An Original Claim About Smog in Hong Kong

I previously shared an example of an advertisement in Beijing which included a smog filled scene. In Hong Kong, another city where air pollution is problem, as I walked by a store selling cosmetics made by Origins, a US brand, I saw smog being used in a more explicit manner to promote a product:

The Smarty Plants CC SPF 20 Skin complexion corrector featured in the display is available elsewhere, including the US. On its US website Origins claims that "Our super-smart antioxidant infused formula helps neutralize skin damaging effects of city smog and pollution." Of note, the site does not include the image of smog apparently transforming into flowers and the statement "Turn city smog into pretty skin" that can be found on the Hong Kong website and in the above scene (also seen in material for Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan):

As I walked away from the store what I most thought about was not the claim that smog could be turned into pretty skin but instead the implications that the display was a sign of how much pollution has become a part of everyday life in Hong Kong.

And it may also be a sign of how some people are trying to approach pollution pragmatically. Sometimes you just have to make the best out of a situation. As they say, "when life gives you smog, make smog flowers".

More Pollution in Shenzhen and Hong Kong

After first arriving in Shanghai several weeks ago, I noticed that the pollution levels were often worse than Beijing. But towards the end of my stay, there were several days with excellent air quality.

When I arrived in Shenzhen in southern China a few days ago, I doubted the thick haze I saw was simply fog and knew my brief respite from China's air pollution was over. Today I read about neighboring Hong Kong's especially bad recent pollution (via Michael Standaert):

Hong Kong’s air pollution index reached “very high” levels today as a tropical storm that passed through Taiwan trapped pollutants and blanketed the city in haze, triggering a government health warning ...

“Because of the typhoon, we don’t have any wind, the air now is like static, pollutants accumulate and they can’t get out,” Kwong Sum-yin, chief executive officer at Clean Air Network, a non-profit advocacy group, said by phone today. “Central is pretty bad, exactly because we have so many skyscrapers.”

The former British colony, which will raise its air quality standards, has never met its targets since they were adopted 26 years ago, according to a government audit in November. Hong Kong relies on the wind to help sweep away choking emissions from Chinese factories and vehicles.

In other words, things aren't as good when the wind doesn't send your problems elsewhere.

I will soon write again about pollution in China, so I will refrain from commenting further. For now, I will simply recommend checking out a NetEase slide show of photos by Alex Hofford. They are of mainland Chinese tourists taking photographs in Hong Kong and speak for themselves. See them here (via Shanghaiist and Beijing Cream).

Assorted Links: Fruit is Good, a Future Mini-Atlantis, and Police Geese

On this first Friday of August* I will share a few links to a semi-random assortment of pieces which don't strongly connect to any recent themes here but caught my attention and may provide some minor enlightenment for others as well.

1. Even though fruit is full of sugar, it is good for you. More specifically:

Dr. David Ludwig, the director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that sugar consumed in fruit is not linked to any adverse health effects, no matter how much you eat. In a recent perspective piece in The Journal of the American Medical Association, he cited observational studies that showed that increased fruit consumption is tied to lower body weight and a lower risk of obesity-associated diseases.

Whole fruits, he explained, contain a bounty of antioxidants and healthful nutrients, and their cellular scaffolding, made of fiber, makes us feel full and provides other metabolic benefits. When you bite into an apple, for example, the fruit’s fiber helps slow your absorption of fructose, the main sugar in most fruits. But fiber is not the full story.

See the blog post in The New York Times here for more, including why the following holds true in terms of health benefits: fresh fruit > dried fruit > fruit juice. I have found that the last claim can easily rile some fruit-juice lovers.

2. Often those who had little to do with creating a problem are among those who are most affected by it:

Almost no one in America has heard of the Alaskan village of Kivalina. It clings to a narrow spit of sand on the edge of the Bering Sea, far too small to feature on maps of Alaska, never mind the United States.

Which is perhaps just as well, because within a decade Kivalina is likely to be under water. Gone, forever. Remembered - if at all - as the birthplace of America's first climate change refugees.

I'm not sure if the "forever" is a foregone conclusion. There could be another ice age in thousands of years, right? Whatever the case, see the article on BBC News Magazine here for more about the plight of the indigenous Inuit people who live in Kivalina.

