When the sun comes up in Beijing on October 1, the Chinese government will aim to celebrate its 70th birthday under a bright blue sky. The Chinese capital will close building sites, reduce the use of fireworks and restrict fuel sales ahead of this year’s National Day. The holiday marks the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Ahead of major events in the past, officials have taken extreme measures to improve air quality, such as seeding clouds to make rain and closing factories for days. There is still time for the government to announce similar restrictions this year. But business leaders believe widespread closures are not part of the plan, as long as usual smog controls continue to do the job. An independent study last week showed Beijing is set to drop from the list of the world’s top 200 most-polluted cities this year.
Title: Beijing Hopes for Clear Skies, Clean Air on National Day
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/bej.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Beijing Hopes for Clear Skies, Clean Air on National Day' data-article-id='4133'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='14167'>When the sun comes up in Beijing on October 1, the Chinese government will aim to celebrate its 70th birthday under a bright blue sky.</span> <span data-start-time='14167' data-end-time='27208'>The Chinese capital will close building sites, reduce the use of fireworks and restrict fuel sales ahead of this year’s National Day.</span> <span data-start-time='27208' data-end-time='34938'>The holiday marks the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.</span> <span data-start-time='34938' data-end-time='50271'>Ahead of major events in the past, officials have taken extreme measures to improve air quality, such as seeding clouds to make rain and closing factories for days.</span> <span data-start-time='50271' data-end-time='57458'>There is still time for the government to announce similar restrictions this year.</span> <span data-start-time='57458' data-end-time='70375'>But business leaders believe widespread closures are not part of the plan, as long as usual smog controls continue to do the job.</span> <span data-start-time='70375' data-end-time='82750'>An independent study last week showed Beijing is set to drop from the list of the world’s top 200 most-polluted cities this year.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/bej.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=13674 data-hint-location='34938' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/what_does_seeding_clouds_do.wav'>What does seeding clouds do?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='simulate rain'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/simulate_rain.wav'><span>simulate rain</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/increase_pollution.wav'><span>increase pollution</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/close_factories.wav'><span>close factories</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/restrict_fuel.wav'><span>restrict fuel</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=13675 data-hint-location='57458' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/what_is_not_part_of_the_plan.wav'>What is not part of the plan?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='widespread closures'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/widespread_closures.wav'><span>widespread closures</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/smog_controls.wav'><span>smog controls</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/firework_sales.wav'><span>firework sales</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/cloud_management.wav'><span>cloud management</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=13676 data-hint-location='50271' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/the_government_can_still_announce__blank_.wav'>The government can still announce <span class='blank'>restrictions</span>.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='restrictions'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/celebrations.wav'><span>celebrations</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/responses.wav'><span>responses</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/restrictions.wav'><span>restrictions</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3654/quality.wav'><span>quality</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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