A Breath of Fresh Air

Everything I read told me to prepare for Beijing's pollution. Every person I talked to brought it up. And yet I thought, "I have been to New York and other cities with pollution, how bad can it be?"

HA! Boy was I wrong. Everyday I gauge how bad the air is by how much of the building, which is 2 city blocks away, I can see. The first week or so it wasn't bad at all, it rained a lot. But recently its been getting worse and worse. Today I could not see any of the building 2 city blocks away. In fact I thought it was raining it was so smoggy and dense outside. (NOTE: I am on the 10th floor, so its not too unreasonable that I can see far/would think it was rain). BUT NO! It was pollution. Everyone on our trip has been developing a steady cough over the past week or so. Its really fabulous. Its probably my least favorite part of the trip/Beijing so far. But all is good, the smog usually lets up by noon and my lungs are still kicking. 

Luckily I will actually get to breath some clean air this upcoming week! We are leaving for our 12 day study tour on Saturday and coming back the next Tuesday. I am going to Chengdu to see a Panda reserve and Huangshan a famous and beautiful mountain in China and Shanghai for the World Expo! I am really looking forward to it and I think I will have internet access here and there to update everyone!