And The Party said: 'Let there be light'
Updated on 03 August 2008
Raising the curtain of smog that hung above Beijing seems to have genuinely raised spirits, writes Alex Thomson.
One week out from the Games and the Communist Party of China have come over all Genesis. No, not the irritating 70's band; the Book.
"And The Party said: 'Let there be light', and there was light. And The Party looked and saw that it was good."
So it came to pass that the Beijing smog was cleared.
You see, The Party even controls the weather at the Totalitarian Olympics.
That's only logical of course. The Party has ordered that every seat will be filled, and they will be filled. It has evicted/intimidated/exiled/imprisoned/re-educated anybody who might conceivably complain about anything at all.
It has ordered Mass Enjoyment. Smiling is compulsory. Unhappiness is not an option.
As I left a restaurant last night with a group of Chinese and Western friends they were staring and pointing at the nght sky in unfettered astonishment.
But it is the raising of that curtain of smog which seems to have genuinely raised spirits. As I left a restaurant last night with a group of Chinese and Western friends they were staring and pointing at the nght sky in unfettered astonishment.
You could see a star. Such is the normal blanket of filth cocooning steamy summer Beijing that the notion of stargazing had, it seems, been long since abandoned.
Back at my hotel room I could not help but notice there are two gasmasks in their boxes peering out at me whenever I reach for a shirt from the wardrobe.
Now my chinese friends insist they are all part of the fire precautions that are imposed on hotels around here and no, really nothing to do with the normal smog.
Well that may be so, but if the mist comes down again around here I know that I have at least some recourse to getting partially filtered air into my lungs.
