Opt-In” button. That’s it!
You may have a point about the pictures but we do plenty photos of food in all our coverage, and sometimes feel the people who slave over the food get no love from the cameras. So, when we interview the chefs themselves we try and give them a chance to just be human.
Apparently, readers still want the food. Poor chef!
Good grief, what a lot of fools there are in the world. This guy's totally right. If the main objection to coal is that it's dirty, and this process can make it nearly clean and lower the cost...what's the problem? Why is that a "distraction from real solutions?" It IS a real solution, Bethie.
Your blind hatred of coal–which kept grandparents all over Beijing from freezing to death these last few weeks–is irrational. Your "real solutions" are not viable at the present time at all. None of them work reliably, and both of them have their own problems. For example, did you know there are some species of birds in California that are in danger of being completely wiped out by all the asinine wind turbines they've got all over the place? (The ones that haven't just been abandoned) They're costly, inefficient, break all the time and are totally subject to the caprice of weather. The same is true of solar power. When I was a kid twenty years ago my uncle heated his outdoor pool for the cool Jersey summer nights with solar power. That was about all they could do. In 20 years that's still about all they can do.
Unless you're personally planning on paying for every poor Beijinger to ditch the coal and keep warm with an inefficient, costly technology that breaks frequently, it isn't going to happen. Cleaning the coal is an excellent, brilliant idea that might actually do something to help China's pollution problem without compromising people's need to...you know...SURVIVE. Private companies like this one invest in solutions that they know are possible and marketable. That they are NOT investing in solar or wind power despite all their fad popularity amongst recycling Nazis is an indication that they do not work. Stealing everyone's tax money to try to force them to work hasn't done a thing, and isn't going to.
We just received an update on Yang Bing from Leslie Simpson: "Sadly this brave little boy has still not had his bone marrow transplant. After the last set-back when Yang Bing had a fever and sickness his doctor found that Yang Bing had many canker sores – which were potential sites of infection and therefore may put him at risk post surgery. He has been prescribed some special cream ( at 500rmb per tube ) and the sores are almost all healed.
He and his desperate parents wait patiently. Thank you for continuing to keep them in your thoughts and prayers."
Re: Beijing's Pollution is so Bad, It Can Be Seen From Space
Based on my very unscientific recollections, I remember plenty of blue sky days in BJ the late 90s and early 2000s, but the air quality degraded similarly abyssmal level in 2005-2007 - and then seemed to improve somewhat in the years around the Olympics in 2008.
As for more Blue Sky Days - I would even dare to venture that there probably was some improvement in the past couple of years in frequency when compared to the mid-2000s, but it doesn't mean that the "Crazy Bad" days have gotten any less crazy and any less bad.
I read a while back that many factories around Beijing cannot afford to implement the necessary controls for emissions - can't find the citation, but if anyone out there has a link, please feel free to comment.
Here are some other related links:
http://www.beijing-kids.com/blog/beijingkids/2012/06/14/Researcher-Explains-Why-the-Air-Sometimes-Goes-Crazy-Bad
http://www.beijing-kids.com/blog/beijingkids/2012/06/14/Researcher-Explains-Why-the-Air-Sometimes-Goes-Crazy-Bad
http://www.beijing-kids.com/forum/2012/07/31/Beijing-to-shut-down-all-coal-plants-in-the-metro-area-by-2014-will-this-finally-cl
On the last one - I really hope they make good - but given the dependence on coal - hard to see how they can do this in due time.
Maybe clean coal is the answer?
Re: Beijing's Pollution is so Bad, It Can Be Seen From Space
Meanwhile New York Times correspondent James Wang (@comradewang) points out that "Xinhua [via Global Times] continues to call the pollution across North China "dense fog."
Re: Talking Pints: A Close Shave and A Strong Man Contest
this any better?
