Go outside and play!
Part of the joy of travelling, is the people that we get to meet often push, shift, and shape many of our ideas. My trip to Sanlitun yesterday did not fail me in this regard. At the end of our excursion, which included taking in the last dregs of the Spring Festival, shopping and lunch near the Canadian Consulate, we spilled onto the subway, exhausted and giddy with laughter. A lovely gentleman, most eager to practice his English (which is common in China by the way) joined in on our conversation.When he found out we were from Canada, he shared that he had been in Edmonton and Calgary but not British Columbia. He is an engineer and works in fracking (ahh..the oil industry). He was expecting to go to BC this year, but the building of the LNG pipeline has been postponed, so his trip is off for now.Of course he was disappointed, because he loves the travel, but moreso he is keen to be part of a solution to the air pollution in this city. I’m sure, dear readers, that you have heard mention of the pollution in this city and country. Yup. It’s bad. The ap on my phone alerts me when it is particularly bad as I have to make school decisions. We have masks to wear, at times, I have to tell the students to stay indoors, and PE classes are cancelled because the pollution ppm levels are too high.I live on the bottom floor of a 30 story apartment building. On days like today, my ap tells me it is 298 AQI or ‘Heavily Polutted’. The children in the building ride their bikes and roller blades in the foyer to avoid going outside to play. The foyer is filled with screams and giggles of all the young children in the building. And on Sundays, when I like to lounge and rejuvenate for the week, I really wish they would go outside and play. But, they can’t. It’s not a good idea and it’s not healthy. If my child were here and that age, I would keep him inside as well.So, here’s the rub. Don't they deserve better than this? If there is an option for China to stop burning all of this coal, and clean up the environment and allow their population to live healthier lives, AND if we can be a part of it, shouldn't we at least try? My knowledge of the LNG project and all the politics surrounding it is fairly rudimentary. Even tonight, as I was trying to do some research, my VPN kept kicking me off the sites and shutting down my internet, so I admit, this is a very superficially insightful approach to the topic.I know that BC residents are concerned, and rightly so, of the implications of the LNG project. I know that the natural habitat of animals in the wild will be impacted forever, and in a negative way, if the project goes through. I know all of this. I am simply a believer that the children in the foyer deserve something better than this. And if we can somehow, using our creativity and ingenuity that BC is so well known for, be part of the solution, are there other options?On the rare times I can access the site, my Facebook friends post stunning pictures of their long runs through loamy trails, bike rides in stunning bike parks, boating excursion on the Coast Salish Sea, or sightings of the first crocuses of the year. The sun shines, the air is clear and they are rich with the freedom and joy of being outside.And 11 hours away by plane, we are inside … waiting. The good thing is that tonight, the winds are blowing up, and by tomorrow the pollution will have been cleared out. I wonder where it all blows to?
