Chinese authorities boost smog alert level in Beijing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-34957373 

Dyuti

This is a really good tip. The pollution can be really bad in China (unless they have any visiting dignitaries coming and they shut down all of the factories for a couple of weeks in advance to clear the air).

When our JY Group was there in October last year, the smog was so thick that you could not see the buildings on the other side of the street from our hotel windows! We drove right past the Bird's Nest stadium but everyone missed it because of the 'white out' It was so bad when we were in Beijing that they shut the expressway to the section of the Great Wall we were scheduled to visit (the one with the cable car) and instead we had to divert to Badalung. Not many panoramic photographs were taken of the Great Wall that day, but we all still had a super time (tip - if you have to go to Badalung, turn left instead of right when you go up onto the Wall. It's steeper but, as a result, much less crowded)

We laughed when we first arrived and saw people wearing the surgical masks but within a few days almost the whole party had developed coughs and sore throats. You can really feel and taste the pollution on the back of your throat and you will notice that everything from shop awnings to cars are all covered in a thick layer of dust. Take plenty of throat sweets and cold cures in addition to tissues and hand sanitiser/wipes. If you suffer from asthma as one of our party did, take extra inhalers because you will really get through them quickly Also, don't forget to take loo paper as the 'facilities' away from the hotels are.....varied......

Regardless of the smog, you will have an amazing time - it's a real 'cultural experience'. One final tip- pack a jumper or two extra because the smog cover means that it can often be bitterly cold (our forecast said 26 degrees but we were lucky to hit 8 some days - very very chilly)

Have a great trip

Mandy

Best wishes,

Bob

Hi Dyuti

This is a really good tip. The pollution can be really bad in China (unless they have any visiting dignitaries coming and they shut down all of the factories for a couple of weeks in advance to clear the air).

When our JY Group was there in October last year, the smog was so thick that you could not see the buildings on the other side of the street from our hotel windows! We drove right past the Bird's Nest stadium but everyone missed it because of the 'white out' It was so bad when we were in Beijing that they shut the expressway to the section of the Great Wall we were scheduled to visit (the one with the cable car) and instead we had to divert to Badalung. Not many panoramic photographs were taken of the Great Wall that day, but we all still had a super time (tip - if you have to go to Badalung, turn left instead of right when you go up onto the Wall. It's steeper but, as a result, much less crowded)

We laughed when we first arrived and saw people wearing the surgical masks but within a few days almost the whole party had developed coughs and sore throats. You can really feel and taste the pollution on the back of your throat and you will notice that everything from shop awnings to cars are all covered in a thick layer of dust. Take plenty of throat sweets and cold cures in addition to tissues and hand sanitiser/wipes. If you suffer from asthma as one of our party did, take extra inhalers because you will really get through them quickly Also, don't forget to take loo paper as the 'facilities' away from the hotels are.....varied......

Regardless of the smog, you will have an amazing time - it's a real 'cultural experience'. One final tip- pack a jumper or two extra because the smog cover means that it can often be bitterly cold (our forecast said 26 degrees but we were lucky to hit 8 some days - very very chilly)

Have a great trip

Mandy

Thanks Mandy. Whenever I go to London, I see some Chinese people wearing a mouth mask, I just thought may be they had cold. I saw the same when I went to Australia with JY. That made me think may be in China, they wear the mask to protect themselves from the pollution. Only last Thursday, I ordered a pack of three masks from Amazon. After reading about the smog yesterday, I am so glad that I did.

Less than a month to go so hope we may escape the smog. Thanks also for the important tips that you gave. Looking forward to going there.

Dyuti

I refer you to my previous comment about the Chinese closing down the factories for visiting dignitaries, Mr. Gray......they clearly knew you were coming....... ;)

Hi Mandy, clearly indeed! If only the Vietnamese authorities had worked so hard to clear the fog from Halong Bay when we were there and I would have been really impressed! :s

Cheers,

Bob

Cindy

I too think the masks look utterly ridiculous when there is no smog or pollution.

Cheers,

Bob

You could blame predictive text!!!!

Lesley

Hi Dyuti, I hope the smog is not bad when you are there - I went to China in Sept 2014 with JY and there was no smog in Beijing or anywhere else!

Best wishes,

Bob

Bob, you & I appear to have been lucky. Visiting dignitaries part, it does appear to be a bit random. I was in Beijing for four days in October last year: three days were completely smog-free (including our trip to the Great Wall) and the fourth suffered from some smog - but we were still able to see the Bird's Nest stadium, although photographing it was difficult because of the lack of contrast.

I experienced no smog anywhere else on my journey in China (Xi'An, Guilin, Chengdu, Shanghai).

> if you have to go to Badaling, turn left instead of right when you go up onto the Wall. It's steeper but, as a result, much less crowded

Yes, it's certainly less crowded, and the better option, although the Wall - and everywhere else in and near Beijing - was packed with Chinese tourists (who all seemed to want to include us in their photographs 🙂.

> don't forget to take loo paper as the 'facilities' away from the hotels are.....varied......

Yes, they are a real "cultural" experience! And the new(ish) communal ones in the Hu Tong area bring a whole new meaning to the expression "lack of privacy" . . . . .

Antibacterial hand wash would also be a good idea.

Jim

Interesting. I was in Japan last month, and saw many people wearing face masks there - but there was absolutely no pollution, anywhere. We were told that they do it when they had a cold to prevent spreading germs. The Japanese do seem to take such things seriously - it seems that blowing one's nose in public is socially unacceptable, so I shudder to think what state their face masks must be in by the time they return home.

Jim