Originally Posted by
vesicle
So let me ask you this...though many issues are matters of preference...the air is not. Breathing the heavy amounts of pollution is not healthy and you cannot change it. The damage occurring to your lungs are worth it to you to live there?
I mean if you lived in an Indian village with infected water and no bottle or purifying source would you stay?
Whether you can stand the taste or smell is one thing...but the damage is happening no matter your 'mood'.
related...doesn't matter to me what any other city was like years ago as I don't have to breathe that air.
1. Yup, it's worth it. Life is short and living here is like being in some big movie since changes are afoot so fast. On terrible pollution days, you stay inside with the air filter on full blast.
2. I'm not in an Indian village (though I have to say even Indian villages now have bottled water/soda for sale, so I'd be ok.) I'm sure I eat contaminated food on a daily basis, whether its here or in India. I'm still alive and kicking. This question, unfortunately, only affects the extremely impoverished, regardless of nation, which is sad on it's own since they can't control it. I'm in a major metropolis where I can get clean water and there are tons of international facilities...
3. We probably destroy our bodies on a daily basis given the junk we eat in America. Look at cancer rates in the US, why are they so high? I'm no doctor or scientist, but I am sure this has something to do with it. Look at the ingredients list of things you eat in the US. It's scary. Food I eat in Beijing, surprisingly is probably much fresher (i eat much healthier here for some reason and have lost lots of weight and not through dieting, that's for sure). MSG is widely used in the US too, or alternatives, we just don't know about it.
4. Fair enough. Was just making a point that Beijing and other Chinese cities are only really developing now and will of course suffer from growing pains, pollution being one of them..