Oh How I Long for Country Air
Beijing is one of the most polluted major cities in the world, and although I knew that before I arrived in here in China's Capital, it is so much worse than I imagined.
Within seconds of walking into the parking garage at Beijing Capital International Airport my eyes started water and my lungs started to burn. It took my lungs the better part of a week to adjust to walking in the city, and I developed a sinus infection (from all the dust in the air) within my first 48 hours here in the city.
There have been mornings when visibility is so poor that I can't even see the building spire about a block away. When walking or riding a bus downtown, sometimes it's impossible to see the tops of buildings no more than 200 ft away.
After about two and a half weeks of living here, we had an unsually clear afternoon and I realized for the first time that there is small mountain range outside my window. It was last Friday, the 2nd. I took the picture below that afternoon. (note that I zoomed in a little to get a better view of the mountains).
The smog stayed away for about a week, but it began to return last night. This morning the smog proved to be victorious; on a bus trip into the older part of town this morning, I felt like I was driving through a fog bank in the Bay Area. I took the picture below this afternoon (after some of the smog cleared out) to highlight the difference.
But if this is the worst of my problems for the semester then I guess I'm doing alright.