Day 75- Colder air, cleaner air

The last few mornings have been just above freezing as I walk to work...in the mid 30's. Brrrr.  I really, really hate to be cold.

In spite of faithfully wearing my mittens, I still have white, numb fingers from
my ten minute walk to school.  The country does not turn on the heat until
November 15 (it is controlled by the government), so I have been using my space
heater day and night.  I am so thankful to have my down comforter!

You know it's getting colder when the scooters are wearing their coats
and mittens, too.  I've never seen that before!  It's the Chinese way.

And many scooters and bikes are now outfitted with tents to block the
wind and worsening pollution for the kiddies riding on back.  The
pollution in Beijing can soar as high as an AQI of 600, or so I'm told.
A colleague of mine described it as 'chewing the air.'  I can hardly  wait.
I hear it gets bad as soon as the coal factories fire up after November 15th.

In the meantime, Beijing is preparing for the APEC summit, which begins this Friday.  Schools, factories, and governmental offices are closed for the week.  Driving cars are on limited days based on your license plate number.  Neighboring provinces are offering free admissions to tourist attractions to entice Beijingers to leave town during the summit.  The Party wants to 'save face' by putting on her best face with regards to the dense population and dense smog that is a daily struggle here. An interesting article pretty much tells the whole story ; http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/beijing-smokescreen-hide-pollution-apec?CMP=share_btn_fb

Clearly the plan is working.  The streets were not as crowded when I walked to school this morning. I didn't have to juke and jive my way across ten lanes of traffic, that is typical during morning rush hour. And as the afternoon as worn on, the Beijing haze is burning off, and the AQI (air quality index) is steadily dropping.

What began as an AQI of 173 on the way to work, by
lunch time it had dropped to 51, and now it is just 33.
This is the view from my 5th floor office window.
In the lower right corner, you can see the BNDS West
Gate which is kept secured during the school day.
Look in the background and you can see the outline
of the Western Hills, and the beautiful blue sky :)

So, tomorrow is our last work day, and grades for the first quarter are due by 5:00pm.  It's hard to believe half of the fall semester is nearly over already. It's been a huge period of adjustment, for sure. All in all, though, it was the right decision for me to come here to Beijing to teach.  Not without its growing pains, it still has been a good move for me personally and professionally.  After school tomorrow, I am going to move my personal self to the airport to catch an evening flight to the Philippines, compliments of the APEC summit, and an extra week's vacation.  The daily temperature there has been in the 90's, so I can't wait to thaw out on the beach, in warmer, cleaner air!

Stay tuned... Philippino adventures are around the corner :)

G'nite, y'all!