3. If you have never had the chance to interact with a goose, I recommend visiting your local geese congregation point. Geese have a lot of character, including the desire to fight crime as appears to be the case in Xinjiang, China:

Law enforcement agents described the geese as a new “highlight of stability maintenance work” and said they had proved themselves “better than dogs” in tackling crime.

“Geese are very brave. They spread their wings and will attack any strangers entering [someone’s] home,” said Mr Zhang, the local police chief. The birds were like “a radar that does not need power”, he added.

See the article on The Telegraph here for more about the heroics of the police geese.

I had another piece to share in this post, but I now feel commenting on it deserves more thoughtful consideration than I now have time for. So I'll share it later. Plus, it's hard to top a gaggle of geese.


*This date holds no particular significance for me, but it seemed like enough of an excuse for semi-random linkage. Who knows, maybe it's the beginning of a tradition.

A Beijing Day in a Mask

Today I inhaled some of the cleanest air I have ever breathed in Beijing. No, the Olympics did not return to China. There was another reason.

Shortly after reading the article "1,600 Die Prematurely in Hong Kong As Smog Spikes", I noticed that the air quality for Beijing today was being described as "very unhealthy". I then felt sufficiently motivated to do something I had never done before: wear a face mask due to smog.

Fortunately, I did not need to make use of the "Filtering Respirator for Fire Self-Rescue" in my room, because the other day I picked up some 3M KN90 masks. In general, KN90 masks do not filter as much as the highly recommended N95 masks, but that was the best 3M mask available at 7-Eleven -- a convenient stop for where I am staying. I figured the difference between no mask and a 90% efficient mask was far greater than the difference between a 90% efficient mask and a 95% efficient mask.

So I donned my mask and went outside. I don't have any photos to share, but the air looked only a shade better than it did when I visited Tiananmen Square last month -- not very good. I had to fiddle with the mask to make sure it was properly sealed, but it was straightforward to wear. I must say, though, that I felt rather self-conscious. Eventually that feeling seemed to fade a little, and I didn't notice any more stares than usual.

Although people in Beijing may not be fazed by seeing someone wearing a mask, after passing hundreds and hundreds of people today I did not see another person wearing one. I've seen a very small minority of people wearing masks on other days, though, especially when the readings are in the "hazardous" category.

One of the first things I noticed about the mask was the heat it trapped around my mouth and nose. The weather was slightly cool today, so it didn't pose much of a nuisance. But I could imagine there'd be a bit of discomfort on hotter days. On the plus side, it might help keep your face warm during the winter.

The other thing I noticed was that some smells (particularly those I did not wish to smell) seemed to be more noticeable while wearing the mask. I would have thought the opposite would occur since the mask covers the nose. Perhaps the air pocket under the mask helps funnel up into the nose any chemicals which enter.

Although the mask provided a barrier to completely effortless breathing, the effect did not feel bothersome to me. This can be more of an issue with masks that filter a higher percentage of particles.

Maybe the biggest negative was that the mask was held in place by elastic straps which went around the ears. It was comfortable at first, but after several hours my ears felt sore.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about the experience. If I were to stay in Beijing long term, I'd consider investing in a higher quality mask that does not anchor itself on the ears and does not make me look I just walked out of a hospital. Whatever the case, at least I breathed some cleaner air today.

The "Benefits" of Air Pollution in China

In a Bloomberg article about a new law in China requiring adult children to visit their parents, Adam Minter provided a picture of the challenges China faces in caring for its growing elderly population:

In 2012, Zhu Yong, deputy director of the Chinese government’s National Committee on Aging, told a Beijing conference on pension reform that in 2013 the number of Chinese over age 60 would exceed 200 million; it would peak in 2050 at 483 million.

In China’s traditional agrarian culture, those aging relatives would live with, and be supported by, their children. But the country’s modernizing economy means children are moving far from their parents to work. Moreover, thanks in large part to population-control policies, Zhu estimates that China’s workforce will shrink to 713 million by 2050, down 24.2 percent from 2011, leaving fewer children to support aging parents. This demographic crunch is creating something relatively new in China: empty-nesters.

And in the The New York Times Edward Wong reported on research indicating that air pollution is shortening people's lives in China:

Southern Chinese on average have lived at least five years longer than their northern counterparts in recent decades because of the destructive health effects of pollution from the widespread use of coal in the north, according to a study released Monday by a prominent American science journal...

