Rolland With The Punches: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: A Chronicle of Polluted Days in China

Sometime in late March...
I was scrolling through my notes app on my phone a few months back. Then later that day I scrolled my draft list on my blog and realized I have several unfinished stories of the pollution. How it differs from day to day and more than that, from morning to night.
The pollution can affect your entire day. It's like an environmental mood ring. 600% means off the charts. Seriously, the scale goes to 500, but Beijing experienced some 600-something days in winter. So 400-300 percent is extremely gloomy. 200% means you're so-so because you know it could be worse. And 100% means you're pissed if you have to work because it's as nice as it can get in China compared to the 500% days. And when it's less than 100%, meaning not visible, you call in sick or thank your lucky stars if it's your day off.
The only positive I have found from the pollution is it makes you less lazy. Meaning if it's your lazy Sunday and it's sunny, you force yourself outside because you'd only beat yourself up for it later if you wasted fresh air and sunshine. Winter, summer, spring or fall.
Also, living in smog city has made me more health-conscious. Because I live in a death bubble I consider healthier options for eating and exercising. In my mind it's a balancing factor.
Here is a compilation of some thoughts, feelings and ideas I've had on certain days in regards to the lethal, pm2.5.

Sunday, April 5, 2015
It's the only place where silence is remotely achieved. In a city of 25 million and counting, solitude is hard to come by. Even in your own home. There is a sitting bay in my window. A lavender pillow permanently rests their as my cushion. This is where I come to be. Be alone. Be creative. Or simply be. At night I can see the entirety of my neighborhood, Shuangjing, lit up from towering building to towering building; this is only to the left and front. On the right I can see a large portion of our neighbors in Dawanglu. There is mostly hotels and businesses.
This is only on clear nights when the pollution has subsided. By subsided I mean the day was extremely windy and we got lucky that the pollution blew away for a day, possibly two.
My best friend in Beijing, a Beijinger, born and raised, once said, "I feel bad sometimes when there is no pollution because that means some other city has to be polluted for the day."
I laughed and called her crazy then told her, "f*&% them! It's polluted 250 days of the year here. They'll survive. We deserve fresh air, too."
Everyone in China knows about the recent documentary, "Under The Dome," ((Chinese: 穹顶之下; pinyin: qióngdǐng zhī xià)), by Chai Jing. You also may have guessed by now the documentary was blocked by the Chinese government. Fortunately, the people of China, have been going around the blocked sites for years, and us foreigners have VPNs to access whatever is blocked by government.
The documentary is absolutely fantastic and brilliant! It's about 60 minutes and you can find it on YouTube with perfect English subtitles. I highly recommend it, but that's not what this story is about (just an idea sparker).
According to some statistics, 33% of all cigarettes smoked yearly are lit up in China. The number of smoker's in China is estimated at about 300 million, which is the United States' population. Here are some other fun facts about smoking in China.
Without fact checking I would say at least 80% of the population smokes in China. This includes all the foreigners, too. It's actually a joke among westerners that many begin smoking while in China.I was among that joke my first six months here. Regardless, it's contributing to the already massive air pollution problem.
In Jing's documentary there is a clip of a woman having spots on her lungs removed from cancer. She assures the doctor she has never smoked. This is where the documentary is sharing facts about pollution causing cancer. The woman in the documentary had lived in China all her life. (Yes, I'm aware second hand smoke can cause it, too). The point is that the documentary showed the inside of a human's lungs nearly all black whom had never smoked a cigarette in her life! After watching this documentary I wasn't so much as tempted to smoke in China ever again.
If I'm going to live in China for two years and continue smoking I might as well pick out my headstone. My body has already taken a toll from this country. It's an extremely dry climate in the winter and extremely humid in the summer. I went to the hospital for the first time in my life since birth while living here. Cause: dehydration. I drink roughly six liters of water a day. More than the needed amount.
Secondly, I continue to attempt a healthy lifestyle by running even if the pollution isn't clear, because to me, this place isn't any cleaner if I can or can't see the pollution.

