Shorter incense, more holidays as Beijing seeks a solution to smog
Print Edition
PEOPLE are being advised to burn shorter incense at temples and more holidays are being considered for students on smoggy days as Beijing began its annual “two sessions.”
Smog continued to be the buzzword at the “two sessions” — the Municipal People’s Congress, the local legislature, and the Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a local political advisory body.
“I call on our fellow followers to take actions to follow the call of the society, and make concerted efforts to clean our air,” said Hu Xuefeng, host of Beijing’s renowned Yonghe Lamasery.
The lamasery began providing “environmentally friendly incense” free of charge and barred visitors from bringing their own incense in 2013.
The free incense is shorter.
“Followers and visitors to the lamasery have stopped burning long and strong-smelling incenses. I call on other temples to also participate in the clean-air efforts,” said Hu.
There have been heated discussions over how to prevent children from the harmful effects of air pollution.
Several members of the advisory body proposed that air purifiers should be put in classrooms.
Xian Lianping, director of the Beijing Education Commission and a local political adviser, said special research committees have been set up to study the effect of smog on schools.
It is making specific plans to install air purifiers at schools and setting standards on future school purifying facilities.
Xian said the period for winter and summer holidays would be adjusted to “allow students to attend school on clear days, and stay at home on smoggy days.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering measures to keep half the city’s cars off the roads during the winter heating season, when coal-fired municipal heating tends to cause a lot of smog.
The measures would be applied from around mid-November to mid-March, said Li Shixiang, vice mayor of Beijing.
Vehicle emissions account for 31 percent of the city’s smog sources, according to the capital’s environmental protection bureau.
Current traffic rules, based on license plate numbers, take about a fifth of vehicles off the roads each weekday. Beijing enforces odd-even plate number restrictions during severe smog and also for major international events.
“Beijing wants to improve its smog warning mechanism and refine traffic restriction measures to make them more effective,” said a spokesman for the city’s transport administration.
There are 5.6 million vehicles registered in Beijing.
Last month, local traffic authorities revealed that the capital is likely to trial a congestion charge for road users.
However, Li said no timetable had been set and promised no “abrupt” implementation of the rule.
In a report delivered to the legislature by Mayor Wang Anshun, the city’s average density of PM2.5, the tiny particles hazardous to health, fell by 15.8 percent last year compared to 2012.
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