IQAir, the Swiss-based air-quality technology and data company has released their annual Beijing Air Quality Report, and it contains nothing but good news for Beijingers.

The report covers trends in Beijing air quality from 2008 to 2019 and shows that the city’s air has been getting better yearly by almost every measure since 2013, putting Beijing on track to drop off of the global top 200 polluted cities by the end of this year. That is quite a leap, considering that the city ranked as having the 52nd worst air in the world in 2016, alongside 139 other Chinese cities.

Could this soon be a scene from the past?

Yearly average PM2.5 concentration has been on a steady decline for the past five years, in which time it has more than halved from 99.7 to 42.6µg/m³. Following that same trajectory, Beijing should meet the WHO air quality standard of maintaining levels under 10µg/m³ by 2022.

The data also suggests a significant improvement in hourly air quality measures: 21 percent of hours were “good” quality in 2018, compared to just 5.2 percent of hours in 2010. Meanwhile, “hazardous” air is nearly non-existent these days, whereas in the period from 2009 to 2015 hazardous air made up about 5-8 percent of hours.

IQAir’s report provides monthly historical data on Beijing’s pollution levels

The blue, blue skies of the summer just-gone-by were also noted. In fact, this summer was the cleanest on record, and August the cleanest ever month on record with an average PM2.5 concentration of just 22.1µg/m³.

Check out the full IQAir report here.

Pollution still climbed last winter in the greater Jing-Jin-Ji area

Despite the overall positive air quality trend in Beijing proper, critics have claimed that the trade war with the United States may be threatening progress in the greater area that includes Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province (also known as Jing-Jin-Ji).

As South China Morning Post reports, an expert from the CLSA investment forum attributes the 6.5 percent rise in pollution levels in the area to the economic stimulus efforts in response to the trade war. Of the increased industrial activity, steel production is the primary culprit, which rose by 21 percent in northern China in the winter of 2018-2019. Although steel output continues to rise, its growth is slowing as efforts to curb pollution step up.

READ: Beijing Receives Good News From the Energy, Water, and Wildlife Sectors

Images: Unsplash, China Daily, IQAir

Beijing’s expatriate community lost one of its finest Wednesday as Mike Murphy, the man who brought the IQAir brand to Beijing, died suddenly at his home in the Lido area.

A resident of Beijing for over a decade, Mike was the very definition of a self-made man. He arrived in 2004 with his pregnant wife, having been a landscaper in the US, and started his business by selling Christmas trees in the parking lot of Pinnacle Plaza in Shunyi, at a time when they were virtually impossible to buy in Beijing.

"We arrived with very little money and no job prospects. Our first apartment cost us RMB 1,000 and had a pipe in the ceiling that dripped enough water to call it a ‘shower,’" Mike recalled in a 2009 interview in the Beijinger. "Starbucks was a once-a-month treat."

His interactions selling trees to Shunyi expats soon had him retailing high-end grills, trampolines and other hard-to-find accessories.

With a true entrepreneurial spirit, he was the first person in China to reach out to Swiss-based IQAir to ask for the rights to sell their high-end air filtration machines in China.

We Beijing expats take air quality awareness for granted in 2015, but Mike started his business at a time when air masks and filtration devices were almost non-existent in China, and neither the US Embassy nor the Chinese government reguarly published air quality data.

In 2006 when his first batch IQAir machines went on sale in Beijing, many scoffed at the idea that people would be willing to pay a premium for cleaner air in their homes and offices. They were wrong: the products were an instant hit.

Along the way, his business profoundly impacted expats’ perceptions of Beijing’s air quality and enabled them to protect themselves against its dangers. By extension, he paved the way for more entrepreneurs to import and develop the vast array of air filtration devices that serve both the expatriate and the local markets now.

It’s hard to exaggerate the impact Mike has had on Beijing’s international community. The machines he retailed have graced the living spaces of countless homes and offices, and his active promotion of the brand and its specifications helped make "HEPA filtration" and "PM 2.5" part of the common vernacular of the typical Beijing expat. His business has also profoundly impacted the Chinese community as well, with IQAir among the most well-known brands in major cities across the country.

