Reflections on a snowy day in Beijing

I made a small snowman in my garden today. I have to call it a small snowman since it really is small. And the snow is not good enough for making snowballs - which are the basic building block of any snowman's body. But it was still really fun. I couldn't remember how long it was since I had made a snowman or had so much fun. I am thankful for what was the first and probably the last snow this winter, although I have read that the government has plans to make it snow again because we are in the middle of a pretty serious drought in Beijing.

I am from the north of China and have spent most of my life here. In my childhood snow was quite common so it's strange these days to have winter after winter without any snow. I have a friend from Guangzhou in the south who came to Beijing one winter to see snow. He left disappointed. I wonder what he felt like when he had to deal with that freak snow storm last year in his home city.

The snow was so heavy one winter when I was young that I couldn't pick out the bridge over the river. It was a lot of fun playing in the snow. But I am not so sure that my grandchild or even my own child will be able to enjoy that kind of snow. Maybe they will never know what "goose-feather" snow looks like, feels like.

I read a report today from Greenpeace China about a recent survey which shows that the Chinese public have a very high level of awareness about global warming and its environmental and economic impacts.

They asked almost 1,200 people from lots of cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Linfen. I have been to many of these cities. I actually went to university in Linfen. I had a great four years there but this city has become famous for being one the world's most polluted cities. Linfen is so polluted that you can't even see the streets and buildings on Google Earth because of the thick smog. 

Now I avoid mentioning that I once lived in Linfen because I feel so ashamed. When my journalist colleagues at Swedish Television went there to do a story I looked at their tapes from the city. There were old men coughing, ladies wearing face masks, and a little pet dog. It was the dog that really attracted my attention. He was standing motionless and staring straight at the camera. You can see that he should be a white dog, but his fur was thick with coal dust. He looks strange and a little miserable. Even so, his eyes were bright and innocent.

I have thought a lot about that dog. He has no power to change his situation. But we are all human beings and we can do something to make change. I am so pleased to read about this survey because it shows that Chinese people in cities want to do something about pollution. The survey found that Chinese people are on average willing to pay around 20 per cent more in their bills for clean energy and to stop using so much dirty coal.

It's encouraging but saying something is not the same as doing something. Come with me to another city called Lishi. That's where I spent my middle school years. Lishi is not like a city at all. It is like a big, crowded car park. A lot of my old classmates have bought a car; and some of them just because their friends have cars and not because they actually need one. Take my friend, for example, it takes 15 minutes at most to walk from her home to her office, and there's even a bus every several minutes she can take. Yet she still bought a car because all her colleagues have a car.

All these cars on the roads make the air pollution even worse on top of all the problems from the coal industry. I remember when I was there I used to ride my bike around the town and the streets were all clean and tidy. Are they really willing to pay 20 percent more on their energy bills to get the country away from coal?

But the survey is still a good sign. I really believe there are a lot of people like me, doing our bit - taking public transport when we can and using the air-conditioner sparingly.

These small things are important. Beijing has already changed for the better. One of my friends who migrated to Canada comes back every year around Christmas. Last year he caught a bad cough when he came back. This year he said he was much healthier but felt bad when he went to see his parents in Taiyuan.

I really hope that local governments can take responsibility for future generations and make effective, practical, and long-lasting changes to improve the environment. And these changes will not just affect where we live but the whole world. So that in the north we can see beautiful snow in the winter. So that my children and my grandchildren can build their own snowmen and we can tell each other snow stories.

Fiona grew up in Shanxi province, where over one third of China's coal is produced. After graduating from a college in Linfen, Shanxi, the world's second most polluted city, she moved to Beijing and has been a journalist since. She works for the Swedish TV's Beijing bureau and spends her weekends reading books from her friend who works for Greenpeace China.