I think not only Britain but everyone is hoping for a pollution free Olympics. China has made some major changes some of them temporary, other permanent to improve the quality of the air during the Beijing Olympics.

Some of these measures include:

- closing down polluting factories in and around Beijing
- having alternate days for cars
- building several new subway lines
- planting an “Olympic Forest” around the stadiums

“We are genuinely becoming all the time increasingly more confident that the fairly radical arrangements that the Chinese have put in place—closing down 266 factories yesterday, taking half the cars off the road in about 10 days’ time—will have the desired effect,” Britain chef de mission Simon Clegg told The Associated Press.

“I’m really confident the Chinese will be able to deliver a blue-skies games, which was their dream.”

Clegg is also happy that the algae has been cleaned up at the sailing city venue of Qingdao.