Beijingers hope Games clean-up stays in place

Dan Martin, Yahoo News 18 Aug 08;

Beijing's aggressive moves to get the city ready for the sporting showcase also has whet the appetite of residents for a modern, clean and orderly city -- something they hope will outlast the Olympic flame itself.

If Wen Laifu had his way, the Beijing Olympics would last forever.

The immediate reason is China's huge and growing collection of gold medals which the sports-mad Beijing resident called "extraordinary."

"Beijing is one of the great cities of the world. But we don't act like it sometimes," said Wen, a freelance ad copy writer strolling through Tiananmen Square on an overcast but pollution-free day with his wife and young son.

The Olympic host city, whose modern makeover has impressed Games visitors, is unrecognisable to many long-term residents.

Strict driving restrictions have helped ease the chronic and paralysing traffic congestion that normally clogs the streets of the ancient capital of 17 million people, taking about one-third of its three million cars off the road.

That, plus the moving or temporary shuttering of factories in the region as well as other anti-pollution moves, has been credited with helping to clear the city's notoriously smoggy skies during the Games, although favourable weather also has been a factor.

Other moves have included a clampdown on the city's blatant prostitution, but also the stifling of dissidents to avoid embarrassing political dissent during the August 8-24 Games.

Authorities have given no hint yet that the temporary beautification measures would be maintained following the Games, but many are hoping they will.

A poll last month by the Beijing Social Facts and Public Opinion Survey Centre found that 96 percent of Beijing residents felt the measures had been beneficial and 60 percent wanted them to continue.

"These measures have been successful. The city is better now," said Zhao Wei, 39, who operates a chain of six dry-cleaning outlets.

The driving restrictions, which have limited motorists to driving on alternate days based on their license plate number, have forced him to take the bus and subways every other day.

They also have slightly disrupted business by complicating delivery of chemicals and other supplies he needs, though like nearly all Chinese questioned by AFP, he saw that as a necessary inconvenience during the Olympics.

Independent estimates have put annual direct economic losses from the city's gridlock at up to one billion dollars. The World Health Organisation estimates about 650,000 people die prematurely in China each year from air pollution.

Zhao is willing to sacrifice for a better city, adding that Beijing's notorious gridlock already regularly causes supply disruptions and that rising petrol prices have made driving more expensive anyway.

He said Beijing should adopt limits on car ownership similar to those in Shanghai, China's largest city.

"Chinese can accept hardship for the greater good, especially under government guidance. It is one of our national strengths," said Zhao, riding the subway to an Olympic basketball game with friends.

Hong Guangli, a 25-year-old economics graduate student, is realistic, noting that business pressures are likely to bring a return to the free-for-all growth behind Beijing's problems.

Yet he remained hopeful that the government, having seen that seemingly intractable problems can be addressed with the proper motivation, will place new emphasis on improving living conditions, not just in Beijing, but nationwide.

"We cannot move as quickly in China as in your country. But we are making progress," he said.