The results provide a new assessment of the enormous cost of China’s environmental degradation, which in the north is partly a result of the emissions of deadly pollutants from coal-driven energy generation. The researchers project that the 500 million Chinese who live north of the Huai River will lose 2.5 billion years of life expectancy because of outdoor air pollution...

“This adds to the growing mountain of evidence of the heavy cost of China’s pollution,” said Alex L. Wang, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies Chinese environmental policies. “Other studies have shown significant near-term harms, in the form of illness, lost work days and even risks to children beginning in utero. This study suggests that the long-term harms of coal pollution might be worse than we thought.”

Each of these articles raises plenty of issues and questions on its own. But together they raise a particular set of questions. Is pollution slowing down the rate at which China's population ages? If so, will pollution reduce the severity of future challenges China faces in caring for its older citizens?

The possibility of something detrimental to public health having a potential benefit of sorts is reminiscent of research indicating that there could be a financial benefit to not preventing smoking or obesity. Due to people living longer and facing other health issues, preventing smoking or obesity could increase the overall amount of money spent on health care. For examples of this research, see articles in the The New England Journal of Medicine here and PLOS Medicine here (though also worth pointing out that increased health care costs due to people not smoking may be offset by gains in productivity).

Of course, just because something has a benefit doesn't mean it is "good". It can depend on one's perspective. As the authors of the article in the The New England Journal of Medicine noted:

... we believe that in formulating public health policy, whether or not smokers impose a net financial burden ought to be of very limited importance. Public health policy is concerned with health. Smoking is a major health hazard, so the objective of a policy on smoking should be simple and clear: smoking should be discouraged.

In a similar sense, I don't expect China to encourage the production of air pollution. But for someone making cold calculations, air pollution may have a "silver lining" if it slows down the rate at which China's population ages.

I doubt most people in China would see it that way, though. Growing old without support may not be part of the "Chinese Dream", but neither is dying from pollution.

When Beijing's Air Makes Fire Equipment Look Tempting

During the past 24 hours Beijing's air quality has often been in the "hazardous" range. The U.S. Embassy's readings for the Air Quality Index (AQI) posted on Twitter topped out at 477.

06-28-2013 19:00; PM2.5; 466.0; 477; Hazardous (at 24-hour exposure at this level)
— BeijingAir (@BeijingAir) June 28, 2013

To provide some context for the 477 reading, the "hazardous" AQI range is from 301 to 500 and includes the advice "Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion."

When the reading was "only" 455 earlier in the day, I passed an elementary school as students were leaving. Nothing appeared unusual and most of the students were not wearing any sort of mask.

Hopefully not exerting themselves

This evening as I considered whether to head outside, I wished I had purchased a reliable mask during my recent time in the U.S. When I mentioned this to a friend, she suggested I look around my hotel room to see if they provided a mask.

To my surprise, I found one.

The air is so bad that I considered making use of the "Filtering Respirator for Fire Self-Rescue" even though it is "made for escaping in the fire disaster". I imagine it would give the hotel staff quite a jolt to see me walking out wearing it.

But after noticing it is only good for a single use, I decided to save it. After all, in the next few days the air could become "crazy bad".

Deceived by the Sky

This morning I noticed that the air seemed relatively clear--meaning I didn't notice a haze in front of buildings across the street and the sky had a spirit-lifting bluish color.

The sky in Beijing around 9:40 a.m.

I assumed this meant it was at least a semi-decent air day. So I was surprised when I later looked at the Beijing air quality reports provided by the U.S. Embassy and saw the reading for 9:00 a.m.:

06-23-2013 09:00; PM2.5; 61.0; 154; Unhealthy (at 24-hour exposure at this level)
— BeijingAir (@BeijingAir) June 23, 2013

No matter how blue the sky may appear, I wouldn't consider an "unhealthy" air quality index (AQI) of 154 to be semi-decent.

I then thought about my days in Shanghai where it is not uncommon to hear people say something like "yeah, the air isn't great here, but it's much better than Beijing!" So I was curious to see what the U.S. Consultate in Shanghai reported at the same time:

06-23-2013 09:00; PM2.5; 63.0; 155; Unhealthy (at 24-hour exposure at this level)
— Con Gen ShanghaiAir (@CGShanghaiAir) June 23, 2013

155, I'd call that a draw.

