The relief from the summer smog could be short-lived, however. Shortly after the paralympics end on September 17, the emergency restrictions on car-use and factories will be abandoned and Beijing residents will go back to suffering the downsides of the country's economic boom.

China's staggering recent economic growth has created an equally staggering increase in its pollution and emissions problems. According to some estimates, China is already the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide despite the fact that its economy is only between a half and a quarter of the size of that of the US, depending on method of calculation.

The Stern Review – the 2006 report by UK economist Lord Nicholas Stern on climate change and the economy – estimated that Chinese emissions would double by 2050. Yet, given the rate of growth of the Chinese economy and the heavy investment in energy-intensive industries such as aluminium and steel, such estimates could be over-optimistic. A review, for example, sponsored by the Australian government predicted Chinese emissions would double by 2030.