Originally Posted by
SFO777
We heard the same smog stories but were not bothered at all. From an environmental standpoint, both Beijing and Shanghai seemed like any other big cities. We've experienced a lot worse. Yeah, there was a kind of haze in Beijing but not that much worse than visiting LA at the wrong time of the year. And Shanghai was mostly overcast so it was hard to tell whether there was any haze.
The air really can be horrible to the point of having public health consequences at certain times of year in these and other Chinese cities - far worse than in LA, to the point where some expats (and perhaps some wealthy Chinese?) are deciding to raise their kids elsewhere. Having said that, I'd take a chance on visiting Shanghai myself -especially after seeing your great pics and getting a reminder of how much it has changed since I was there many years ago! - trying to avoid those times (which I believe are mainly in the winter, though I haven't checked carefully).
Anyway, thanks for those great shots and interesting commentary on the Peninsula.