For another comparison, I checked more recent readings while writing this post:

06-23-2013 11:00; PM2.5; 40.0; 112; Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (at 24-hour exposure at this level)
— BeijingAir (@BeijingAir) June 23, 2013

06-23-2013 11:00; PM2.5; 74.0; 161; Unhealthy (at 24-hour exposure at this level)
— Con Gen ShanghaiAir (@CGShanghaiAir) June 23, 2013

Shanghai's 161 is in a different category than Beijing's 112. We had a winner.

And now I wondered how a U.S. city would compare. I found that at the same time (8:00 p.m. Saturday night) current readings in Central Los Angeles, one of the most polluted cities in the US, indicated an AQI of 59 and the forecast for Sunday was 45--considered "good" for a 24 hour period. For the U.S. it's nothing to be especially proud of, but a 45 would seem great to me right now.

Of course, these are a very small number of data points. They're representative in some regards, but I wouldn't make any strong conclusions based on them alone. My main points for now are basic. I found it easy to think the air was OK when in fact it wasn't. And even if Shanghai has not seen some of the extreme pollution that can occur in Beijing, there's still good reason for people in Shanghai to also be concerned.

A Shinier Day in Beijing

Today I found myself marveling at a blueish sky in Beijing.

A view of the sky from the Dongsi Mosque

Although the air was "unhealthy for sensitive groups", it was much better than yesterday's air, and the clearer view inspired one Baltimorean to tweet "Beijing is so shiny on blue sky days". I don't know if tomorrow's sky will be similar, but the readings for Beijing's air quality since I took the above photo are not encouraging so far.

I'll have more to say about Beijing's air in a later post, but first I'll be delving into other topics. More soon.

Tiananmen Square on May 47, 2013

At Beijing's Tiananmen Square between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. today, whether it was tourists posing for photographs or the "very unhealthy" air, nothing seemed particularly unusual.

Here are some scenes:

First Impressions: A Warning in San Jose

Imagine you've been living in China for years and often wonder whether its air, food, water, or other potential sources of dangerous chemicals are having a significant negative impact on your health. But today is different because you've just arrived at the international airport in San Jose, California. It feels safer here.

Perhaps you're overjoyed to see the clear blue sky. Maybe you're eager to buy some fruits & vegetables from an organic market. Possibly you're thinking about a trip to the mountains where you'll enjoy some fresh air.

So after going through immigration and customs, you're excited to begin your time in San Jose. As you're considering what to do first, you enter an elevator in the airport. After the door closes, you notice this sign:

Some of these thoughts may now run through your mind:

• Is my health at risk?
• Why would they put up this sign instead of fixing the problem?
• If there isn't any problem, why put up this sign?
• Why wasn't this message provided before I entered the elevator?
• How quickly can I get out of here?

There are other possibilities, many of which could be more colorful. Whatever the case, your trip to San Jose has begun with a rather unexpected experience and set of emotions.

Californians might shrug off this sign. Having additional context can matter. But what would you think if this was one of the first signs you saw when visiting an unfamiliar country? What might it say about the country? What might it not say? How might it influence your perceptions of the country? How might it influence your perceptions of your own country?

More later. I'll continue this theme in the next post with another example of a sign I saw in the US.

Pollution's Extensive Impact in China

As I wrote in an earlier post, China's pollution problems deserves the regular attention they receive. In that spirit, I will share a few pieces which together show there is no single way to measure pollution's full impact in China.

1. Despite it being the focus of many reports, pollution doesn't only have negative health consequences. For example, Xinhua reported that one famous Chinese director believes pollution is affecting his creative process.

"Cornered by the terrible weather, I have nowhere to go," said Chen Kaige, a frontrunner of Chinese cinema's "fifth generation" and a newly elected member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). "I am unable to focus on my artistic creation."

"I was born and bred in Beijing. I know what the weather was like in the old days," said 61-year-old Chen, describing the current air pollution as "weird," "appalling" and "unbelievable."

Read the article here for more about Chen's hope to "raise more awareness on environmental pollution".

2. However real the problem may be, unfocused movie directors would not likely be considered by many to be one of China's bigger concerns. Large numbers of protests are another story though. In Bloomberg, Xin Zhou and Peter Hirschberg reported how some Chinese government officials are paying attention to a shift in what is motivating "mass incidents":

Pollution has replaced land disputes as the main cause of social unrest in China, a retired Communist Party official said, as delegates to the country’s legislature lamented environmental degradation.

