Inundated with traffic and smog issues, Beijing officials are trying a radical experiment: they’re going to ban one third of the city’s cars for two weeks in August.
The move comes as officials are looking to find ways to clean up the city in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games. With roughly three million cars in circulation (increasing by 1200 vehicles per day), the problem is only getting worse. Thus, the government has decided to pull one million cars from circulation. (The specifics of this arrangement have not been made clear)
Beijing mayor Xu Zongheng has actually advised his constituents to “Stop buying cars,” noting that the city’s annual growth rate is 18.6 percent, far outpacing the city’s road network development.
+ IOL.co.za: No more cars, please
+ Associated Press: Beijing to test partial car ban before Olympics (via ABC7Chicago.com)
One source of air pollution is from motorized bicycles that are built poorly and cheaply. China is still a country where poverty is everywhere, and a country where a business cannot leave toilet paper in a public restroom for fear of it being stolen. Even that is precious. Clean automobiles are still a ways from being common in Mainland China and India.
They do not use toilet paper. They do not sit on the toilet either. When you go into a restroom the seat of the toilet is dirty. This is because they stand and squat on the seat.
Not to mention the tendency to poison the dog food and toothpaste that comes out of that country. Although it’s unavoidable sometimes, I try hard not to buy anything made there anymore.
Scratch: That can’t be going to well, can it?
I don`t agree with you guys! China is a development country,there are many problems to exist is normal.I believe your country also develops day by day~ So welcome to China ,maybe you will change your mind~
I don’t think it is anti-Chinese predudice that causes these concerns, Eson; China is not just a developing country, it is a rapidly advancing market. Japan was the Far East’s economic leader, followed by Taiwan and South Korea. As we see today, China, Thailand, and Malaysia have replaced those countries. China presents a troubling situation, as it is a polluted country with a huge population. It is well-known that China bears an industrial cloud seen from satellite images. With 1.3 billion people, Chinese industry could pose an ecological crisis eclipsing America’s. By the time the United States cuts down on its carbon emissions, the world will have to contend with India’s and China’s. This cutting down on transportation will hurt and upset locals, but it is a sign Beijing understands the image of environmental concern for the world to see.
The air does get pretty dirty there, but it’s not all due to automobiles. Still, I’d hate to be under those clouds when it started raining! 
Tom A.: It ain’t easy. Downright impossible, really. But worth the effort, I think.
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