Pollution-free days of Beijing Olympics now just a happy memory - SCMP | The sunny days of August 2008 are just a happy memory. Five years on, face masks are a regular sight in the capital to battle an 'airpocalypse'. Fang Li said "the good air quality during the Olympic Games would be our long-term goal", while admitting that the city faced renewed challenges to curb air pollution as its population grew and the number of vehicles increased. Greenpeace's Li said Beijing's environment had been pummeled by the effects of a proliferation of polluting industries in surrounding provinces in the past five years.