Under the smog

Reading the news this morning, I saw that Beijing is experiencing heavy smog with sandstorms turning the skies orange. After 6+ years in Umeå, it is hard to even remember what that felt like. Looking through my Google Photos, I did find this picture taken from our hotel room back in 2011 though when Anna and I spent a few feverish summer months in the Chinese capital. Apparently, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is right now many times worse (actually, it is off scale), but already back then I used to ge headaches just by walking to the subway. At least, the Chinese government is working on the problem by planting trees as a “Great Green Wall” and stepping up its nuclear programme to reduce coal use.