China kicked off the last leg of its Olympic torch relay on Friday under hazy skies and with a threat of rain complicating plans for the opening ceremony. Beijing has spent heavily to curb pollution, clearing over half the city's cars from its streets and closing dozens of factories, but the air quality for the start of the Games is expected to be only just within the guidelines for safe levels.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China kicked off the last leg of its Olympic torch relay on Friday under hazy skies and with a threat of rain complicating plans for the opening ceremony.
Beijing has spent heavily to curb pollution, clearing over half the city's cars from its streets and closing dozens of factories, but the air quality for the start of the Games is expected to be only just within the guidelines for safe levels.
!ADVERTISEMENT!
There was also a chance of rain for the evening, despite research into weather manipulation that some had thought would allow Beijing to ward off rainfall. The light breeze was unlikely to be enough to shift the haze.
"Whatever happens the opening ceremony will continue...We have contingency plans for temporary showers, rain and drizzle," said Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organizing committee.
"In the second rehearsal we had some rain but if the rain gets heavier some things will be modified or readjusted."
The opening ceremony begins in the spectacular Bird's Nest stadium at the auspicious time of 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) on the eighth day of the eighth month.
PREHISTORY TO PRESENT
The last few kilometers of a controversial global torch relay began at the site where archaeologists found the remains of early human relative Peking Man, which date back between 250,000 and 400,000 years.
It was scheduled to end around midday at a school hosting an Olympic Youth Camp, with 140 torchbearers lined up to take part in the culmination of a national relay that drew vast, patriotic and hugely enthusiastic crowds on its home stretch.
But an overseas tour meant to showcase China's unity and pride ahead of the Games turned into a lightning rod for protests, mostly over China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet.
Games organizers have not revealed who will be the final torchbearer and light the cauldron in the Bird's Nest. organizers shrugged off concerns that the leaden skies could dampen the fun.
Chinese officials have sought to play down concerns about air quality, arguing that the haze was not the result of pollution.
"The measures we have taken so far can guarantee fairly good air quality during the Games," Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, told a news conference on Friday.
"Any friend who knows Beijing's environmental and meteorological conditions can easily come to the conclusion that Beijing's air quality is up to standards under current emission and weather circumstances," Du said.
Thursday marked the start of autumn under the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, which offers the prospect of some relief from stifling temperatures, the official Xinhua agency reported.
"Heat and humidity will recede after the lunar-calendar autumn begins," said Guo Wenli, director of the climate office with the Beijing Meteorological Bureau.
In humid, sub-tropical Hong Kong, where equestrian events begin on Saturday, heavy rain had fallen and was forecast to continue.
(Additional reporting by Guo Shipeng; Editing by Keith Weir)
