Batgung

We are a family with 2 young children considering a move to Hong Kong. One big consideration for us is the level of air pollution. I have heard everything from it is the equivalent to smoking 8 packs of cigarettes a day to, depending on the day and location, it is no worse than any other major city. Just wondering what the conditions are like from the people who are currently living there. Also, any tips on best places to live that receive less of the smog? Thanks for your views and advice.

I’m with MrB on this one. I also loathe the air pollution – who doesn’t? – but it’s not affecting my life to a point where I would say it’s intolerable, or that I’d consider moving because of it.

I know there have been some high-profile cases of just this reaction recently. For example, an expatriate distance runner who competed internationally for Hong Kong made a big public pronouncement about the air pollution earlier this year, and is leaving for the purity of New Zealand. He claimed the air was actively harming his own health, and that of his children.

But I also think it’s very hard to pin down quantifiable health effects of pollution. There’s no arguing it’s good for you, obviously. But Hong Kong currently has the world’s fifth-best life expectancy, far ahead of the USA (#48), the UK (#38) and even, yes, New Zealand (#33). So there must be lots of other things we would need to worry about if we lived elsewhere!

Purely anecdotally, I had a lot of problems with chronic sinus/respiratory infections about 8-10 years ago. But even as the pollution has demonstrably worsened in the intervening period, I’ve gotten much better – go figure.

Oh, and there’s simply no way living in HK is equal to smoking 8 packs of cigarettes a day. That sounds like hyperbole or a misunderstanding of some sort to me.

I think MrB is right on the money with his perception that the air on the northern/western sides of HK is generally worse than that on the eastern/southern sides. But on days when it’s bad, it’s bad all over, and vice versa. I’m not sure I’d let this criterion be the deciding factor in where I chose to live here.

I spent 2 weeks in HK last fall with my toddler twins, considering a move, and it was the gruesome air that pretty much killed the momentum behind the idea. Still pondering it, but am hoping to see some progress first. Totalitarian states usually make the best case for the notion that if there's a will there's a way!

The air seemed decent on Lamma, though. Anyway, I remember hearing that cigarette comparison and I believe HK air was said to be like smoking 8 cigarettes a day, not 8 packs. Still, I thought if was horrendous ... and this comes from a New Yorker. The air here in NYC might have been nearly as bad at times when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s ... now I'd say it's a nonfactor, so I'd like to think there's hope for HK.

As mentioned above, a North wind means hazy, polluted days for Hong Kong, as the dirty air from Guangdong blows our way. Could Walmart be the people to clear our skies?

The biggest energy user in South China is the manufacturing sector, all those factories churning out the ‘Made in China’ products for the world to buy. Since they use the most energy, they also generate the most pollution. Some pollution is produced indirectly, where they consume electricity from the grid which in turn comes from polluting power stations. But in many cases they generate pollution directly, burning oil or coal onsite to generate heat, electricity, or both for their own use. Up to 90% of Guangdong factories are reckoned to run some sort of 'back yard' generator.

How do we encourage these companies to choose the least-polluting fuels if they are generating their own energy? And however they get their energy, how to make sure they use it as efficiently as possible?

Rely on enlightened owners and managers?

Hong Kong is the biggest external investor in Guangdong’s manufacturing, meaning that many factories are owned and managed by Hong Kong people. Can we rely on their desire to give their families and children a pollution-free environment? Well… I guess the thinking goes along the lines of “If I work to become less polluting than my competitors, and that increases my prices and puts me out of business, how is THAT helping anyone?”

A big stick?

Could the Hong Kong government encourage local business owners to minimize pollution in their Guangdong factories? It doesn’t look likely. Yesterday’s policy address had tackling pollution as one of the priorities, but it only talked about some simple measures aimed at reducing locally produced pollution.

A big carrot?

Enter Walmart. I read a recent article that talks about what they are doing to become a greener company. They are not just looking at improvements they can make in their own stores, but at improvements they can make throughout their supply chain.

The article gives an example where a salmon fishing –boat captain who follows all the rules has problems competing with unregulated fisheries. This year, Walmart gave him hope when it announced they will only buy wild-caught salmon from fisheries that have been certified as sustainable. The section ends: “It's not just Alaskan fishermen who are talking. So are corn farmers in Iowa (who want to sell more ethanol through Wal-Mart), coffee growers in Brazil (who are being promised higher prices for their beans), and factory bosses in China (who are being told to cut their energy and fuel costs).”

Could this be the answer? What if  Walmart only purchase from factories that are certified to be low-polluters? When reducing pollution helps you win business from other dirtier competitors, it looks a lot more attractive to business owners than the thought of increased costs.

To be fair to Hong Kong business, there are companies and local business organisations that recognize the damage that their factories’ pollution causes in Hong Kong. One of their complaints is that even if they want to use less-polluting fuels, it can be impossible to buy them. Price-controls currently in place cause imbalances in the supply of certain types of fuel, encouraging the production and distribution of the cheaper, more polluting varieties.

Could Walmart’s plans help here too? If the Guangdong government takes steps to help its manufacturers reduce pollution, that can give them a competitive advantage over manufacturers from other countries, and from other regions in China when dealing with Walmart. Would the government be interested? An article in 2004 wrote: The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says its inventory of stock produced in China is expected to hit US$18 billion this year, keeping the annual growth rate of over 20 per cent consistent over two years., and If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would rank as China's eighth-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada," Xu said.

US$18 billion? Yep, I think they’d probably be interested to see how they can help.

