And now for something on topic:

I've lived here in Shanghai for just over a year. Granted, I have been out of the country a bit traveling, but I've only seen blue sky exactly twice (once for 1 day, once for 2 days) which coincided with massive tropical depressions / storm systems far offshore (most likely sucking the pollutants out to sea - there's a unpleasant thought, take local seafood off the shopping list!).

I live in a highrise in Lujiazui literally on the east side of the river. Many, many days, I can't make out the bund which is on the opposite side of the river. It's not a wide river.

Another example I had is going up to the top of any of the tall buildings here (Pearl Tower or Shanghai Financial Center for example) - your view is always limited by pollution, not by range of sight.

Additionally - and not sure if this is a true impact or not, but it's at least anecdotal - locals here are firework CRAZY. Every couple days there's a 4th of July outside.

*Every* day following a 4th of July is massively "smoggy", which makes sense given the materials used in construction of the fireworks. Imagine those fireworks aren't doing wonders for the environment either.

I'm excited to be able to wrap up my tour of duty here soon and go somewhere less polluted.

That said, other than pollution, I love it here (though I can't recommend it as a Chinese citizen, only a foreigner -- being a citizen would probably suck).