Sunday, October 28, 2007

...And we're back!

So you may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while, but Ted and I have been busy dealing with this:



In short, pests.

This weekend we were busy attending the 7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment, a meeting of the Sport and Environment Commission of the International Olympic Committee. While I am glad that we took the time to attend this conference, I went thinking that I would get to meet other sustainability researchers and experts to talk about the role of culture in sustainability. What I got was a bunch of cronies from national olympic committees (NOCs) and their paid sustainability hacks.

This conference did start with an interesting site visit to the olympic "green", where the infamous Bird Nest and Watercube reside. I have to say, the stadium is quite impressive up close, but seems out of place surrounded by dirt, smog, and cranes. Ted and I got a good laugh out of the fact that this conference coincided with some of the worst air quality we had witnessed since arriving in Beijing a month ago. As you can see to the left from this view atop a hill in the Forest Park (just north of the Olympic Green), visibility was about a mile. If it was a clear day, we should have been able to see the construction site of the Bird Nest, but as it was, we could barely see the edge of the lake.

This in no way stopped conference delegates and press from sticking to the positive message that Beijing had done nothing but champion air quality and the environment, and the big news after the event on CCTV was the decision by the IOC not to move any sporting events out of Beijing due to poor air quality. While I would have to agree the that Beijing has made a great number of improvements in order to host the games, I was greatly disappointed that they only addressed the green technologies they had used to reduce CO2 emissions. So dedicated to not speaking about any other topic, one BOCOG official, before giving a presentation on all of the positive sustainability measures they have taken, specifically noted that they would not be talking about urban development.

At that moment, I knew that the site visit was the only valuable information I was going to glean from the conference, other than the knowledge that the IOC is so stuck on being carbon neutral that they have blinded themselves to other sustainability issues. For instance, at the site visit, one of the lead builders in charge of the construction for the National Indoor Stadium bragged that we were looking at the largest steel roof in the world. Ted and I were the only people to even bat an eye at this bit of information, which is quite disturbing considering that steel production facilities are such notorious polluters in China that they are shutting down production for three months during the games to help clear the air for outdoor competitions.

Yes, all of these "experts" had no idea what the hell they were talking about, as they were office dwellers of national olympic committees, there to learn how they could best Beijing and other host cities to take the crown for the "Green Games". While Sydney was the first city to bid in earnest for a green Olympics, since then it has become chic to attempt to outdo the last city in green technology. But what this has created is situation where everyone focuses on the newest green technology, but has no intent to actually shrink their footprint, or leave a lasting environmental legacy for their community.

Meanwhile, Ted and I couldn't even come back home and relax after infuriating sections on carbon offsets and the environmental vulnerability of Oceania (and they didn't even play the bjork song) because we had dirty, filthy bugs all over our hotel room. I had booked the place because it was only a few blocks away from the conference center and it cost less than $100.00 a night. Because we have been staying in hostels our entire time in China (and never had a bad experience), we thought we would be living in the lap of luxury, doling out about twice the amount we have been paying for hostels. No such luck. Here's a tip: never stay at Beijing Century Longdu International Apartments. We were killing bugs of various shapes and sizes every ten minutes or so upon our arrival. The shower was a nice choice of either freezing cold or scalding hot water, there was no internet, and the bed, while relatively comfortable, was louder than the deck of an old-timey sailing ship. So much for life in the high rise.

But, things are looking up. For our last four nights here in Beijing we are staying back at Templeside, which has been our home away from home in China. It feels great being back in Old Beijing, as it seemed to welcome us back with a beautiful but brisk autumn day. Since we hadn't really had the opportunity to explore the white pagoda in Beihai park, we decided to climb up and take in the view of Beijing. The reward was absolutely gorgeous, as the sky was clear and blue and the views were amazing. Wouldn't you know, as soon as the environmentalists leave town, we had one of the most beautiful days we had seen in weeks.

1 comment:

sena_k said...

I think all the outdoor sport participants should take a good look at the air quality before they compete. How many marathoners are going to keel over from breathing in that crappy air while running 26 miles?

I'm still captivated by all your adventures, but am looking forward to seeing you and Ted in a couple of weeks.