Saturday, December 7, 2013

Shanghai Disneyland Construction Halted Due to Shanghaî Severe Smog Levels - Will Shanghaî Disneyland become "The Magic Kingdom where you can't breathe" ?



Edited: It didn't took long. This afternoon i've posted the article below about the dreadful pollution smog in Shanghaî and i just learned on Disney by Mark the website of former Imagineer Mark Hickson the "breaking news" below:

"Shanghai Disneyland Construction Halted Due to Shanghaî Severe Smog Levels. Shanghai authorities ordered school children indoors and halted all construction Friday as China’s financial hub suffered one of its worst bouts of air pollution, bringing visibility down to a few dozen meters, delaying flights and obscuring the city’s skyline. The financial district was shrouded in a yellow haze, and noticeably fewer people walked the city’s streets. Vehicle traffic also was thinner, as authorities pulled 30 percent of government vehicles from the roads. They also banned fireworks and public sporting events. The government’s air pollution monitoring site records the level of PM2.5, particulate matter hazardous to health at 477, one of the highest pollution levels ever recorded. The World Health Organization recommends an average PM2.5 level of 20 or below.

This afternoon post:

Look at these pictures above and below. They were shot in Shanghaî. And not one year ago like the ones posted in my previous article, but YESTERDAY. Once again the city is under an incredible pollution smog and you can't see more than a few dozens of meters ahead of you. The city is right now under sanitary alert as pollution is currently between 23 and 31 times superior to the limit recommended by international  sanitary authorities. People in Shanghaî can't breathe normally, have headaches and the government asked that children at schools remain indoors. I've talked about this huge pollution problem in China just a few weeks ago - in the article at THIS link - as this happen regularly in Beijing and its area but although it did happened last january in Shanghaî, so far this kind of pollution peak happened more in Beijing. Apparently you can now add Shanghaî on the list of the chinese cities which have a serious - translate: dangerous - pollution problem, and this regularly.

But there is something else: although it can happen anytime in the year it seems that it's more happening in Shanghaî during the winter, and in this case it was last January and today, in December. And when Shanghaî Disneyland is it supposed to open? At the very end of 2015! ( and they're late, so it won't be before ). So, Disney better pray that this kind of pollution peak won't happen during SDL Grand Opening. And to tell you the truth, i wouldn't put my bets on this.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And China is going to be the "THE NEXT SUPERPOWER??"

A country where 85% of the people still go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground.

No thanks.

First Magic Bands and building a Disney park in a communist country..

Iger is worse than Eisner.



Anonymous said...

China is everything but communist. But yeah; I'm willing to see how many operational days are gonna be shutdown because of the healthy smog. Nice move.