NewApec blues: Beijing villages lose heat to keep skies clear for high-profile summit

The nights are freezing for villagers near the site of an Asia-Pacific summit on the outskirts of Beijing, where authorities have banned wood fires to curb pollution and help ensure blue skies for the leaders instead of the usual grey smog.

“I now sleep under three quilts at night,” said a man who gave only his surname, Bai, as is typical of many Chinese when speaking to journalists.

“There cannot be any smoke, and we cannot heat our brick beds,” said Bai, 68. Traditional raised sleeping platforms in frigid northern Chinese houses are often heated by coal and provide warmth during both the day and night.

World leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, are meeting today at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in a lavish new resort on the capital’s outskirts. At best, they are likely to catch only a glimpse of the surrounding rural life.

The fruit-farming villages have been scrubbed clean. Authorities have cleared illegally built sheds, revamped 150 new shopfronts, planted 100,000 saplings and promised to deliver cleaner heating sources in village makeovers that are bringing rare benefits to the small communities.