"Beijing police announced [earlier this week] that they had seized over 37,000 bottles of fake alcohol (including beer and spirits), because someone forgot to grease somebody's palm. Five different groups of people have been arrested on suspicion of producing fake liquor, fake beer and fake packaging. Meanwhile, third-tier bars in remote areas of town are now reporting a new source of cheap alcohol"
Re: Beijing's Pollution is so Bad, It Can Be Seen From Space
a lot of commentators are saying the indexes are higher than ever this weekend -- numbers in the 700s and 800s -- I believe that this is due to the fact that the monitors used to stop at 500 (which the people who built the machinese probably assumed "it couldn't ever get worse than that".
In other words, this weekend is bad but its certainly been as bad in the past (we just didn't know the numbers back then).
Now with more transparency on the Chinese side (reporting PM 2.5 is now par for the course in Beijing, and reporting on the issue is now more open) I expect the guages have been adjusted
Re: Beijing's Pollution is so Bad, It Can Be Seen From Space
Slight technical problems with making corrections to the post right now but just wanted to point out that the BJKids post was written on Jan 8, the one clear day we had last week, while the sentence in the last paragraph should read "The cloud of smog over Northern China is so bad that it can actually be seen from space, but unfortunately there it remains difficult to pinpoint why, exactly, things have gotten beyond "Crazy Bad."
I blame the smog.
Hope everyone can breathe easier later today.
Re: The Waigo iPhone App Conveniently Translates Chinese ...
Thanks Waygo team!
Absolutely love the app.
does the "test user" function allow for users to suggest other translations or add crowd-approved ingredients lists?
Re: Talking Pints: A Close Shave and A Strong Man Contest
"Beijing police announced [earlier this week] that they had seized over 37,000 bottles of fake alcohol (including beer and spirits), much of it set to be sold to Sanlitun bars. Five different groups of people have been arrested on suspicion of producing fake liquor, fake beer and fake packaging."
Ever have any new news? This happens every day in sanlitun.
Re: 2013 Foodie Wish Lists: Emily Young, Chinese Food Writer
Oops, an earlier version of this blog said that Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant was in London, but it's actually not. The post has been amended accordingly.
Re: The Waigo iPhone App Conveniently Translates Chinese ...
Dear The Beijinger Readers,
We were excited to read Josh's review review about us! Update: we’ve changed our name to “Waygo” rather than “Waigo” so there is less confusion about pronunciation, especially since many users are unfamiliar with pinyin. If you’ve already downloaded the app, you’ll see the name change reflected as soon as you update your apps.
Check out blog post about Josh's review at blog.translateabroad.com:
We totally agree with Josh about giving users more insight: “Lots of Chinese dishes have these inventive names, so mysterious translations like this are a pretty common occurrence. I'd like to see a small note with some background on how the dish is usually prepared.”
Even with an accurate translation, you have no context if you would even like a dish. For example, if you are unfamiliar with Kung Pao Chicken, it would be helpful to know it’s a (usually spicy) dish of diced chicken, peanuts, chili peppers, and veggies. We would love to provide this extra information to Waygo users so that you can spend your money wisely, and arguably more important, save your tastebuds from any preventable dining disasters. Stay tuned for product updates!
We were also curious to learn about the infamous 老干妈西葫芦 dish that Josh found while using Waygo. Waygo translated it as “Aged Godmother Squash.”
老干妈 (lǎogānmā): Old godmother
西葫芦 (xīhúlú): Cucurbita Pepo A.K.A., summer squash or zucchini
While Aged Godmother Squash is an accurate translation, most foreigners have no idea what’s behind the dish. We can only imagine what Josh’s imagination came up with! After investigation, we discovered the dish is a stir-fry made up of zucchini, seasoning, and black bean sauce. Where does the name come from? The black bean sauce used is the 老干妈 lǎogānmā brand, but could probably made with any ole’ black bean sauce.
Sound yummy? Here’s a recipe to make it. And one of the best parts? It’s classified as easy--制作难度：简单--and takes only 10 minutes to make! Sounds like you’ve got tonight’s dinner menu all set.
Thanks again to Josh and The Beijinger team for helping us get the word out about Waygo! With Waygo in hand, we hope you can go places you’ve never gone before, like those hole-in-the-wall noodle joints that don’t have English menus.