China now sees 30,000 to 50,000 so-called mass incidents every year, Chen Jiping, a former leading member of the party’s Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs, said yesterday. Increased use of mobile phones and the Internet has allowed protesters to show their anger more effectively, he said.

“The major reason for mass incidents is the environment, and everyone cares about it now,” Chen told reporters at a meeting of the Chinese People’s Political and Consultative Conference, where he’s a member. “If you want to build a plant, and if the plant may cause cancer, how can people remain calm?”

Read the article here for more about the pollution-related protesting.

3. There's another issue related to pollution that can quickly catch the attention of many people: money. Meena Thiruvengadam in The Financialist looked at the economic impact of China's smog:

Various studies have estimated the economic impact of China’s pollution, and several sources suggest that illness, premature death and lost productivity could be costing the country upwards of $100 billion a year.

The World Bank estimated that illnesses and premature deaths linked to China’s pollution cost it about $100 billion – the equivalent of 3 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product – in 2009 alone. A separate study by Greenpeace and Peking University estimates particulate pollution cost four major cities more than $1 billion and caused more than 8,000 premature deaths last year.

Read the article here for more about projected long-term financial costs of pollution in China.

4. Thiruvengadam also pointed out that China's pollution is making it more challenging for companies to convince workers to move there. On a related note, one recent example highlights how the environment is causing some people already living in China to consider whether they should stay there. After 13 years in China, Dutch entrepreneur Marc van der Chijs recently left for greener pasteurs, or at least bluer skies:

Our main criteria for a new home were based on a different lifestyle for the family: a place with more nature around us, with a better air quality and where I would not have to work 24/7 anymore...

I will miss China. I will miss the fast-paced business life, the amazing clubs and restaurants in Shanghai, and the luxury of having staff at home to help you with everything. What I won’t miss is the air pollution (which was the #1 reason for us to leave), the traffic jams and the slow, restricted Internet. Every country has its advantages and disadvantages, and although the balance has shifted a bit recently the advantages of living in China have always outweighed the downsides for me. If it was purely for business reasons I would likely stay, but I have a family with 2 young kids now and I also need to think of them.

Read the full post here for more about a family's move from China to Canada.

5. And bringing the topic back to public health, some possibly relevant context for why Marc van der Chijs mentioned his kids can be found in a policy paper by the American Academy of Pediatrics: "Ambient Air Pollution: Health Hazards to Children":

Children and infants are among the most susceptible to many of the air pollutants. In addition to associations between air pollution and respiratory symptoms, asthma exacerbations, and asthma hospitalizations, recent studies have found links between air pollution and preterm birth, infant mortality, deficits in lung growth, and possibly, development of asthma.

Read the paper here for much, much more.

The Chinese government is most unlikely to be swayed by a single foreigner's departure or Chinese director's complaints. But stifled creative output, citizens protesting, economic losses, foreigners avoiding or leaving China, and health problems for the young are all parts of an immense challenge facing China. Its response, or lack of response, will have numerous consequences. Already, the consequences of pollution are being felt in many ways.

Another Taste of Pollution in China

There are several notable recent stories about China's pollution. I don't think this is a topic that can grow old. In so many respects, pollution presents a major challenge for China. And some of its impact will be felt throughout the world. You might not be in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, or Changsha to taste the air, but here is a taste of the news:

1. Often the focus is on air pollution, but air is not the only issue. For example, soil pollution is an area of concern. How bad is soil pollution in China? Well, it's hard to say since as Tania Branigan reported in The Guardian:

China's leading environmental watchdog has refused to disclose the results of a major national soil pollution study on grounds of state secrecy, according to a lawyer who requested the report's disclosure...

Beijing-based lawyer Dong Zhengwei told the state-run Global Times newspaper that he had requested the findings of the five-year, 1bn yuan (£100m) study because he believed soil pollution could be a serious safety threat.

But the ministry of environmental protection told him it would only release some details because the full report was a state secret, he said...

"The environmental ministry has been releasing real-time information about air pollution even though the air in Beijing was so bad last month. In contrast, soil pollution is a 'state secret'. Does this suggest that the land is contaminated much worse than the air?"

Read the article here for more details about estimates of soil pollution in China and signs of growing public concern about pollution.

2. One man in China had a creative idea for how to draw attention to the pollution in a nearby creek: he challenged local officials to swim it. As Tom Phillips reported in The Telegraph, the man received more attention than he bargained for:

Mr Chen, a farmer who has spent the last decade fighting pollution, posted his challenge on the internet, hoping it would trigger government action.

