The famous haze

Black snot and a sun that looked like an orange orb in the sky were two signs that the greyish yellow blanket constantly hanging over Beijing was NOT, contrary to local opinion, mist !!

This was THE worst smog we had EVER seen !!

In a city of some 22 million people there are around 4.8 million cars and the city is powered by coal fired power stations that constantly pump pollutants into the air. Winter time is worse, when the population themselves literally start burning coal to stay warm. The smog levels were particularly bad when we were there, after weeks of no rain and very little wind the smog just hangs there like a menacing cloud :-/

Nicknamed the "Great Pall of China", the smog cloud is reportedly visible from space (!!!), and cancer due to pollution has sadly become China's leading cause of death. And despite the series of extreme measures to cut pollution leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games (eg restricting car use on certain days), we couldn't see much evidence of it and Beijing is still listed as one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. I definitely wouldn't advise any one with asthma or respiratory problems to spend too much time outside!

Alli xxx