Well, this is what some (stupid) foreigner wrote last year talking about us when we complained about the pollution.
Now in good old Hong Kong they are getting really upset with “their high levels of pollution”. Read this from the SCMP on 21 April 2009 – HK’s air pollution reaches high levels:
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Air pollution in Hong Kong again reached high levels on Tuesday afternoon – sparking concern about the dangers it poses to people’s health.
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said air pollution recorded at roadside stations reached high levels of 85 to 135.
He said the roadside air quality on Tuesday was the poorest in Central – which recorded very high readings on the air pollution index at 131 – followed by Mongkok, 103, and Causeway Bay, 91.
The spokesman said people with heart or respiratory illnesses should avoid prolonged stays in places with heavy traffic.
“If it is necessary to stay in streets or roads with heavy traffic, people should reduce physical exertion as much as possible,” he warned.
The air pollution index figures are published by the Environmental Protection Department. The API is calculated by air quality monitoring stations around Hong Kong. These are then used to calculate the overall pollution level for the territory.
The API ranges from 0 to 500 and is divided into 5 bands according to its potential effect on people’s health.
An API higher than 100 means that one or more pollutants may pose immediate health effects to vulnerable people – such as those with respiratory illnesses.
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You Honkies should be happy. Here in Beijing we are pretty happy with levels like that. Some samples of the API in Dongsi between 9 and 29 April:
127 – 124 – 119 – 128 – 165 – 98 – 77- 92 – 121 – 97 – 65 – 53 – 70 – 78 – 61 – 45 – 69 – 87 – 77
Those recent figures are for us actually “excellent” and thanks to strong winds we had. Normally we have above 100, so don’t be too happy.
Not to be surprised we suffer from respiratory diseases and Pekinese spit and clear throats anywhere and anytime.