February 3, 2015
When the pollution comes in at 500% or higher. The level where you can't see past the first 150 feet behind, or in front of you. When the skyscrapers that cover this giant city simply disappear... That's when it's like living in a ghost town that miraculously escaped the end of the world.

Monday, April 13, 2015
Today seems like spring has finally arrived! The sky is as pollution-free as can be in Beijing. The sun is shining so the air is a warm 65 degrees. The wind is calm enough to be pleasant but strong enough to push off the pollution for a day or two.
The air is polluted with something other than dirt today. Tiny puffs of daffodil-looking dust particles float through the air like snow. I pretend they are daffodils and see the "wishes" glisten in the sunshine that bring hope of warmer and cleaner days.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Transitioned back to smog city. I haven't left the bed and my window has remained closed. I can see the ''smog'' drawing nearer. At 5 o' clock in the evening I am going to tutor some students. When I arrive in the area and step off the bus the wind has picked up significantly and dust is stirring on the ground. By the time I'm inside of the tutor building, I looked out the window and the sky was gone and the street below only visible where lights tried to shine. A 'sand storm' had taken over the city. It last about two hours.

April 23, 2015
I'm sitting on bus 806 headed west. It's a city bus in Beijing, China. I'm coming from the fifth ring road. The outskirts if you will. In my future I can see downtown; Dawnaglu and Guamo. Their skyscrapers are the only thing visible through the pollution. And really they aren't visible, merely silhouettes. Their curtain is the smog.
Today is exceptionally sunny and warm. The early morning was fairly clear and pleasant. Just three hours inside and when I came back outside, the pollution had slowly drifted back into the city.
I think the pollution is always here, but sometimes it's a bubble rather than a sheet. When it's a bubble we can't see it inside of our neighborhood. But like today, if we can look ahead from a distance, and at elevation, we can see that blanket of smog we so often disregard because we've grown so accustomed to it.
The view of skyscrapers just before the silhouetted ones aren't much clearer. It's like looking at a faded photograph from the '70s. You know the coloring then; more advanced than black and white but still very golden-brown around the edges.

June 26, 2015
It's raining cats and dogs outside. No one should ever complain about rain here for two reasons. Number one, in an incredibly dry climate, it adds much needed moisture. Secondly, when it rains in China that means there is a 90% chance the sky will be blue and the sun will shine the following day.

June 28, 2015
The rain didn't bring blue skies. In fact, I think it made it worse. The entire world surrounding me is gray and meek. If I were to walk 30 feet away, I feel I'd disappear into the fog. The air is so thick from the pressure. I walked outside my apartment and before I'd walked 500 yards, I was winded. I came back from America one month ago and have been fighting a cough ever since. Today I felt the pressure in my lungs and the struggle to breathe. Fuck this.

June 28th vs. June 29

July 1, 2015
I'm on bus 806 headed north... again. I take this bus home every Wednesday after a tutoring class. I have ridden this route roughly 12 Wednesdays. On April 23, I wrote about the pollution bubble. Today I write coming in after dark. The sky is violet and an occasional twinkle of a star can be seen throughout the atmosphere.
The buildings are lit for miles and untouched by the pollution. It's clear. It finally rained enough to lower the pressure that's been sticking around in the air.
On my way to tutoring I saw the first, and probably only rainbow I'll ever see in Beijing. I quickly snapped a shot and continued crossing through traffic.
When the weather is good, you can always see others snapping photos of the sky like they've never seen a cloud so white or a sly so blue. They are probably all keeping their own documentation of the good, the bad and the ugly.
Since living in Beijing I've learned to appreciate a beautiful sunny day more. When I came back from Louisiana last month I realized I had about 15 photos of the sky throughout my photo album. I probably took them to brag to my Chinese friends or something.