Mega-Smog Shuts Down Chinese City of 11 Million

Despite the shutdown, I see that bicyclists were out in force. (Photo from the Reuters story)

We should all be like China. Because, you know, China can get things done...

From Reuters: (via Drudge)

Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China's largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspended classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country's first major air pollution crisis of the winter. 

An index measuring PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), reached a reading of 1,000 in some parts of Harbin, the gritty capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province and home to some 11 million people. 

A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organisation recommends a daily level of no more than 20. [yikes.]

The smog not only forced all primary and middle schools to suspend classes, but shut the airport and some public bus routes, the official Xinhua news agency reported, blaming the emergency on the first day of the heating being turned on in the city for winter [Really? That's the best the Chinese government can come up with? Really?].  

Visibility was reportedly reduced to 10 meters. 

The smog is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. 

Air quality in Chinese cities is of increasing concern to China's stability-obsessed leadership because it plays into popular resentment over political privilege and rising inequality in the world's second-largest economy. 

Domestic media have run stories describing the expensive air purifiers government officials enjoy in their homes and offices, alongside reports of special organic farms so cadres need not risk suffering from recurring food safety scandals.

Yeah, the would-be petty Leftists tyrants of this country just love China. There's nothing like exercising hideous amounts of control over the media, political adversaries, and the common people in the name of "fairness" and "justice" and political graft.

But don't worry. The Chinese government has it all in hand by tackling the major causes of smog in China.

Last week, Beijing city released a color-coded alert system for handling air pollution emergencies, to include the temporary halt of construction, factory production, outdoor barbecues and the setting off of fireworks.

Yup. Backyard barbecues and fireworks. If it wasn't for that, then China would smog free.