e-magazine
The Hot Zone
China's newly announced air defense identification zone over the East China Sea aims to shore up national security
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
UPDATED: July 30, 2012 NO. 31 AUGUST 2, 2012
Passing the Torch
A Chinese father and son's devotion to the Olympic Games
By Tang Yuankai
Share

"My father's biggest wish was to see China host an Olympic Games. This was unimaginable under the past national conditions. But finally his wish came true in 2008. It proved that the Olympic spirit is closely linked with social development," said Liu Hongliang.

Liu Changchun passed away in 1983. China resumed sending athletes to participate in the Olympic Games again in 1984 and held the Olympic Games in 2008.

Birth of the Green Olympics

"My father was a person of strong will. He was always firm in the pursuit of his life goals. The Olympic spirit that I saw in him was this unremitting determination," said Liu Hongliang.

Moreover, his father's love and loyalty for the country had a great influence on him, and he was taught to always put the needs of the country and the people first.

In the early 1950s, Liu Hongliang entered Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he intended to major in hydropower engineering. But after listening to Qian Weichang, a well-known scientist in applied mathematics, mechanics and physics, and Vice President of Tsinghua University from 1946-82, Liu Hongliang changed his mind and instead chose water supply and sewerage as his major, which was badly needed in China at the time.

"My father's patriotism, integrity, and diligence have motivated me at various stages of my life, and led me to success," said Liu Hongliang.

Twenty-five years after Liu Changchun passed away, the Olympic torch was handed over to Beijing. Liu Hongliang traveled to Greece—the birthplace of the Olympic Games—to take over the Olympic torch.

"I became an Olympic torchbearer because my father is the first Chinese athlete to participate in the Olympics, and second, because of my involvement with the concept of the Green Olympics," he said.

In the 1980s and 90s, Liu was president of CRAES, China's biggest research institute of environmental science. In the last 30 years, this non-profit environmental protection research institute, founded at the beginning of China's reform and opening up in 1978 for the purpose of improving people's well-being, has cultivated high-level research teams specializing in solid waste disposal technology, circular economy and cleaner production, contaminated soil remediation, air pollution control and designing eco-industrial parks.

As the environmental consultant of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), Liu Hongliang paid special attention to Beijing's air and water quality and raised many specific suggestions on solving various environmental problems. He made valuable suggestions at seminars while inspecting sports venues.

The Central Government and the Beijing Municipal Government had invested 140 billion yuan ($21.54 billion) in more than 10 major projects. As a result, the air and water quality and the overall environmental quality of Beijing and several other Olympic host cities had been improved dramatically.

At the same time, he proposed that science and technology should play more important roles in environmental protection, and more money should be invested in solving key problems of environmental science research. His proposals received attention from the highest levels of government.

He proposed developing public transportation, but at the same time pointed out that Beijing couldn't reduce exhaust emission and control air pollution solely by restricting the number of cars running on the road. It must also raise exhaust emission standards to match the advanced standards of the European Union.

BOCOG adopted many of his suggestions. In the Olympic Village that covered 7 square kilometers, only electric cars were used; around the Olympic sports venues, athletes' apartments and the media center, a new quick-charge hybrid bus was used. The bus used clean energy and even achieved zero exhaust emissions, making it the most advanced environmentally friendly vehicle in the village.

Since athletes from Europe and the United States have the habit of drinking tap water, Liu Hongliang suggested that tap water in the capital airport, athletes' apartments, and sports venues should be converted into purified water.

"In fact, the tap water of Beijing is very clean and can be drunk directly. However, some water pipes in Beijing are worn down by years without repair and affect the quality of tap water," he said.

BOCOG took Liu's advice and converted the tap water of related venues and spots into purified water so that athletes could drink from the tap.

Four years after the Beijing Olympic Games, Liu has continued to carry on the ideals initiated for the Green Olympics. His goal is to help all Chinese people fully understand the concept and apply it to all aspects of economic and social lives.

Who is Liu Hongliang

June 20, 1932: Born in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. He is the son of China's first Olympic athlete Liu Changchun.

1954-82: Graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at Tsinghua University and worked there until 1982.

1982: Joining the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES), a national non-profit environmental research institution established on December 31, 1978.

1994: Selected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

As a top pioneer in research on water environment, Liu Hongliang has made significant contributions to the study of lakes, including eutrophication and integrated control of lake environmental pollution. Now he is a research fellow of CRAES and deputy director of the Consultant Committee on Science and Technology under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Email us at: tangyuankai@bjreview.com

   Previous   1   2  



 
Top Story
-Protecting Ocean Rights
-Partners in Defense
-Fighting HIV+'s Stigma
-HIV: Privacy VS. Protection
-Setting the Tone
Related Stories
-Gold Diggers
-Let the Games Begin!
 
Most Popular
 
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved