Beijing's pollution, seen from space

[Puremallace]

Yet Chinese manufacturers are sitting on enough solar panels to power 1/3 of the world. Talk about one stupid government. Hopefully the officials get lung cancer and choke to death on their own blood. I have no pity for those fools.

[Laize]

Yet Chinese manufacturers are sitting on enough solar panels to power 1/3 of the world. Talk about one stupid government. Hopefully the officials get lung cancer and choke to death on their own blood. I have no pity for those fools.

The money to set up those solar panels (regardless of accuracy of you're "1/3 the world" figure) probably doesn't exist in Chinese coffers.

Hell, it probably doesn't exist in AMERICAN coffers.

[Puremallace]

The money to set up those solar panels (regardless of accuracy of you're "1/3 the world" figure) probably doesn't exist in Chinese coffers.

Hell, it probably doesn't exist in AMERICAN coffers.

Yet they build a new coal factory every day from some estimates. These guys are building a infrastrutre based on 20th century technology while Europe and America are building theirs on 21st century. Right now China could sooooooooo easily move past the US if they invested and did not take cheap route because US is in a stand still because of this debt debate crap.

[Ysilla]

Scoring 700 on a 0-500 scale like a boss :P

On a serious note: That's quite bad, but what can they do?

AQI is really a strange index... never understood why they use this 0-500 scale when values can in fact go way higher than that...

[Arlon]

The money to set up those solar panels (regardless of accuracy of you're "1/3 the world" figure) probably doesn't exist in Chinese coffers.

Hell, it probably doesn't exist in AMERICAN coffers.

Since when did that stop the US? :>

[bungeebungee]

I wonder what the air smells like there?

You know the rule about wearing fragrances, right? If it is strong enough for you to smell, you're wearing too much. The air here is like that, it is a background note that one tends not to notice.

That isn't to say that scents here are neutral.

The "S" shaped trap in most Western plumbing seems widely ignored by Chinese plumbers. It is, of course, used to keep sewer gas from venting into rooms. Without it, Chinese washrooms range from modestly horrible to unspeakable; their answer to the problem is to open a window or burn incense (possibly both). Then, there is that guy over there frying ... OMG, what's that smell? Welcome to "stinky" tofu, it lives up to the name. Those are just a couple of the things that tend to get noticed quickly.

Not all of the things smell bad. The smoke can get a bit thick around the street side BBQ vendors, but if you like BBQ (and don't mind lamb) it is a pleasant enough smell. It even keeps some of the mosquitoes away in the summer. There are probably also adjoining stalls selling skewers of stuff boiled in spicy broth (ma la tang), giving off rich, spicy steam. Shopping in the market, one can walk past barrels of aromatic spices. As something distinct from food, you'll also find many places burn incense from time to time, and not just to mask the outhouse reek of a poorly designed washroom.

You'll encounter many smells, some pleasant and others appalling, but one tends not to notice the air itself. Well, not any particular smell that is, one can't help but notice the wide swings in visibility, depending on the strength of the wind and its direction.