Maybe so if you look only at the short-term. But I have been in Beijing for 10+ years. I have coronary artery disease and a bypass surgery already under my belt...and I'm not even qualified to be a Senior Citizen yet! After many years of not really having the bad air affect me in any noticeable way on a day-to-day basis, since 2010, I can honestly say it does. You can see why I'm not eager to return and in fact, have decided to not return to Beijing as home base. Only short visits if necessarily. If I'm to continue on in China, it will have to be at a different location....and there are relatively few places one can base out of that have both a) decent air and b) work. :(

The handwriting is on the wall.

the pollution thread
 

My wife and I will be spending a week touring Beijing in mid-February and she'll be 6 months pregnant at the time. Should she consider wearing a mask, or are we worrying too much?

mid feb
 

The festive CNY chaos starts on Feb. 10th & the nightly aroma of fireworks will continue to Lantern day, Feb. 24th. A good mask might be a good idea for those evenings when the weather is uncooperative. BJ is abet weird during the week of CNY... past years CNY posts have more details. Many foreigners leave China during CNY week.

Sorry to hear about the health issues.

Without doubt, air pollution is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease -- but nowhere near as much as smoking. Over a large population, a small, but universally applied risk results in many excess events especially given that CHD is not uncommon.

tb

Well, SH's air isn't completely dastardly, it has a great job market, and you'll get used to the culture over time (i.e. at least my friends are nice people).

But, I'm hoping to move down south (Shenzhen or Xiamen) during the course of the next year.

Better idea to both of you: move to HKG! :D

HKG? You want us to move to an airport? :p:D

Funning aside, HK air isn't all that great, too much imported pollution from the Pearl River Delta. The only larger Chinese cities that I've been in that seem to have decent air are Dalian, Qingdao, and Xiamen. Xiamen I particularly like since in ways it reminds me of my original home (coastal Florida) and doesn't have a real winter. Inland: Kunming has pretty decent air. So, Xiamen or Kunming would be my picks, and maybe not just based on health/air quality but on general liveability dimensions and easy access to places outside China. Shanghai I could deal with but I'd put a time limit of 2 years on it.

You're right it isn't THAT great here in HKG, but we think "200" is uber uber high, and SH beats that mark quite a lot, if I'm not mistaken. I think estimates are that 50% of HK's pollution is "imported" - the HK government seems to be reluctant to take local measures to improve things itself though (bus and shipping emission standards etc).

Plus we have great weather, beaches, low taxes, connectivity to the world, easy visa process etc etc etc...:) - oh and the food is safe

I love HKG and visit at least once a year, but for my industry HKG has fallen out of favour as a major hub for the region, and on its own is not a major market either. Given up figuring out a way to be posted there. In fact we have quite a few HKG colleagues now in the China offices because they've run out the career ladder back home!

I too used to think the pollution in HKG gets pretty gross, but after 18mths in Beijing - yikes. I can't imagine what the other 2nd/3rd tier industrial cities must be like.

Similar to the People's Republic of Kalifornia. But we have the added bonus
of high taxes, offset by zero humidity in the summer.

The following blog written by a doctor who lives in Beijing talks about pollution and health:
http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/categ...ess/pollution/

I think there are some things you can do to minimise the health impacts:
1. Stay indoors where possible and buy an air cleaning machine with a HEPA filter.
2. When outdoors wear a mask that can filter out fine particles (see http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/2010/...hich-are-best/)

The site above has an article suggesting that even on the worst days, breathing in the air is equivalent to smoking less than one cigarette, which just shows how horribly bad for the health smoking is: http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/2011/...disappointing/

Beijing is pretty terrible in both air and water pollution. The running joke is that if you are a decently high up government official you would have a water filtration system installed in your house (actually true).

Anyway I was in Shanghai the past week and the air was surprisingly ok. Normally when I get off the place I notice the air quality immediately. Maybe it is because I haven't been to Shanghai in awhile.

p.s. Anyone know if fog has anything to do with pollution? Getting a crazy amount of it right now and caused me to be stuck in Wuxi for a day due to highway closing (at least the InterContinental was nice in Wuxi).

Water pollution in BJ is news to me; I know that lots of buildings use old plumbing, but I've heard that the water itself is quite okay.

Yes, fog (stagnant air) does exacerbate air quality problems.

Shanghai might seem fine by comparison, but I can't recall the last time I've seen stars here.

I'll take that "unsafe" food over in Shenzhen over the sweet rubbish in HK any day. Whenever there's a mainland visa in tow, I do just that. On the other hand, I'll be in town the night of 17JAN, so if there was a place with late-night 蝦餃, that'd be nice.

Regarding Beijing's air pollution, it's even more surreal with sunglasses on. Strolling by Jianguomen Waidajie, at least the parts with the random neon lights (the ones that look like incomplete arches)- might as well be filming a sequel to Blade Runner.

Comparatively speaking (but still not exactly healthy), Shenzhen never seemed that bad, at least in the SEZ. But wandering through parts of Longgang, Baoan or Guangming indeed reveals another world.

Spoken like someone who hasn't explored mainland-style cuisine options in HK (though there is a lack of Xinjiang food here - :( )

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...am-minter.html

Food safety in the mainland is no joke- but you're more than welcome to play around with the risks if you desire to do so