The Chinese Saga of Olympic Shame continues -- China’s algae spread to resorts / FT

China’s algae spread to resorts

By Geoff Dyer in Baishatan, Shandong

Published: July 11 2008 22:30 | Last updated: July 11 2008 22:30

The algae outbreak that threatened the Olympic sailing competition in Qingdao has spread hundreds of
kilometres up the coast to popular tourist areas, even as Chinese officials on Friday claimed
near-victory over the thick green sludge.

The long stretch of beach at Baishatan, 150km north of Qingdao, has been lined in recent days with
10-metre-wide slicks of algae that gave out a noxious odour to the few tourists who braved the sand,
causing panic among tourist operators.

Xu Xin, who has a stall selling seashells near the beach at Baishatan, said that the boardwalk would
usually be packed at this time of year. “But look at it now, there is almost no one here,” she said.
In front of her stall, two large earth-moving machines were scooping up chunks of the green algae
that covered most of the beach. “They have cleaned the beach twice already, but it keeps coming back.”

“We are just coming into the summer holiday period,” said Ms Li, duty manager at the Jinxiang Villa
Hotel, near Baishatan, who declined to give her full name. “If this continues for much longer then
we will have big problems over the summer.”