Job Discussion Forums

CHINOISE · Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 62

Is there a 2.5ppm limit that would be a deal breaker for you.

It's clearly been worse than last year. I'm just wondering what the breaking point is where ex pats will say, "OK, this just isn't worth it."

200 days of 300+, 100 days of 400+, 100 days of 500+...?

Has anyone set any limits for themselves?

I'm not in Beijing but we're seeing a lot of 300 almost 400 days lately. If it doesn't get back down to the 200s daily max before spring, I'm headed back to Korea. This just isn't safe.

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

MisterButtkins · Joined: 03 Oct 2009 Posts: 1221

I don't go by the ppm numbers, but more by a sense of "It's too smoky to see anything." or "I have a sore throat all the time." or "I have to blow chunks out of my nose for 5 minutes every morning." or

And by those metrics, Beijing is too polluted for me.

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

Shroob · Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 1339

Not exactly. I have a 'size' limit. I don't like big cities and much prefer the smaller (1m - 3m) type places. It just so happens that bigger cities tend to have more pollution. Of course there will be smaller cities that have a pollution problem, but I will avoid these.

So... yes, but there are other factors which put me off.

mambawamba · Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 311

We had this conversation tonight as we looked out across the road upon a wall of thick smog.

For us it isn't a number as it's not a reliable indicator. The AQI for Qingdao says it's lower tonight then the previous few days. Man we can't breathe out there it's so bad.

It's how many days in row our eyes and skin sting, our throats itch and our chests hurt. It's how much it permeates into the apartment. How much it effects us being able to spend time outside.

We love China but there will come a point when we will draw the line and say enough is enough we can't live like this.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

Suzhou surprisingly has been quite foggy/smoggy for the last few days. So bad that the kids can't go out for morning exercise. I've been staying inside as much as possible this weekend. The warm temps help contribute to the foggy side, but not sure why we are seeing so much smog these days. Of course, new factories spring up all the time around here and more and more people are driving now (they're turning the right half of the ebike lanes into parking spots for the autos), so it was bound to happen.

As I've stated elsewhere, I'm planning on leaving here (China) next summer so hopefully my lungs can take this for a few more months.

El Macho · Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 200

For me it started in January of this year in Beijing with the "Airpocalypse" and continued on into Feb, March, and April during which there were multiple days when the pollution was high enough to warrant wearing pollution masks. That's no way to live.

AQI regularly high enough that you can't go running three or four days a week? That's no way to live.

We're leaving China next month.

JoeKing · Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 519

I'd never really seen smog before, and for the first half of the day(yesterday) I thought it was just lingering morning fog like we get in Florida. This was NOT on my bucket list.!

"Shanghai's smog gives expats second thoughts"
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-12/07/content_17158757.htm

"Wild Pictures Of China's Worst Smog Day in History"
http://www.policymic.com/articles/75995/wild-pictures-of-china-s-worst-smog-day-in-history

Javelin of Radiance · Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 1187 Location: The West

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

bro, beijing and shanghai are not china.

plenty of locations with minimal or no pollution.
guangxi, guizhou, yunnan, hainan come to mind.

JoeKing · Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 519

WLamar · Joined: 19 Oct 2013 Posts: 58

As if anyone knew what the numbers meant before last year... and yet now you consider these numbers run-a-way-able.

mambawamba · Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 311

@ WLamar I don't run away from numbers, I walk slowly so they can't see my fear.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I read the links provided by JoeKing and then I read some more related stories provided by the sites. It is sickening. However, it's not just big factories and construction and what-not. Nobody is going to give up their cars and hop on a bus or the subway (well, maybe NOBODY is an extreme, but I'll bet very few will). People don't give a crap about smoking, noise pollution, littering, and the other dozens of things we see on a typical day. There are so many people polluting in all sorts of ways that I feel it is going to be nigh impossible to clean it up. Remember those futuristic sci-fi movies that show Earth as this vast wasteland with only the very elite living above it all? That future is here in China now! Other countries will join soon enough I'm sure - - India, USA . . . who else? *cough, cough!*