Air Quality

One of the things that I have been meaning to mention in a post has been the air quality here in Beijing. I remember running up to the Olympics that there was a lot of coverage on the poor quality of air in Beijing. When I was in here two years ago, I think there were only 10-15 blue sky days in two months and that that was mostly during the Olympics, when the Chinese government seeded the clouds to make it rain and clear the skies.

This time around, I think there has been a drastic improvement in air quality and overall "blue sky" days. Just in the last week, outside of the one rainy day, five or six of the days have had blue skies. From what I have read, the government has made a strong push to move heavy industry out of Beijing and into the suburbs or even into Central and Western China, in an attempt to provide a higher standard of living for Beijingers. Whether this is the reason that the air quality is better or not, I do know I am happy for the change.

Here is a picture of today, from my apartment window. It is a perfect autumn day, warm in the sun, accompanied by a soft, cool breeze.