MrB

 - Owning up to Responsibility for Manufacturing Contributions to the Pearl River Delta’s Poor Air Quality, - By Bill Barron, Simon Ng Ka-wing and Ben Lin Chubin, Institute for the Environment, HKUST (in co-operation with Civic Exchange)
 - Energy Supply and Fuels Supply in Guangdong: Impact on Air Quality in Hong Kong and Guangdong - By Christine Loh
 - Latest initiatives fail to clear air, The Standard
 - The green machine, Fortune
 - Wal-Mart's China inventory to hit US$18b this year, People's Daily

Hello!

I am considering to move to HK to work. I have found all the info that has been provided here useful when trying to figure out if I shall go or not. However, lately I have started to be concerned with the pollution. I have read some other bloggs that westerners have written and many of them complain about the polluted air. Some a lot.

Since I am used to rather clean air in my home country (Sweden) I am having second thoughts about HK. I am worried I will not like it at all due to the air. It makes me really sad since it has been a dream of mine for a long time now.

It would be very appreciated if any of you would like to give me an updated view of how you think things are now.

Best regards

A

MrB,

Thank you very much for your input. Due to my proffession I tend to read a lot in a different forum called pprune. The posts there are for some strange reason very often not that balanced and sometimes seem extremely biased. So it is a relief to read what all of you are saying here. You take up what is good as well as what is bad but don't seem to get carried away in either direction.

My intention has been to stay a little longer than 1-3 years but I suppose it is always possible to move again if the pollution bothers me and the air does not get better or even gets worse.

Once again, thanks a lot.

A

I too was considering a move to HK from the US. I have a one year old child. After spending a week in HK, I decided that the pollution was enough to not make me want to move there. I am sure there are places that don't bear the brunt as much, but I went to Stanley and I still thought the air was polluted. I am a fairly serious runner and am particularly sensitive to the air quality, so clean air is a major factor for me since I run outside every day for about an hour. That said, there are plenty of expat families there. As wonderful as HK may be for a variety of reasons, it just didn't feel like the right place for someone like me.

Yes, J, yesterday was a stinker, wasn't it? High temperatures around many parts of HK of 35-37, and then that pollution.

It was (and is, today as well) a classic typhoon-related scenario. There's yet another typhoon (i.e. 'Fung-Wong') that crossed Taiwan yesterday, and that's just landed in the eastern mainland. When typhoons follow that path, as they have with incredible frequency the past few years, we get the absolute worst weather HK has to offer: extreme heat, plus west or northwest winds bringing down a full helping of all the pollutants southern China has to offer.

Note, though, that living in the NT doesn't help at all in this kind of weather. The record pollution reading set yesterday was at Tap Mun, which is way to heck out in the northeastern part of Sai Kung. In other words, On a day like yesterday, the pollution has little to do with Hong Kong’s own pollutants; it’s all about what the wind brings us.

Ironically, as this article and series of updates by MrB shows, it’s the air quality in the urban areas of HK that may be improving, while in areas such as Tap Mun it does indeed seem to be getting worse.

Having said that, on other days, you'll generally do better in the NT with air quality, and there are other reasons for preferring living there as well!

 Mr Tall

This article has more to say about the ways to "tackle climate change" - grow your own food.  It reminds the older generation of the war years.  They grew their food because import was not possilbe.

Simply speaking, "waste not, want not".

November 29th 2008 - I have just returned to the UK from a 10-day business trip to HK. The air quality was worrying. Even on bright cloudless days, a white mist-like veil envelops the area and the horizon could not be seen in any direction. Many Chinese can be seen wearing masks or simply covering their noses with a tissue. Standing at the Star Ferry terminal close to the Harbour Plaza Hotel at the eastern end of Kowloon, looking across to Hong Kong island, it was impossible to see the Peak. That's a distance of no more than 3 miles! I recalled from a visit 7 years ago that taxi drivers were to have been offered a subsidy to change their diesel engines from diesel to LPG. Last Tuesday a particularly articulate cab-driver told me (in excellent English) that no such grants had been forthcoming but that, in fact many had changed their fuel to LPG and it did seem that there was less fuel exhaust smell in the atmosphere than at the time of my previous visit. But, he went on, vehicle exhaust pollution was not the real problem. For the real cause one had to look to "mainland China" and the "unrestricted outpourings of pollution from industry" which he explained, drifted south on the prevailing wind. Obviously the issue was close to my new friend's heart: pointing out the many new commercial tower blocks being built (on the site of newly-demolished older buildings) he said that these would represent a vast increase in the amount of air-conditioned officxe space. particularly in Causeway Bay and Central. A good thing surely, I suggested, for those who will work in these enormous blocks. Maybe, he repled, but the air-conditioning plants create heat - Hong Kong is now a "hot island". Heat rises, he explained patiently, and the effect is that in warm weather a very large column of hot air rises from the city and this convection sucks-in cooler air, which most of the time, is the heavily-polluted air coming from the north. He was the only taxi-driver to whom I gave a tip during my stay.

Finally, whilst there I had the opportunity to talk to a senior representative of the Hong Kong Government over dinner. "The problem for us here", he commented, "is that too many people smoke".

To be fair, the masks are generally worn by people who are sick so as to avoid spreading diseases. This is a remnant of the SARS scare that has become part of everyday life.

Overall though, I would say you're spot on!

Peter - you should have stayed a few more days.  On Saturday, 29 November, we had one of the clearest days I've seen in Hong Kong for a good long while.  Yesterday wasn't quite so good but certainly one of the better days.  I did end up wishing I'd done the Harlech/Lugard Road walk on Saturday instead of yesterday.

Sitting outside at the Peak Lookout in the early evening, I was gifted with an astounding sunset.  It even made up for the horrendous prices they charge.