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Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:00 AM

"The Beijing Olympics debacle has begun"

Riots and death in Tibet, out-of-control pollution, protests over Darfur: Beijing's ready for its close-up!
Andrew Leonard

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  • Wednesday, March 19, 2008 11:16 PM

    Pollution in Beijing

    Apparently the weekend that I was there the factories were kept operating, because the pollution was awful.

    Now I was not around for the fifties and sixties in America, when the pollution was so very bad in cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, but the pollution I saw in Beijing last summer was nothing like I've ever experienced. At times, the visibility was only one or two blocks. Skyscrapers became fuzzy gray above the fifteenth story. The only thing that I can compare it to is being a couple miles downwind of a forest fire. It smells (and tastes!) the same way too. Actually, a forest fire smells better.

    By the way, if you are planning on going to Beijing for the Olympics, get your doctor to prescribe you some antibiotics and start taking them the day you leave. I saw this advice on a travel site before my trip, and I laughed at it. But when I got back I was sick enough to need a full course of Zithromax. Only drink beer and soda (since they are sterilized in the bottling process), avoid ice cubes, and bring your own toilet paper.

    I'm serious about the toilet paper.

    —Mr Smith Read Mr Smith's other letters

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