Smog is something you deal with living in China and if you've read my previous posts you'll know that it's something I'm not a fan of. During our first Winter in China we endured pollution exceeding readings of 500 on our AQI apps. It was a huge deciding factor in our decision to search for a new position and move on.
This Winter it hasn't been as bad and you find yourself in the staffroom telling people that it really isn't that bad, purely because it's only gone over the 300 mark a couple of times. We've even had days that it has dropped below 100 and that is exceptionally rare in our experience. We have air filters this time around and polution masks. Running in a pollution mask is tough and somewhat ridiculous. Getting the mask to seal perfectly is a losing battle. Getting the high quality windows of our apartment to seal is not even worth thinking about.
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| The view from our apartment when the pollution is low. |
As soon as the pollution rose after Christmas I got sick. I've actually had 5 infections in 3 weeks and I'm still trying to get over it. There are days when we aren't convinced that the AQI apps are right. You struggle to see out of the window, the air tastes funny and you use your inhaler more than ever. As someone who has only ever suffered with exercise induced asthma in Winter I often forget that I have an inhaler. Recently I have had to use my inhaler every day and actually wheeze quite badly.
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| Spring Festival Smog. |
The smog has put a huge dampner on our experience of China. The school where I work has also had a very large turnover of staff due to it. I feel for the local staff who have grown up in Suzhou and are also concerned for their health and that of their families.
How can we save our planet?
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