Beijing Air & Weather: Winter 2013

Beijing Air

As I'm sure you've heard, China has a pollution problem. I didn't really document it last year in Guangzhou, so I wanted to make sure I did it while in Beijing. Guangzhou's air was pretty bad. On winter days, the air would get so bad that you could only see the building next to you. It was very pea-soupy, like how they described London during the English Industrial Revolution. On days like that, my eyes and lungs hurt. I also couldn't wear my contact lenses for long, or at all. 

I couldn't believe how much worse it is here in Beijing. When we first moved here, we were spoiled with clean air and blue skies. Much of this was due to the changing winds and the factories being shut off for New Year's. Yesterday was the beginning of really bad air. It smelled like burnt plastic and my eyes and lungs hurt more than it ever did in Guangzhou. I guess it's back to using glasses, for a while!

Below is a depiction on how bad the air can get. The view from our living room window, seen on three different days around the same time of day (7:30am-8am):

Beijing air on a "good" air quality day.  You can see the sunrise the building outlines. Visibility is great.

Beijing air on a "unhealthy" air quality day. You cannot see the sun and visibility is hazy.

Beijing air on a "hazardous" air quality day. You can only see close buildings and see silhouettes of farther ones.

Taken in the afternoon of a "beyond index" air quality day. Now you can barely see the background buildings.

Besides taking a look to see how bad the air is outside, I also use this awesome application, called "China Air" to assess what activities I can do outside. This application pulls data from the U.S. Embassy, U.S. consulates, local Chinese government sources, and places that measure air quality. These places use a machine that measure the amount of particulate matter (less than 2.5 micrometers) per cubic meter. The higher the measured number, the greater the health risks. These short-term health risks include eye, throat and breathing irritations and long-term health risks include asthma, long-term illnesses and cancer. The reason for this is because this particulate matter, known as PM2.5, is small enough to penetrate our air passages to our lungs and our vital organs. This is different from larger particulate matter that is usually filtered by our noses. China is known for having larger quantities of PM2.5, posing risks for people who live in polluted areas. An American colleague of ours was very fit and ran outside in Guangzhou nearly every day for two years. When he returned to the U.S., his physician recommended that he stopped smoking. We hope we don't have smoker's lungs after our 5-year stay in China.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a formula to convert PM2.5 into an air quality index that helps individuals decide what kinds of activity they can do outside. (Source: http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/faq.htm). Below is a chart explaining the Air Quality Index:

Source: http://shanghai.usembassy-china.org.cn/airmonitor.html

The current AQI reading is 419. Last year in Beijing, there were a handful of days where the number far exceeded the limit, which is 500. I hope we don't ever get there! The U.S. government gives hourly updates on its readings via twitter, whereas the China local governments updates theirs daily and sometimes hourly. The Chinese local government also uses their own formula to convert to their own air quality index. 

To alleviate the bad air quality, most people stay indoors or are less active when the air quality is bad. If we have to go outside, we wear PM2.5 filtered masks, which lasts for about a week, before having to replace them. Also, we have Embassy-provided air filters in every room.  Some of our co-workers use self-purchased air filters, which have better results. We may consider purchasing better ones at some point in the future. In the meantime, we'll get some plants for healthier oxygen...and for better feng shui.

Beijing Weather

Beijing's winters are cold and dry. It can be especially brutal because Siberian winds from up North will come and pummel Beijing, making the already cold weather colder. Apparently this winter is Beijing's coldest in three decades. It's been the average of 25F. I know my Mid-westerner and New Englander friends think this is nothing, but as a Southern Californian boy, this is the coldest weather that I've ever experienced.  It's also been snowier than usual. The only complaint I have is that the Beijing-ers don't know how to clear their streets. Instead of using snow shovels, salt or sand, they use broomsticks to clear the streets, making them especially slick. I have to say I'm very much amazed at the women who strut in their 4-inch heels in through the cold, slick streets and don't miss a beat!

It's also been really dry and I have to lotion more than I did when I was in DC. I am thankful that we have indoor heating every place we go. I remember Guangzhou had no central heating, so it was freezing at work and at home, too! The use of space heaters wasn't that great.

Anyways, more adventures to come! :)

[Update on January 12th]
Some news sources are saying that Beijing and the surrounding region are experiencing the worst air quality in over a year. The level reached 858 and may be climbing. People who've been living here for years say this is the worst number they've seen it, but not the worst in visibility. The local government has issued a warning for everyone to stay indoors. According to some sources, this really bad air may be a result of regular pollution and current weather patterns, trapping the pollution. It also appears that the air won't get any better until the winds change in a few days. That means, for now, we will be staying indoors! More updates to come!

All photos taken from my iPhone unless noted.