Mike was a modest person who never forgot his humble upbringings and was always eager to share his business advice. He and his four brothers and sisters were raised by their single mother, with utitilies regularly turned off due to lack of payment, he told Start Up Noodle in 2014.

"From the age of 12 on, I have always been working—I can’t remember a stretch of time that I wasn’t doing odd jobs for money.  And honestly, since the age of 12, I can’t remember a time that I didn’t have all the things I needed and many of the things I wanted," he was quoted as saying.

His strong work ethic propelled him to success in each of the ventures he started, and he enjoyed the ride as an entrepreneur. "I have loved every minute of every day that I have worked on my own," he told Start Up Noodle. "Almost every one of my friends and family growing up express discontent for their jobs or careers, some even express hatred. I have never experienced this and wouldn’t even know what to do if I did."

An avid traveler, Mike had been to over 40 countries before arriving in Beijing, and continued the tradition with his children. For the past year he has split his time between Beijing and Vancouver, where his kids have been going to school.

"Mike had an inspirational story both as a man and as an entrepreneur," recalled fellow entrepreneur and Beijing resident Jim James. "He overcame difficulties with good humor, determination and humility. He leaves behind more than he came with and so will always be remembered in my heart and mind."

Mike was a strong supporter of True Run Media’s products and via this support, allowed us to do what we do.

As of publication, there was no indication of the cause of death but foul play was not suspected.

He is survived by his wife and two children, as well as extended family in the US and in Canada. He also leaves hundreds of friends, customers, and business associates in Beijing.

"Our customers are from all over the world, and each of them has their own story to tell," Mike said in our 2009 interview with him. "I love the fact that we are able to make a difference in their lives by bringing them those things that they want and need."

A memorial service in Beijing for Mike is set for April 17 in Beijing at the River of Grace church in Wangjing (see graphic above).

Our thoughts go out to Mike’s family and friends.

Rest in Peace, Mike.

Photo: the Beijinger

As the smog lifts on another series of “Beyond Index” days in Beijing, parents are taking a deep breath and praying for a great weekend for the kids.

Next weekend, we know one place that is guaranteed to have good air: the Beijing International School Expo Jan 24-25 at the Kerry. Our lead sponsor, Healthpro, will have their top-of-the-line IQAir machines on full blast to assure no matter what the AQI, the air inside the expo will be first-rate.

That means that your child can have fun at one of our expo’s three designated play areas in a safe environment while you learn more about which of Beijing’s schools best suits their needs. HealthPro will also have many of its models on display, along with company representatives on hand that can answer any of your queries about how to clean the air at your home or office.

And while air quality weighs heavily on most expats’ minds during this time of year, the issue seems especially pertinent right now, given the air this week.

At the expo parents can visit HealthPro’s booth to ask about the company’s air quality assessment service (which tests pollution levels in your home, see Tip #5 here for more details), and find out more information about how IQAir purifiers safeguard homes from PM2.5 particles.

Such devices are becoming more and more of a prerequisite in Beijing, especially after sales increased by six-fold this time two years ago, during a period that was then considered to be “the worst stretch of air pollution in Beijing on record.”

And while PM2.5 levels decreased last year— from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter to 85.9 percent, but an improvement nonetheless—  our budding optimism was quickly dashed by reports that PM10 levels jumped in 2014 by 7.1 percent.

These “coarse” PM10 particles are bigger than their notorious PM2.5 counterparts, and less harmful because they are mostly derived from the crushing of rocks and soil for construction and farming.

PM2.5s, meanwhile, stem from coal plants, cars and other toxic exhaust fumes (see here for more information). For many expats, especially parents, these latest developments make air purifiers all the more appealing. 

You can find out more information at HealthPro’s website. And be sure check here for updates about the school expo here.