The whole thing about China being covered in smog always seemed like a bit of a fabrication to me. Sure, it's a huge country with an insane amount of people, but the air couldn't be much different to rush hour in London. When I went to Beijing in 2014, I saw how the sky could be grey and the sun looked smudged out on a couple of days, but aside from that we had beautiful blue sky.
See?
But this is a photo from my first day in Xi'an (both photos have absolutely no editing on them):
A city with a population of 8 million people, a mere fraction of the capital, yet the air felt thick when I stepped out of the airport. As I sat in the back of a taxi and made my way to my hotel, the horizon was fuzzy. It could have been mistaken for fog but it looked heavier. It clung to buildings and didn't feel cold and damp like a wintery mist I'm more accustomed to.
As I made my way out for my usual 'getting to know the area' stroll, I was horrified to feel it in my chest. I couldn't take a deep breath as my lungs seemed to fill much more quickly and I had to slow down my overenthusiastic pace to a gentle meander so that I didn't have to do a characteristic Chinese hocking on the side of the street.
My mouth tasted metallic and the inside of my nose felt crispy. I was suitably freaked out and headed straight to a little chain of stores I'd seen in Shanghai which sell literally everything and bought a mask to cover my face. I've seen Chinese people wear these on TV and in person and always thought they were totally ridiculous, but now I get it. I put on that mask and the chemical, clean smell of the material was so reassuring that I knew I wouldn't care what I looked like; nobody would give me a second glance anyway as everyone else was wearing one too.
I always thought a 'bad pollution' day was just people over-reacting to grey sky and a lack of sunshine, but actually experiencing it was something else. I adore China, and this hasn't put me off visiting again in the future, but it has opened my eyes to what road my own fair city of London could end up going down and it really is quite unnerving.
That is so alarming - I really feel for the people who have to live there and breathe it in every day. I hope this isn't what London will be like soon!
ReplyDeleteSteph - http://nourishmeclean.blogspot.com
I've heard about this and it is something that slightly puts me off about China. I glad you don't think it should discourage people.
ReplyDeleteI feel for the people of China and their governments sheer ignorance that this is occurring. It puts us off visiting as Mr W is lacking 1 lung and I wouldn't want him to lose the other!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, yeah I wouldn't recommend going if you are lacking in the lung department! Most of the time it is absolutely fine though, that's why it's such a shame.
ReplyDeleteCx
It definitely shouldn't put you off. I didn't have any problems in Chengdu or Shanghai in the nine days previous to being in Xi'an, and I've spent 10 days in Beijing before with blue skies. The country is so beautiful and bizarre, you should definitely go at some point!
ReplyDeleteCx
That was my worry too! Hopefully our government is on it, but people just don't think it'll happen to them - it's pretty ignorant really
ReplyDeleteCx
Luckily on a day to day basis most buildings are equipped with air filters and purifiers so indoors the air is absolutely fine!! It just becomes like a 'rainy' day in the UK....you get on with it!! It is a nuisance but it shouldn't put people off from China. Since Christmas we have only had a handful of bad polution days!
ReplyDeleteI found this post really interesting. I spent a month in China this year and we had 2 slightly bad days but nothing this bad! We did take the masks as a precaution though. Its amazing how many people wear them isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAmy x
www.whatamysays.com
I've spent six weeks there in total and this was definitely the worse day. One of my best friends used to live in Beijing and sometimes it would be so bad that they'd close the school she worked in, so it's totally hit and miss for when you're there I think!
ReplyDeleteCx