Instead, his daughter says he was severely beaten by a gang of baton-wielding men at around 6am last Sunday.

"My father was alone at home," said 32-year-old Chen Xiufang. "Some 40 people turned up in plain clothes, some holding batons. The only thing they said was: "[You] used the internet, you always use the internet!"

"The whole thing lasted four or five hours until the police arrived. My father got hit in the head by six or seven people, with their fists. He is now feeling dizzy and sleeping all the time," she added, claiming the attack had been orchestrated by local officials.

Read more about Mr. Chen's plight here.

3. Fortunately, some government officials are responding to the concerns about pollution. In fact, officials came up with what I think is safe to call a "unexpected proposal": banning outdoor barbecues. As Minnie Chan and Li Jing reported in the South China Morning Post, at least some Chinese citizens are skeptical of the plan:

"Does anyone believe the smog will be easily controlled after a barbecue ban?" one internet user commended. "We are not fools like some leaders."

"What is [the Ministry of Environmental Protection] going to consider next?" another user asked. "Will they ban cooking, too? My family still uses a wood-burning stove."

Other online comments suggested that the ministry was targeting average citizens because it could not come up with pollution-reduction measures that were acceptable to the industries most responsible for pollution.

Read more about the barbecue ban proposal here.

4. Articles about "massive nitrogen pollution" in China, Beijing's air pollution yet again reaching levels "beyond index", and other variations on the pollution theme are out there as well.

And I expect more will be coming.

Masks for Beijing

My Twitter feed has been ablaze with comments about Beijing's recent air quality. Lets just say the folks at Mordor would be proud. The air is horrendous even to many who are accustomed to Beijing. It's a serious issue with implications for daily life. In the words of Didi Kirsten Tatlow on the International Herald Tribune:

With Beijing’s air pollution soaring to seemingly new, awful records this weekend, the classic parenting dilemma of “What shall we do with the kids?” had a grimly obvious answer: Slap on the antipollution face masks and go shopping for another air purifier...

Of course, the problem wasn’t limited to Beijing. As this photograph from NASA appeared to show, pollution was severe across much of eastern China (Beijing is within the blue circle).

And on state media’s lists of the most polluted cities in China on Saturday, Beijing wasn’t even in the top 10. That honor went to Shijiazhuang and other places.

Tatlow isn't the only person in China with an interest in face masks. For example, see these tweets by writer Adam Minter:

You know who's making a killing on the Beijing air disaster? 3M, via their n95 masks. People referring to them as 3Ms. cc @adambelz
— Adam Minter (@AdamMinter) January 14, 2013

China tweeps - search 3M on weibo. PR you simply can't beat.
— Adam Minter (@AdamMinter) January 14, 2013

Other reporters in Beijing are finding it necessary to accessorize as well:

Darth Vader/Hannibal lector anti-pollution mask @nprinskeep @dalyhiggs #hottest accessoryinBeijing #airpocalypse twitpic.com/bv7c9h
— Louisa Lim (@limlouisa) January 14, 2013

Leading to comments such as this:

Is the gas mask to journos in Beijing what body armor is to them in Middle East + Afpak? Looks good on TV. @limlouisa
— Edward Wong (@comradewong) January 14, 2013

Tatlow's comment about Shijiazhuang also caught my eye. In all my travels in China, Shijiazhuang's air "impressed" me the most. It wasn't just the haze preventing a crisp view of buildings just across the street. It was the toxic taste of the air. Yes, the taste. When the broth in a bowl of soup I ordered had the same taste I wasn't sure if the air was overwhelming my taste buds or the soup and the air shared a common compound. Whatever the case, I didn't finish the soup.

With an Air Quality Index (AQI) over 800 having been recently reported in Beijing, comments such as those by Anthony Tao in a recent post may not seem ironic:

Highways closed, flights delayed, social unrest stirred… however, there is some good news. The AQI has remained below 400 for each of the last five hours...

For context on what now could count as "good news", consider this recent "good" tweet from an account which provides regular updates of Beijing's air quality as measured by the US Embassy in Beijing:

01-14-2013 20:00; PM2.5; 282.0; 332; Hazardous (at 24-hour exposure at this level)
— BeijingAir (@BeijingAir) January 14, 2013

Even an AQI of 332 is listed as hazardous. And that's just for a 24-hour exposure. Most people in Beijing are not breathing its air for only 24 hours... See here for more information about the AQI.

