For nearly 15 years the Chinese government has been talking about improvingthe air quality in Beijing, and by its own measures it seems to have done apretty good job.

近15年来，中国政府一直在谈论改善北京的空气质量，按照政府自己的标准，它似乎取得了不错的成就。

Since the city launched a campaign in 1998 to clean up the atmosphere, thenumber of “blue sky days” recorded by the government increased each year until2011, when it achieved a record 286 days with supposedly clean air, comparedwith 100 in 1998.

自北京市在1998年发起净化大气的行动以来，政府记录的“蓝天日”(在这些日子，北京的空气理应是清洁的)数量截止2011年逐年增加，从1998年的100天，增至2011年创纪录的286天。

But as anyone who has lived for long in Beijing can attest, “blue sky” is asomewhat redundant concept when applied to the celestial capital.

但正如任何长住北京的人都能证明的，就这个天朝之都而言，“蓝天”是一个多少有点多余的概念。

Over the weekend, air pollution readings in the city were the worst sincerecords began about four years ago, with the concentration of fine particulatesreaching a level 75 times greater than that considered healthy under the latestUS standards.

在刚刚过去的这个周末，北京市的空气污染指数达到自大约4年前开始记录以来最糟糕的水平，其中微粒浓度超过美国最新健康安全标准75倍。

A thick layer of toxic fog blanketing Beijing for days blotted out the sunand disrupted traffic as residents were warned to stay inside and avoid anystrenuous activity to minimise their exposure to the hazardous fumes.

一层浓密的有害雾霾连续数天笼罩着北京，遮住太阳，妨碍着交通，市民被告知尽量不要外出，并避免从事重体力活动，以尽量减少人们吸入的有害烟雾。

Despite years of official rhetoric and a couple of years when there was anoticeable improvement, the air seems to be getting worse and could even presentthe new administration of Xi Jinping with a credibility crisis. Chinese andinternational experts say one of the biggest problems the government faces isthe willingness of officials at all levels to sacrifice environmental concernsfor the overriding imperative of economic growth.

尽管官方谈论多年，其中还曾有两年出现明显好转，但总体而言北京的空气似乎正在变糟，这甚至有可能给领导的新政府带来一场可信度危机。中国和国际专家表示，政府面临的最大问题之一是，各级官员为了实现压倒一切的经济增长目标，而不惜牺牲环保担忧。

A lack of accountability, the weakness of agencies tasked with tackling theissue and the ease with which data collection and presentation is manipulatedall compound the problem.

缺乏问责制度，环保部门没有实权，以及数据的采集和报告轻易受到操纵，都加剧了这个问题。

“China’s national leaders have ordered an improvement in air quality butthanks to misreporting and manipulation of data at the lower levels, they oftenaren’t aware of the severity of the problem,” says Steven Andrews, anenvironmental consultant who exposed official manipulation of air pollution datain Beijing in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games.

“中国的国家领导人下令改善空气质量，但由于下级误报和操纵数据，他们往往不了解问题的严重程度，”环境顾问史蒂文·安德鲁斯(StevenAndrews)表示。他曾揭露，2008年奥运会之前，官方操纵了北京的空气污染数据。

“For lower-level officials, they can often get the same results bymanipulating the data as they do by enforcing emissions standards.”

“对下级官员来说，操纵数据往往就能得到与执行排放标准相同的结果。”雅思报名费用

Since enforcing these standards means confronting powerful stateenterprises and power producers – many of which have emissions-treatmentequipment installed but choose not to use it because of costs – many officialsprefer to massage the numbers, Mr Andrews says.

安德鲁斯称，由于执行此类标准意味着叫板强大的国有企业和发电企业(其中很多企业安装了排放处理设备，但出于成本考虑而选择不使用这些设备)，因此许多官员宁愿操纵数据。

Chinese scientists who have conducted independent studies on air qualitysay all sorts of tricks are used by the authorities in order to provide datathat show improvements.

曾进行独立空气质量研究的中国科学家表示，为了拿出显示好转的数据，官方使出种种伎俩。

These range from blatantly changing the readings to putting city airmonitoring stations in places where pollution levels are lowest, such as inparks.

这些伎俩包括悍然改动读数，以及把市区的空气监测站放在公园等污染水平最低的地点。

Another problem is that China’s definition of unhealthy pollution levelsseems designed to downplay the issue – the highest concentration of toxicparticulates regarded as “excellent” in China is three times higher than the USconsiders healthy.

另一个问题是，中国对不健康污染水平的定义，似乎意在淡化问题——中国“优”等空气质量的有毒颗粒物浓度上限是美国健康安全标准的3倍。

That many Beijing residents are even aware the “fog”?they?breathe is badfor them already marks a huge leap forward compared with just one year ago.

许多北京市民现在意识到，他们吸入的“雾”对健康是有害的。与一年前相比，这已经标志着一大进步。