Beijing Pollution

 

 

 

 

 

When the opportunity to move to Beijing arose, our little family put a lot of energy into our decision.  We prayed, we discussed, we talked a lot, prayed some more and ultimately all came up with the same answer and choice.  It wasn't until the decision had already been made that I turned to the internet...which was a good thing because by the time I had spent a short time online I was calling Rob to see if we could back out :)  I read post after post about Beijing's pollution problem and got really nervous about the effect it would have on my already weakened lungs, and on the health of my children's developing lungs.

I turned to Google again and came across the blog of a woman expat in Beijing who I happened to share religions with.  After spending hours reading her blog I was comforted and reminded of the reasons we had decided to do this for our family.  It wasn't really anything specific she said or even a specific post, but maybe the reality that hey, there are actually families like ours that are doing this, we will be okay...

So, we went shopping...for these :)

We have a few of these beauties scattered throughout our house that add to the decor :)  They provide great white-noise and even greater air! 

I decided to focus on the things that I could  control.  I may not be in control of the outdoor pollution situation, but I CAN control the air in my home and car.  We can wear filter masks outside when the air is bad.  My kids go to a school with one of the most advanced air-filtration systems in China.  They don't go outside for recess when the air quality is above a certain number.  The school built two massive "domes" that the kids can have recess in with air quality control.  They still get to play and exercise, and I have peace of mind that I'm not damaging their health.

I have an app on my phone where I monitor the pollution.  It might be a bad habit and unnecessary, but I check it first thing in the morning (looking outside is a good indicator also!)  This app gives the reading from the US Embassy and the reading from the Chinese government.  The Embassy's reading is almost aLwAYs higher.  (We also live out of the city a bit so the air is slightly better).  I took a screen-shot because it makes me laugh.  The US and China have oBViOus differences in the way we categorize the severity of air pollution :)  Notice how our classification is "Very Unhealthy" Protection recommended, and the China one says "Lightly Polluted"

 

 

Honestly, since moving here I've been surprised that it hasn't been "as bad" as I was anticipating.  We have had many more "blue sky" days than I thought we would see.  The trend is usually bad air for a couple days then a wind or rain storm comes and cleans it up for a day or two and then it gradually builds back up over the next few days.  Until January :)  There was a particular weekend in January where we saw the pollution climb to 1000 (number explanation follows).  A record. The chart tops out at 500, the embassy stopped reporting at around 750.  It's been bad.  Hazardous actually.  We stay indoors as much as we can when it's in the purple box.  That was a couple weeks ago.  But the last few days haven't been so good either.

 

Here is a chart from the last 7 days...

 

 

 

And the last 24 hours

 

 

 

(it "snowed" or something like it last night, so we have beautiful blue skies today!) The government "seeds" the clouds sometimes to make it snow or rain - yikes! (that's a whole other issue!)

 

 

This summer my plan is to climb the highest mountain near me, camp-out for a few days, and just Breathe......

 



 

*****Send some clean air vibes our way, okay?*****