We appreciate any and all feedback in order to make Waygo the most useful app possible, so please feel free to sign up as a test user.
How to Become a Test User:
Download Waygo. Once the app is open on your device, hit the “i” button to take you to the Info screen. Next hit the “Feedback” button and then the “Tester Opt-In” button. That’s it!
Happy Eating,
The Waygo Team
Re: Why I’m Coming Back to China
This article has already been put on many top chinese websites, and forums. Well done...
Re: Back on His Feet: David Pooley, Chef De Cuisine at Aria
@ReneeWine,
You may have a point about the pictures but we do plenty photos of food in all our coverage, and sometimes feel the people who slave over the food get no love from the cameras. So, when we interview the chefs themselves we try and give them a chance to just be human.
Apparently, readers still want the food. Poor chef!
Re: Back on His Feet: David Pooley, Chef De Cuisine at Aria
I also like David Bowie.
Surprised! Why sometimes TBJ does not post pictures of dishes, which are made by some chefs? Pictures of dishes are more valuable, aren't they? :/
Re: Ben Folds Five Flake: Beijing Gig No More
Par for course.
Re: Drink Beer, Celebrate Australia Day
Hi Lou,
we will be celebrating Australia day by playing the Triple J Hot 100 and offering special deals on the day. Will confirm closer to the date!
Re: Drink Beer, Celebrate Australia Day
Hi,
Are there any celebrations going on this year for Australia day??
Thanks
Re: Why I’m Coming Back to China
still don't understand why you don't speak chinese after 5 (five!) years in beijing :B
Re: Too Good to Be True? Maybe Clean Coal Isn’t All ...
Good grief, what a lot of fools there are in the world. This guy's totally right. If the main objection to coal is that it's dirty, and this process can make it nearly clean and lower the cost...what's the problem? Why is that a "distraction from real solutions?" It IS a real solution, Bethie.
Your blind hatred of coal–which kept grandparents all over Beijing from freezing to death these last few weeks–is irrational. Your "real solutions" are not viable at the present time at all. None of them work reliably, and both of them have their own problems. For example, did you know there are some species of birds in California that are in danger of being completely wiped out by all the asinine wind turbines they've got all over the place? (The ones that haven't just been abandoned) They're costly, inefficient, break all the time and are totally subject to the caprice of weather. The same is true of solar power. When I was a kid twenty years ago my uncle heated his outdoor pool for the cool Jersey summer nights with solar power. That was about all they could do. In 20 years that's still about all they can do.
Unless you're personally planning on paying for every poor Beijinger to ditch the coal and keep warm with an inefficient, costly technology that breaks frequently, it isn't going to happen. Cleaning the coal is an excellent, brilliant idea that might actually do something to help China's pollution problem without compromising people's need to...you know...SURVIVE. Private companies like this one invest in solutions that they know are possible and marketable. That they are NOT investing in solar or wind power despite all their fad popularity amongst recycling Nazis is an indication that they do not work. Stealing everyone's tax money to try to force them to work hasn't done a thing, and isn't going to.
Re: Great News! Five-year-old Cancer Patient To Get ...
We just received an update on Yang Bing from Leslie Simpson: "Sadly this brave little boy has still not had his bone marrow transplant. After the last set-back when Yang Bing had a fever and sickness his doctor found that Yang Bing had many canker sores – which were potential sites of infection and therefore may put him at risk post surgery. He has been prescribed some special cream ( at 500rmb per tube ) and the sores are almost all healed.
He and his desperate parents wait patiently. Thank you for continuing to keep them in your thoughts and prayers."
Re: 2013 Foodie Wish Lists: Adam Murray, Home Plate ...
Just so there's absolutely no confusion (what with all those cannibal stories in 2012), that is a whole hog, not a whole human.
Re: What’s Your 2013 Beijing Foodie Wish List?
Adam Murray of Home Plate BBQ's Foodie Wish List:
http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2013/01/06/2013-foodie-wish-lists-adam-murray-home-plate-bar-b-que