Beijing Bans BBQS In Suburbs To Win 2022 Winter Olympics

BEIJING (China), May 7 (Bernama) -- To win the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing has banned restaurants in selected suburban areas from operating outdoor barbecues to ensure the city's smoggy skies can be cleared. Believing barbecuing can emit a lot of particulate matter (PM) PM2.5, which are airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, Beijing authorities have blamed restaurant barbecues as a a major contributor to the smoggy skies, Xinhua news agency reported. Hence, restaurants within Beijing's fourth ring road, as well as those which lie on the outskirt areas such as Tongzhou District and the Yizhuang Economic and Technology Development area, Mentougou, Fangshan, Shunyi, Daxing, Pinggu and Miyun districts were no longer allowed to operate outdoor barbecue, Xinhua quoted the Beijing Municipal Bureau of City Administration and Law Enforcement as saying late Wednesday. "China is going all out to bring 'Olympic Blue' to Beijing, said the state-run news agency, which likened the "Olympic Blue" to the coined phrase of "APEC Blue" which netizens claimed had the city temporarily enjoying clear blue skies for about a week during last November's APEC meeting. Air pollution is believed to be one of the major problems hurting Beijing's chance for the 2022 Games. The International Olympic Committee will vote on Beijing's bid race against Almaty, Kazakhstan, on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur. Xinhua said from January to April, authorities had dealt with some 2,214 outdoor barbecue cases, collecting fines amounted to 203,000 yuan (US$32,743). Apart from banning outdoor barbecue, Beijing has set its target of keeping coal consumption under 15 million tonnes, phased out 200,000 vehicles and closed more than 300 polluting factories this year. --BERNAMA