Here is a photo of our complex on August 2, about a week before the start of the Beijing Olympics. A cool front pushed through Beijing, blowing much of the pollution out and creating what was a spectacular day for many of us accustomed to the grey haze of Beijing.
Two days later, the haze came creeping back in so that by the day before the Opening Ceremony on August 8, the air looked like this. Notice you can still make out the outlines of buildings in the background.
China Daily, the official English-language newspaper in China, came out with a headline saying that just because the air was hazy didn't mean it was polluted. They made the distinction between haze created by heat and humidity, and haze created by pollution. To some extent they are right. Heat and humidity do combine to produce haze, but pollution makes the haze even worse. It's hard to produce the kind of haze you see here in Beijing without a lot of pollution. You can't tell me this air isn't full of particulates and other chemicals!
By the time the day of the Opening Ceremony rolled around, the air had gotten pretty bad. Take a look. Notice the buildings in the background have pretty much disappeared. Oh well, at least it didn't rain. That was the main concern of the Beijing Olympics organizers. But I'm sure it's on the mind of the athletes who have to compete in this stuff.
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