Journal Entry 3

When people in the U.S. found out that I was going to China, many of them said to me, "Don't forget your face mask," or "I hope you can breath with all that pollution." Truth is, all the U.S. media seemed to report about China was how bad the environment was getting as China raced to become an economic power. When I first stepped out of the airport in Beijing, I could immediately see the smog. Xi'an's pollution seemed about the same. However, the air wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The way the U.S. media portrayed it, I thought I would start choking on smog as soon as I landed.

After being here for a week and a half I would have to agree that the environment is polluted, but I don't think the U.S. is being fair in its reporting. After all, the U.S. isn't exactly known for being an environmentally friendly country itself. I might even argue that under the Bush administration the U.S. has suffered environmental setbacks. Through the readings and lectures, I've learned that the central government of China has set environmental goals, but the provincial governments don't have the motivation to carry out policies to meet these goals. They don't want to risk losing out on economic advancement to save the environment.

Truthfully, I think the populations of both China and the U.S. are just as much to blame as their governments. I understand that many people in China need to use coal to heat their homes, but they certainly don't need to be buying and driving all the new cars that are appearing in China. Plus, one of the readings talked about how today's "Me Generation" takes long showers, further exacerbating environmental problems. While the government certainly needs to make policies and reforms to help the environment, it is up to the people of China as well. The same applies to the U.S. population.

Some measures are already being taken in China. For instance, I was pleasantly surprised to see a recycling program set up outside of the dining hall at Tsinghua. I'm interested to find out more about recycling in China as well as other programs at Tsinghua that dedicate themselves to helping the environment. As I spend more time in China I hope to form more of an opinion on China and the environment.

In the meantime, however, the U.S. needs to stop criticizing China's environmental issues when it has problems of its own. Moreover, the world needs to work together to solve these problems, and not just accuse other countries of polluting the environment too much.

A small example of something that annoyed me in regards to this occurred at the Great Wall the other day. I noticed that people were littering a lot at the Great Wall. Since most people who visit there are tourists from other countries, I find it safe to assume that it was the foreign visitors that did the littering. This bothers me because if foreign visitors are contributing to China's pollution, then how can we expect the Chinese to not do the same? All in all, the world needs to work together to make sure we have a clean planet. China's environmental problems offer us with an opportunity to do so.

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