Beijing's short-term fixes fail to address real causes of pollution
Temporarily shutting factories and other short-term measures not the answer, experts say
Having attracted unwelcome global coverage for hosting an international marathon in toxic haze last month, mainland leaders will be less than pleased if the capital is again shrouded in smog when it hosts the Apec summit this week.
For all their beauty and seclusion, tucked 50km away northeast of central Beijing, the venues usually offer no haven from the smog - as was evident during a visit there on the day of the marathon, October 19, by the South China Morning Post.
The official pollution reading in Huairou district, where the venues are located, showed the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 263 at about 11am on October 19. A reading above 300 is deemed hazardous. In central Beijing, the AQI was 358, while the US embassy's monitoring equipment, on the busy third ring road, recorded 403.
Near the venue at Yanqi Lake, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 - tiny particles that can pass through the lungs, threatening a person's respiratory and cardiac health - were 213 and 277 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively. That's about two-thirds of the levels in the city, but still eight and five times the levels recommended by the World Health Organisation.
The visibility across Yanqi Lake was as poor as it was in the city centre, although the air smelled less pungent.