Pollution is....Confucian?

Well that was a terrible Chinese rhyme. But pretty awesome. So.... Pollution. Smog. Dirty air. Gross. Unhealthy. Whatever you want to call it. It is here in Beijing, and China, and very much a real problem. See for yourself out my window.  And this is a 150 kind of a day.

Here's a day over 250 downtown...

So it's here and in my face and i'm learning to deal with it. At first, I thought, oh, is it raining? Are these rain clouds? And then i realized. No. no they are not! How do I deal? Some wear masks...

I've worn a mask a little bit. It's hot and stuffy and makes me sweat. I also cannot quite understand how it works because I have to put it on and off, air gets trapped inside, and what about the subway? or inside a store if the windows are open anyway? These are the questions going through my mind. And then the issue of exercise. It is 10000 times worse trying to wear a mask on a bike when you are huffing and puffing. They've created these hardcore exercise masks, perhaps that is the answer; but to be honest, they look even more suffocating. (and yes, they look like underwear)

'What does it feel like' is a question people have been asking me. Um, it doesnt really 'feel' like anything. When you are in it, you are in it. However, there are some side affects that I haven started to notice. I am getting head aches quite regularly and easily. My skin is pretty grimy and dirty. And there is a lot of dust everywhere, making my throat a bit dry all the time. But it does not make me cough or water my eyes all the time or give me a cold or anything like that. It's just a way of life. Ex pats talk about it all the time, Chinese talk about it all the time, everyone is talking about.

So what is to be done? Well there are definitely company's working on changing the situation. I happened to attend a new space opening for one such company called Origins, that have recently moved into a hutong and are up and running. Origins is an air filter/purifier company but they also are working on something I think is amazing. They are selling these laser eggs: smart air quality monitors that have gps built in. The idea is that you take your egg wherever you go, and there will be an app that tells everyone the air quality index at that given time so people can find the clean air. It's pretty awesome and the eggs are starting to crop up all over the city!