It's Snowing! (well that's what it looks like)

Beijing has an overdose addiction to cheap disposable lightweight plastic bags. Beijingers like to toss shit out: sometimes in the garbage, but often not. BJ can also be tremendously windy. Put these factors together and we sometimes get the most picturesque "snow"storms whereupon magnitudes of cute baggies fill the nether regions of the sky. It truly is a sight to behold.

In other weather news, here's a note on the "fog": It's not fog.

According to the State Environmental Protection Administration, the brown haze that descended on our fair city hit a whopping 421 on the Air Pollution Index today. To put that in perspective, on a good day it hovers between 50-150. On a bad day, we're looking at 200 or so.

In fact, today's smog is so bad that the American Environmental Protection Agency rates it as Condition Maroon - or Hazardous. They even go so far as to advise "AQI values over 300 trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected." Doctors recommend not undertaking physical exercise outside, and limiting exposure to the pollution.

According to the Pollution Index, 25 is safe, and some say you shouldn't go outside if it's up to 150.

Ok ok, i know i said earlier the pollution's not as bad i thought it'd be. It's true that you do see blue skies maybe 50% of the time, and thankfully you can rarely smell or taste the "fog". So usually it's pretty livable.

Last Thursday was superduper "foggy", but you know something's up 'cause it's not moist. Did i really feel a bit dizzy or was it just my head? That day i felt particularly disturbed 'cause it struck me that the air quality of the day isn't the issue at all. Because it's not like the factories were working any harder on Wednesday than usual. In the big picture, that shit is being cranked into the air 24-7, and going indoors is a pretty pathetic solution to the problem at hand. I feel like we're all gonna deal with this in the long run.

Also note that it's a scary time and place to get knocked up, according to the stats on birth defects.

On that note, i gotta get move on. Time's running out on 2007, and i have to be all positive and optimistic to ring in the new year. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPY NEW YEAR!