A Reader: The 2010 Asian Games

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Date of this Version

7-25-2009

Document Type

Article

Citation

July 25, 2009 in The China Beat http://www.thechinabeat.org/

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Copyright July 25, 2009. Used by permission.

Abstract

The PR folks for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou have added China Beat to their mailing list, so we got their note this week about organizers’ plans to seed clouds to prevent rain during the Games. Our interest was piqued–we hadn’t heard much yet about the 2010 Asian Games. Here are a few of the things we found when we went looking…

1. As with the Olympic preparations in Beijing, there is massive construction, investment, and environmental management (not just cloud-seeding) underway in Guangzhou, according to Xinhua:

Authorities are pumping in more than 58 billion yuan (8.5 billion U.S. dollars) to boost the transportation system and protect the environment as Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, is preparing for the 16th Asian Games next November. …

The latest projects include a large urban metro subway network consisting of eight lines, to be completed before the opening of the sporting event. …

On the environmental front, Yang Liu, deputy director of Guangzhou environmental protection bureau, said the city had set a goal to ensure as many as 361 days of better air quality next year.

Air quality in the city improved in the first five months of this year, with 37 fewer days of haze and dust than in the same period of last year, the newspaper said.

“But the task of ensuring better air quality during the Games remains tough,” Yang said.