Anyone who has had any study of world history at all knows the Chinese have often "paved the way ":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_inventions when it comes to technology over the centuries. For the past few years, in an attempt to ensure a dry 2008 Olympics, China’s government has enlisted the help of 37,000 trusty peasants to help seed clouds in their ongoing experimentation with weather control. Though the Chinese can’t actually put a notch in their inventive bedpost for the actual process (it’s attributed to Kurt Vonnegut’s brother Bernard), lately they’ve been making great strides in this means of controlling the weather.
Along with the goal of clearing the clouds for the Olympics, another aspect of their venture is to ease pollution in and around Beijing, along with possibly putting an end to drought conditions in agricultural regions of the country.