Job Discussion Forums

[Asynca]

Could the Lungs of Iron(tm) just be fibrosis from advanced lung cancer? I hate cigarette smoke as well. Why did I have to fall in love with Chinese? Why couldn't I have picked Inuit or something...

What I'm hoping is that I get there and don't notice. Shh... denial.

[NumberOneSon]

[dudette]

[quote="NumberOneSon] Here is another image which shows that
the worst particulate pollution is in the countryside, not the
cities: [/quote]

I couldn't open your link, NumberOneSon, but maybe it's just as well? I chose Sichuan because I thought an inland location would have cleaner air than the coastal areas Oh no...gasp...I can feel my lungs closing...gasp...

[struelle]

Fujian is a nice place, and the map doesn't show much pollution there. Good sea breezes and not much industrial pollution. But that province sits near the Tropic of Cancer line which means the weather in summers is scorching. I've heard Xiamen is the cleanest and most environmentally friendly city on the Mainland, however.

Steve

[arioch36]

There are places where the air quality is good. however, wherever heating is needed (or air conditioning) there will be pollution. To me, the air in many big cities is better then in the smal cities. Many cities have spent tons of money on "NIMBY" (Not in my backyard). They have pushed the polluted areas farther away.

I live in Zhengzhou in Henan. One semester I taught at Shangjie, across from a park, in an ideal upscale neighborhood "their potrayal". Well it was a suburb of Zhengzhou. They had lots of money from the Aluminum Factory! The factory kept the trees in the park across the street covered in ash. I never opened my windows. In Zhengzhou itself, I have found most neighborhoods to have reasonable air quality. To the south of the city are more then a few schools with pristine air quality. BUT, very inconvenient to go anywhere. Many colleges are relocating to the outskirts where there is more land. there is also less pollution, and much less to do.

All this rambling simply to say it's a crapshoot. In any one city there can be clean schools and schools with clean air. The only way to be sure is to pick the area you want to live in, and visit six or seven schools.

PS...in henan, at least, a couple of times a year the farmers burn their crop refuse...and there goes your air quality. China might not be the place for you.

[kimo]

The China Daily newspaper has a weekly pollution index of major cities in China. Haikou on Hainan Island is almost always at the bottom, meaning its air quality is very good relative to other cities. Haven't looked at it in a while so can't recall much more.

[Asynca]

Okay. Say I want to teach in Nanjing. Do westies get off the plane and sort of... grasp at their chests, coughing and wheezing while they collapse towards the ground?

Seriously though, I don't mind as long as it won't make my throat and eyes burn. Is it that bad?

[dudette]

[Wolf]

[Steiner]

Like Wolf and dudette, I've had more little niggling colds and coughs here than I ever did back in the States. Even when I feel perfectly healthy, like right now, I usually have chunks of phlegm in my lungs to cough up. But at least it's not black or red.

[Minhang Oz]

Shanghai's been very smoky the last few days. My regular Saturday trip into Jiangsu told me why. All the farmers are "burning off", to use Australian English: combusting their useless crop foliage[?].

[Steiner]

It's smoky in and around Changsha too. Gives everything a nice gray pallor.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Don't be so determined to go to an airpolution free city. Air polution covers up a lot of the other odors: antipersperants are not used in China, and there is always someone who doesn't look after their trash. If your in a city like Shen Yang you can't smell anything after a week because of the airpolution so the air seems clean. In clean air cities, your nose will still work for smelling and you will daily be wiffing gentle breazes of body odor, trash and car fumes.

[whitjohn]

I have to respond to this body odor comment. I lived in Alice Springs for many years and you don't know diddly about body odor unless you have been around Australian Aboriginals! God what a pong!! You can smell them just walking down the street.
Here in the clean air city of Kunming, my nose works very well and I am delighted by the cleanliness and pleasant fragrance of the people. I often read over the shoulder of my uni students and have never detected a bad smell. To the contrary, their freshly washed hair and clean clothes make standing next to them VERY plesant! Even in crowded busses on rainy days, the scrupliously clean Chinese are not smelly.
Bad breath..now there is another puzzle. They brush their teeth and I eat the same food as they but sooo many have bad breath. Why is still a mystery to me.

[Seth]

I'd worry more about stinky tofu stands, baijiu fumes, and bad breath on the bus.