Beijing Diary : Smog,Clear Sky & Geography
You'd be thinking - Well, whats the big deal. All I can say is "Welcome to Beijing!!". With the summer solstice going on,the daytime here is unusually long. The sun is up as early as 4:30, 5 and refuses to go till as late as 8:30-9:00 pm.
What is interesting is that the work-hours of the Chinese people are accordingly adjusted to accommodate this - Consider this : The local employees get a 2 hr nap time (in addition to the regular break) during summer solstice while in winter solstice, even the usual break time is slightly shortened. Thats how they maintain the usual 8-9 hr schedule throughout the year.
It just amazes me every time as to how important a subject geography was, in our school-life. I'd speak for myself when I say - I probably never gave it the importance it deserves. Not sure if we could have learnt in a different, maybe in a better way. This is definitely a thought, worth pondering over though.
Ok, the point why I went into this discussion was - in spite of there being daylight for more than 15 hours a day, one can rarely see the sun ; neither can one bask in the sunlight. Why? - theres too much smog in the sky. Yes, this is a problem that Beijing apparently has been grappling with for many years now.
I guess we were a bit lucky on this front as we got to see a 'clear sky' in Beijing. Some of my local buddies(mainlanders) remarked "Oh!, so this is what it looks like!!"
It rained a bit on the 1st of July in Beijing which gave us a crystal clear overhead sky on July 2nd. Marcos, you would say that this was a birthday gift to Chandni. Whatever it was, it was beautiful.
For you guys, here it is -
I got appreciated for a couple of pictures in this set. The perspectives and the 'underwater' effect was well taken. Thank you for all the credit! :-)
A random statistic - China surpassed the US as the country with the most number of vehicles on the road this year . Looking at the age and growth of the populace of both the areas, am sure China is going to sustain its lead for years to come. Just makes me think if the price being paid is really worth it. Cheers for now - I shall be back soon with pictures and an account of the Great Wall. I had been to the great wall today and trust me, I have come back - a humbler man!
