While I’ve already written about the bad air in Beijing lately, I compared the air quality I recorded in Oct/Nov ’12 with January’s air. I am thankful for my air purifier, but horrified by how this must be affecting an entire generation of Chinese.
Beijing’s bad air is now international news. Articles about last weekend’s horrific conditions sprung up all over the place. Yes, it really was that bad. In the past two weeks we had 6 days in the hazardous range, with one day’s average off the scale.
I made a decision a while back to tell stories, not write a newsletter. While there’s room for improvement, I’m getting better at looking around me for stories that others may find interesting – stories that show a little of what life looks like here.
Moganshan is a mountain resort area near Hangzhou. It was settled by missionaries in the late 1800s as a retreat from the hot, humid Shanghai weather. Wealthy foreigners built sprawling houses with tennis courts and swimming pools.
I came to China for a year, but it took me 6 to decide I was staying. This place is the first place I made a real home. Buying a Christmas tree was a symbol that I really was home – I didn’t have to grow up or go back to Australia, I was home HERE.
It is definitely winter in Beijing now. As I walked home just now it was was -9 (16 F). The forecast MAXIMUM tomorrow is -2 (29 F). While I may call one of Australia’s coldest cities home, it is still Australia, and nothing like the cold of Beijing.
Autumn is my favourite time of year in Beijing. It’s crazybusy but I enjoy it! We have great weather, get a holiday (helps the weather), and we have our annual youth camps. We had over 200 people from at least 15 countries (5 continents).
The first week of October is a holiday in China. Flags go up everywhere, red and yellow flower arrangements brighten every complex, and almost the whole country goes on holiday. Great weather adds to the festive feel.
The scenery along the Li river was wonderful – huge bamboo stands along the riverside dwarfed the boats, then were dwarfed by the karsts that reared up behind them. At times, wisps of cloud swept along the karsts – it was so beautiful!
I first visited Jiuzhaigou National Park in China’s Sichuan province with my parents in October 2009. I was surprised at how different my second experience was! It was early summer as opposed to Autumn, so there was a big colour difference.
Our 10 hour bus ride up the Min River valley from Chengdu to Songpan and across a long plateau and then down into Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan province – more interesting than it sounds!
I woke this morning to find a layer of wet, white snow on everything. Last night’s rain turned to snow around 11pm as the temperature dropped. Gotta love snow after a week of warm weather (warm meaning tops of 12 or so several days in a row). The drive to church was so pretty! The…
Stories From Tanya 