Beijing’s air quality is usually a taboo subject. The state-run media there usually refers to the capital’s smog as “mist,” “fog” or “bad weather.” But even the government-owned China Daily couldn’t ignore the situation earlier this week.
The picture in the bottom left corner was taken on Monday.
It seems that Beijing’s air has been particularly bad this week… even by Beijing standards. Unfortunately, the Chinese government bans all dissemination of information about pollutants in the air. That leaves a lone air monitor on the roof of the U.S. embassy as the only source of pulic data. (The embassy publishes the pollution data via Twitter.)
Check out James Fallows’ excellent coverage of the issue here. And watch this downright creepy video shot on the streets of Beijing Monday.
