This year the smog season started earlier than usual; I heard from people living here. Maybe because of the late high temperatures in September. Then the northern winds are not coming with its blue skies typical for the beginning of October. On it’s worse the haze is so dense that you don’t have a view of more then a few hundred meters.
On wednesday you could also smell a hint of smoke from the farmers burning their fields outside Beijing. Yesterday even a short walk from my apartment just around the block felt uneasy. I dropped my morning round in the nearby Ritan Park. The throat irritation was not imagination any longer. Many people around me are coughing and almost every tenth person I meet in the city wears a respiratory protection mask.
The American Embassy provides an hourly air quality status. The highest reading was during the night from Thursday to Friday: PM 2.5; 282*, AQI 332**
At this pollution level the AQI table warns: „Serious aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly; serious risk of respiratory effects in general population. Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors; people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low.“***
* PM 2.5 indicates the concentration (micrograms per cubic meter, µg/m3) of particulates less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 2.5)
** AQI (Air Quality Index) This US American index is different from the Air Pollution Index (API) used in China
*** All warnings refer to a prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion of 24 hours. So – I presume – a short walk will not be hazardous.