One of the first things you notice when you arrive in Beijing is the air. The haze, the smell. It's not a pretty sight. So how bad is it?

API statistics for the major cities in
An API of 1-50 is considered "excellent", 51-100 is "good", 101-200 is "slightly or lightly polluted" (rating a warning to reduce activities outdoors for people with cardiac and respiratory problems), 200-300 is "moderately polluted" (rating a warning to same people to stay indoors).

The Chinese government is obviously hoping for more of the “blue sky” days pictured above when the Olympics opens next August, but chances are not likely. This summer,
You might wonder about the health effects of breathing in this air. There is no definitive study about how many years it can take off your life, but one thing we know is this: it's not good for your health, and it certainly aggravates your respiratory system. Sooner or later, everyone develops the "Beijing cough" which usually goes away after your lungs acclimate. My sister, who is a doctor in an American-run hospital here in Beijing, says there's not much you can do about it short of moving out of Beijing. Apparently, exercising in smog is better than not exercising in it. There are also some pretty good masks you can wear if you don't mind standing out in a crowd. Check the masks sold at this website: http://www.respro.com/home.php. For the more academically inclined, there is now a book published by MIT Press titled Clearing the Air: The Health and Economic Damages of Air Pollution in China (2007). You can read sample chapters at http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/search/default.asp?qtype=c&query=clearing+the+air.
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