BEIJING: “Click-click.” Zou Yi, founder of social media account BeijingAirNow, stood on the flyover close to the China World Trade Center in Beijing’s central business district, taking pictures of the sky with his cellphone. His dog, named Baiyou, which means tar or pitch, sat quietly next to him.
“I have persisted in recording the changes in Beijing’s air quality every day since 2013. And now, a decade has passed,” Zou said. Although he had a cold, he still wrapped himself up in a coat and took Baiyou to three locations, the China World Trade Center, Beijing Radio and Television Station, and CITIC Tower, Beijing’s tallest building, to photograph the sky. As usual, the sky over Beijing was azure. However, 10 years ago, any shade of blue sky was far less common. Zou showed Beijing Review a composite picture made of photos of Beijing’s sky taken throughout 2013. Hazy gray stood out as the dominant color of the collection. The top of the picture is also prominently marked with the annual average concentration of PM2.5, particles in the air that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, considered among the most harmful to health. In that year, in Beijing, the average concentration of PM2.5 was 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter, far exceeding the annual average limit of 35 micrograms per cubic meters set by China’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), which became effective in 2016. The continuous hazy weather made Zou determined to photograph the Beijing sky every day to record the changes in the city’s air quality.
–The Daily Mail-Beijing Review news exchange item
