FAQnohAA (Frequently Asked Questions no one has Actually Asked) #1

Full moon on Christmas!
Oh yeah.  Merry Christmas?

So, let's just devote a few paragraphs and pictures to the air in Beijing.  I mean, it's been international news a few times now, right?

Short answer: Besides the fact that it is hazy, I really don't notice the pollution all that often.  Not a very news-worthy sentiment and CNN certainly won't make this blog viral, but... yeah.  I don't really notice.








"But, Mary?  Surely the air is visibly polluted!"

Well, yes and no.  I mean, sometimes the sky is more yellow than blue and you can see it right away.  Other times, the air is hazy but you can't tell if it is smog or just, you know, normal fog.  (It's usually smog with maybe a hint of a cloud mixed in for funsies.)  I guess, for the most part, it looks like there is a fire somewhere in the neighborhood sometimes?

4th Ring Road

My apartment complex.

"Okay, if the air isn't visually, OBVIOUSLY dirty, how do you know it is?"

The weather apps here have the Air Quality Index (AQI) given somewhere between the temperature and tomorrow's forecast.  Here are some shots of both my phone and Rachel's phone.  (Yep, you'll notice her phone's photo shows the PM 2.5 to be at MAX levels.)

"What does it smell/taste like?"

I've got a pretty damned weak sense of smell and taste, so usually I don't notice anything, but sometimes when the PM 2.5 level is high, it smells/tastes like you are in your garage in the winter, letting the car warm up for a few minutes before driving.  It tastes like that concentrated car exhaust that you smell and think, "ah, yes.  People have killed themselves breathing this, haven't they?"

How dirty can the air be?  Well, this mask is two days old.  There is definitely something in the air this week.

"Smog Days?"

Yep!  I have had four days of school listed as Red Alert days.  On these days, students stay home and do their classwork there (so it doesn't count as a no-school day).  Teachers sometimes have to go to work, sometimes don't.  I don't know the pattern or logic.  Students are given homework to equal the day's worth of classwork so classes just pick up again when they come back.  Teachers and students stay in touch via WeChat (it's like Line or What's App or any other messaging program with a Facebook-like "memories" feed).  Teachers post assignments and students can ask questions.  Last week there was no school for students Monday and Tuesday but all the teachers, myself included, had to report in.  Students who needed to come to school (kids who are too young to be home alone and have two working parents, for example), could come, but everyone else was told to stay home.

View from a staff room

And, like other days, many cars were banned, factories were closed, and construction projects were halted.  My coworker and I used the day to get some curriculum planning done. It's weird 'cause the city went into Red Alert Saturday-Tuesday last week when the PM 2.5 level was steady at 260, but school was open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday when the level fluctuated between 300 and 500.  Go figure.

"How are you breathing?"

Um, okay?  I think the pollution has long-term consequences if you live here for a long time, but for the day-to-day, I wear my mask when I go out and... I feel fine.  I haven't had any more episodes with my asthma than I have had living in other places.  I haven't been sick more often.  I've had a couple of colds, but it's winter and I usually get colds all the time anyway.  I don't go running any more because, lately, either it's rainy/snowy/windy and no, thanks, or the PM 2.5 levels are high and I don't think breathing heavy and sucking this stuff into deep into my lungs is a good idea.  As long as I get my 4 miles of walking in a day, I'm calling it good enough for the winter.  I looked into joining a gym, but it's almost $100 a month and kinda far...

So, there we go.  I think that covers everything there is to say about Beautiful Beijing's Air.  Let me know if there is something else I should add!

My biggest complaint about smog days is that my mask fogs up my glasses.