Tuesday was a clear day. Such a simple sentence only carries meaning and weight in Beijing, where bustling city meets scientific experiment. As far as I know, Beijing right now is the only city that has ever had a need to quickly and drastically lower pollution. Going from having among the worst air in the world to hosting the Olympic Games was always going to be a challenge, that much is obvious, but I always thought that things would work out. The Chinese government would take drastic measures that a democratically elected government could not do and the Games would go on. Then whatever happened after they were over would be just China's problem. And so far everything has gone according to plan. Factories around Beijing have been shutdown and moved to different provinces, rockets have been launched into the sky to supposedly clean gunk out, energy conservation is in and in the latest measures, construction has been halted (no more cement can be poured) and cars are only allowed to drive every other day (except the 55,000 taxis).
Except there's been one problem. The air hasn't improved. The South China Journal told me that the air quality this weekend was still at a level harmful to people with respiratory problems, at a level of around 110. 150 is really bad, 200 is toxic, 50-100 is passable, and below 50 is clean. The level of fluctuation of the air quality particularly surprised me. A strong thunderstorm on Monday night had resulted in the clear Tuesday, during which the air was legitimately good. I walked out of my building and was stunned by how much I could see. I had forgotten what clear air looked like - suddenly there were faraway buildings visible that I hadn't even realized existed. Breathing in, the air actually did taste fresher although who knows how much Mr. Placebo has to do with that. Either way, the place sparkled with a crisp morning dew and was generally pleasant. Today was a different story. Amazingly one day later, we were back to the general haze that typically gunks up this city.
Before arriving in Beijing, I had been curious what it was people were referring to when they discussed the poor air quality. Certainly their reports of toxic air must be exaggerated? O2 is a very basic element and its hard to see how much it can change from place to place. Well here are the consequences of an average day in Beijing: the afore-mentioned general haze, an immense amount of microscopic particles in the air, and difficulty performing any cardiovascular activity. The biggest problem with the air is the physical things that actually float around in it, mostly due to construction I think. I've previously documented my coughing after a tough game of basketball, but I thought this would go away after exercising in this city for a bit. Maybe it did, but Sunday after a long day of Frisbee (11-10 win bitches) I soon started to really cough. I felt like something was clogging my windpipe and if I tried to cough it out my lungs would physically start to hurt. I spent half my time breathing with difficulty and half of my time coughing painfully. It didn't seem like anyone else had this problem so I still think that people can get used to the air, which is also why I think I'll be betting on Chinese endurance athletes whenever possible.
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