There are many great pieces to read on Beijing's recent pollution and the evolving reaction of the Chinese people and new services. A post by James Fallows here mentions and comments on several of them. More on this topic later.

Nature Needs Civilization in China

A couple of days ago I shared a photo of a Changsha park sign which suggested:

Civilization is the most beautiful scene.

As I was looking through some photos I took in Changsha over three years ago, I was surprised to come across a related message on a sign I saw near Chuan Shipo Lake at Yuelu Mountain.

The translation seems relatively OK (compared to many other signs I have seen in China) on a word-by-word basis, although "human" could possibly be replaced with "humanity" and "needs" with "yearns for". Regardless, a sign with the word "civilization" has again left me pondering its meaning.

I fear that I could write a tome about my thoughts. So I will simply say that I would be curious to know the writer's interpretation of the message.

This Chinese phrase can be found in a least a few other places. For example, it is used as a title for an article on an Anhui province high school's website. The article describes the desire to make the school more "green". It is worth checking out just for the photos of classrooms at the high school.

And on that school note, more on college dormitories in China is on the way. In the meantime, I will leave the sign above for further pondering.

Skies and Clouds in China

Something in all of the following scenes caught my attention earlier this week:

A-Ma Temple

Penha Church

Mandarin's House

Taipa Village

Apartments and a Coca-Cola sign

More colorful apartments

Narrow alley in Taipa Village

It was something that would not have caught my attention in the same way before my move to Shanghai 6 years ago. While living there I grew accustomed to only rarely seeing a type of sky that was far more typical where I had lived in the U.S. Regardless of whether Shanghai's common monotone grey skies were mainly due to the local climate or pollution, seeing blue skies with fluffy or wispy clouds seemed special in Shanghai.

However, during the summer of 2010 I noticed that Shanghai's sky appeared surprisingly "normal" on a regular basis. Was this due to a sudden change in climate? Doubtful. Instead, the dramatic change was due to government imposted measure intended to improve the air quality for the World Expo being held in Shanghai. The connection became "clearer" after the World Expo ended. High levels of pollution enveloped Shanghai and once more blotted out the sky. Yet again, everyone was paying a price for China's development. But at least more people knew what was possible.

While the Expo was open I commented to a Shanghainese friend that it was wonderful to see "normal" clouds in Shanghai. She laughed and said many of her Shanghainese friends were expressing confusion online about the "strange" clouds they were seeing. They were not used to such skies on a regular basis.

Their comments reminded me of a friend from nearby Nanjing. A few years earlier after she returned from Japan -- her first trip outside of China -- she told me she loved it there. I asked her, "Why?"

She quickly responded, "Because its sky is so blue!" When I later explained that the blue skies she saw were common in many cities outside of China she looked bewildered. She had assumed the type of sky she commonly saw in Shanghai was typical for cities everywhere.

So after my recent weeks in Shanghai it was with great joy I gazed upon the above scenes. But they are not from Shanghai. They are from one of China's two special administrative regions -- Macau:

Scene from Penha Hill

I am not sure that the air was truly healthy, but the bluish sky and its clouds were nonetheless welcome. And they made a wonderful day of exploring Macau all the better.

The weather has been noticeably hotter than some of the more comfortable days during my time here several months ago. But I do not mind, I have been distracted by the sky.

Only Some Things are Shared

Here is a view I enjoyed on an early evening this past weekend from near the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center:

It's hard not to be impressed by the architectural wonders and ponder what they imply about China's economic strength.  However, scenes such as this one are worlds away from the lives of most people in China, and they can be symbols of the relatively extreme concentration of China's new wealth.  For many in China, the photos I previously shared of Shanghai's Xiaonanmen are far closer to their daily lives.

The above photo can also be a symbol for how the costs and benefits of China's development can be spread very differently.  Even if one isn't reaping much profit from China's economic growth, you still breathe the pollution from its factories, power plants, and vehicles.  I can't say for sure whether the haze is a result of clouds or pollution but Shanghai certainly has more than enough of the latter -- possibly an unavoidable price for China's rapid economic development.

Two questions to ponder:  Which would be easier to change -- the amount of pollution or the imbalance of wealth?  Which would most people in China prefer to be changed?