Take on Beijing's parade blue sky

I was in Beijing two weeks ago and looking out of my cab's window I commented that in 15 trips to China I had never seen such a nice blue sky. That wasn't entirely true as the sky was the same color when I was there in September or 2008 but it was as noticeable now as it was then. I have reported often how you cannot see the building next to yours when looking out of the window and how you can feel grit in your teeth when you walk but nothing somebody tells you can prepare you for the utter despair you see when you get there in terms of clean air, September 2008 not withstanding.
The reason that it had been that clear 7 years ago was well documented, factories had been shut down, cars were pulled off the road and coal fired power plants were shuttered for months in anticipation of the Olympics, which were to be China's showcase to the world on how far it had come. They were ultimately successful as world class athletes set world records and the festivities and pomp and circumstance were applauded worldwide
But it was not to last and when I was back in China six months later, the skies were back to being Beijing grey, a color palate you should be able to find on MS Paint. China went back to business as usual as the cameras stopped rolling but TOR did not stop observing
Well this month was another surprisingly blue sky and now I know why. First I assumed it was for the world championship in track and field,the first time that Usain Bolt would be back in The Birdsnest but later I realized it as bigger than that. China was putting on a massive parade to commemorate the end of The Great War against Fascism and they wanted to have a blue sky for the tableau.
Well they once again shut down factories, pulled cars off the road, shot chemicals in the air and closed the coal firing power plants and within a few weeks accomplished their goal. The skies were blue for the big parade and China got to showcase their impressiveness for the world to see but we remain skeptical that it is anything other than show and tell.