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Summer's here!
June 8, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
SUMMER has officially arrived. Zhejiang Province Meteorological Bureau declared that Hangzhou entered summertime on Monday.
Weather forecasters declare the start of summer after the average temperature remains at 22 degrees or above for five consecutive days.
The first of those five days is then declared the first day of summer.
This is one of the latest starts to summer in the past decade. The city last entered summer as late as June in 2004, when it started on June 4.
Meanwhile, the Hangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau announced yesterday that Hangzhou had 333 days, or 91.2 percent, of "excellent" or "good" air quality last year - the top two levels in a five-level rating system.
Over the same period, water pollution and levels of acid rain remained stable. And dust and noise pollution dropped over the period, added bureau officials.
PM10 particles - inhalable particles that are less than 10 micrometers in diameter - were the top pollutant, according to the bureau.
Italian impressions
An exhibition of paintings by 101 Italian artists opened at Henglu Museum at West Lake on Wednesday.
The Italian painters created most of the pieces last year to mark the visit to Hangzhou by Marco Polo (1254-1324) about 700 years ago.
Those 101 artists were asked to paint their impressions of the famous scenic city.
The exhibition is also the last stage of a tour that included stops in Venice in November and Rome in March. It ends today.
The show in Rome was the first of its kind in a cultural exchange program between China and Europe that is being coordinated by China's Ministry of Culture.
The Hangzhou and Venice city governments teamed up to host the event, with Hangzhou's Vice Mayor Chen Xiaoping delivering a speech at the opening ceremony.
A large picture book featuring the paintings was also launched yesterday.
Out of a jam
Measures to reduce traffic jams at the West Lake Scenic Area were lifted last Friday, as the spring travel peak season ended.
Parking fees were also reduced from 20 yuan (US$3.2) an hour to 10 yuan an hour for the coming weekends until autumn.
The measures were put in place every weekend from March 1 until May 31.
For the past three months, cars were restricted in the scenic area on weekends from 8:30am to 5pm based on license plate numbers.
On odd number dates, only cars with odd number plates could enter the area, while cars with even number plates were only permitted on even number dates.
One-way traffic flow was also introduced on the north side of West Lake on Lingyin Road and Longjing Road and in Hubin Commercial Area, covering Dongpo Road, Hubin Road, Nanshan Road, Kaiyuan Road and Yan'an Road.
Similar measures will be adopted again during other travel peaks, said police, advising visitors to use public transport to reach the scenic area.
Berry warning
Residents and visitors are reminded not to eat wild strawberries along roadsides in suburban areas as they might contain an extremely toxic herbicide.
So far this year, there have been at least five children diagnosed with severe paraquat poisoning, said Zhang Chenmei, director of the emergency department of the Children's Hospital affiliated to Medical School of Zhejiang University.
Paraquat is one of the world's most widely used herbicides and is extremely poisonous, said health officials.
Reports here and abroad say if a human consumes more than 30 milliliters of paraquat they will likely die. Death by multiple organ failure may occur within hours or up to 30 days after ingestion.
Farmers spray paraquat to kill vegetation growing on waste ground. They do this to prevent snakes from hiding in the plants, said a woman surnamed Yu.
Yu's son and daughter suffered from paraquat poisoning recently.
Children like to eat wild strawberries because of the sweet and sour taste, Yu said.
If someone bites into wild strawberries, one should spit them out immediately, rinse their mouth with milk or soybean milk and go to hospital as soon as possible for treatment, Zhang said.
Weather forecasters declare the start of summer after the average temperature remains at 22 degrees or above for five consecutive days.
The first of those five days is then declared the first day of summer.
This is one of the latest starts to summer in the past decade. The city last entered summer as late as June in 2004, when it started on June 4.
Meanwhile, the Hangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau announced yesterday that Hangzhou had 333 days, or 91.2 percent, of "excellent" or "good" air quality last year - the top two levels in a five-level rating system.
Over the same period, water pollution and levels of acid rain remained stable. And dust and noise pollution dropped over the period, added bureau officials.
PM10 particles - inhalable particles that are less than 10 micrometers in diameter - were the top pollutant, according to the bureau.
Italian impressions
An exhibition of paintings by 101 Italian artists opened at Henglu Museum at West Lake on Wednesday.
The Italian painters created most of the pieces last year to mark the visit to Hangzhou by Marco Polo (1254-1324) about 700 years ago.
Those 101 artists were asked to paint their impressions of the famous scenic city.
The exhibition is also the last stage of a tour that included stops in Venice in November and Rome in March. It ends today.
The show in Rome was the first of its kind in a cultural exchange program between China and Europe that is being coordinated by China's Ministry of Culture.
The Hangzhou and Venice city governments teamed up to host the event, with Hangzhou's Vice Mayor Chen Xiaoping delivering a speech at the opening ceremony.
A large picture book featuring the paintings was also launched yesterday.
Out of a jam
Measures to reduce traffic jams at the West Lake Scenic Area were lifted last Friday, as the spring travel peak season ended.
Parking fees were also reduced from 20 yuan (US$3.2) an hour to 10 yuan an hour for the coming weekends until autumn.
The measures were put in place every weekend from March 1 until May 31.
For the past three months, cars were restricted in the scenic area on weekends from 8:30am to 5pm based on license plate numbers.
On odd number dates, only cars with odd number plates could enter the area, while cars with even number plates were only permitted on even number dates.
One-way traffic flow was also introduced on the north side of West Lake on Lingyin Road and Longjing Road and in Hubin Commercial Area, covering Dongpo Road, Hubin Road, Nanshan Road, Kaiyuan Road and Yan'an Road.
Similar measures will be adopted again during other travel peaks, said police, advising visitors to use public transport to reach the scenic area.
Berry warning
Residents and visitors are reminded not to eat wild strawberries along roadsides in suburban areas as they might contain an extremely toxic herbicide.
So far this year, there have been at least five children diagnosed with severe paraquat poisoning, said Zhang Chenmei, director of the emergency department of the Children's Hospital affiliated to Medical School of Zhejiang University.
Paraquat is one of the world's most widely used herbicides and is extremely poisonous, said health officials.
Reports here and abroad say if a human consumes more than 30 milliliters of paraquat they will likely die. Death by multiple organ failure may occur within hours or up to 30 days after ingestion.
Farmers spray paraquat to kill vegetation growing on waste ground. They do this to prevent snakes from hiding in the plants, said a woman surnamed Yu.
Yu's son and daughter suffered from paraquat poisoning recently.
Children like to eat wild strawberries because of the sweet and sour taste, Yu said.
If someone bites into wild strawberries, one should spit them out immediately, rinse their mouth with milk or soybean milk and go to hospital as soon as possible for treatment, Zhang said.
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