Hot air fails to disperse cloud over Guangzhou

Wednesday was yet another grey and hazy morning for Guangzhou. After living in the city for 10 months, I didn't think this was anything extraordinary. But the Guangzhou city government chose the day to mark the fact that the 16th Asian Games was only 30 days away, and to launch a massive propaganda stunt to show nearly 200 local and overseas journalists how much Guangzhou had transformed itself to host the biggest international sports event in China since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Speaking at the press conference, Guangzhou Mayor Wan Qingliang pronounced the city ready to take on the grand event.

'Guangzhou's sky is bluer and the water is clearer. Some citizens said they could enjoy the sunshine during the day and moonlight during the night. Many could even count the stars in the night sky while taking a stroll,' he said.

I was shocked. I couldn't recall one time in the past 10 months when I saw stars shining in the sky in downtown Guangzhou. As a huge fan of stargazing, I would be thrilled to find such spots in a city choking from heavy air pollution.

'Many rivers have become important venues for leisure, entertainment and fitness for the public after our river-cleaning efforts. Now that the water quality of the rivers has been improved, there are more fish, shrimp and even turtles in our rivers,' Wan said.

That was another puzzling statement. I can only remember Guangzhou's rivers as clotted-up and black.