Pollution in Beijing - Any experience?

[fernandorte]

Since I am considering moving to Beijing for a couple of years and I am concerned about the quality of the air (I already know it is quite bad) I would like to hear any experience from those who are currently or have been recently living in Beijing. I think this post may help others as well to know more about the daily life in the capital of China since pollution is a major concern there.

 

Thanks in advance!

[mouse]

Personally I find expats who enjoy complaining about every little thing in China to be quite tiresome, but for me at least, the pollution in Beijing was as bad as people said it was. Sometimes people mistake misty weather for pollution, but the measures of PM2.5 tell the real story and its not a pleasant one. Some days its fine, the sun shines and the pollution count is low, other days it looks like the first Silent Hill game and you can barely see buildings across the road. You can also definitely feel it in your lungs. As an asthma sufferer, this was the only thing that I really disliked about Beijing to the point where it made me want to be somewhere else. You need masks, you need air purifiers. The thought of pollution damaging your health stresses you out.

 

I still enjoyed my time in Beijing, but the pollution problem is not one that can be ignored and its best to go there prepared so you can avoid the worst of it and appreciate it when its not too bad.

[Lu]

Quite a lot has already been written here and elsewhere about Beijing's pollution and how people cope with it. Very bad; PM2.5; air purifiers; face masks; bad for asthma sufferers, children and the elderly. Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?

 

I could add that the combination dry weather-dirty air messed up the inside of my nose pretty badly. I have fairly dry skin in general and frequent colds, so I probably was more vulnerable than average. Here's what happened. This story deals with the inside of my nose, so stop reading here if you don't want to read about snot.

 

After a few months in Beijing, winter came. My nose started to get clogged up. I'd pick out the mess so I could breathe, but it was all caked to the inside of my nose and my picking caused bleeding. More mess would stick to the scabs and it all became a vicious cycle. I was back in the Netherlands for a few weeks, where the combination wet weather-clean air resolved most of the problem, but it came back during the second winter and stayed bad for the rest of my time there.

 

After I moved back to NL entirely, I figured I'd give my nose some time to recover by itself in the wet & clean air. But it didn't get better. Eventually I went to a family doctor, who didn't manage to resolve it and sent me to the nose doctor at the hospital. He looked into my nose: 'Did you just have a nosebleed?'  Well yeah, I have nosebleeds every few hours when I pick my nose in order to breathe. He gave me an ointment, which helped when applied but didn't make the problem go away entirely. He looked again a few weeks later and found that I had scarring in my nose, which is hampering the normal way snot and other stuff is moved out of the nose. If the problem will ever go away entirely it's going to take years at least.

 

I now apply vaseline, often several times a day, which helps. If anyone reading this has the same problem, don't wait for it to go away by itself. Go to a doctor and/or apply vaseline to the inside of your nose. If your pinkie finger is too big, use Q-tips.

[DernierVirage]

Put it this way - my wife (who is Chinese) and I have left China, one of the major reasons being the pollution.

[onebir]

Re Lu's story - I spent half of 2006 in BJ, half of 2007 in Kunming & years in Changsha,with no more than grey mucus. I had no idea it had gotten that bad.

[Flickserve]

Lu, did you try this?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_irrigation

Recommended to me by an Ear Nose Throat doctor to wash out small particles from the nose that cause allergies. It works very well in clearing out the nasal cavities of all the build up of secretions. You can apply your Vaseline after the wash.

A daily wash would be good for cleaning out the nose when in Beijing.

[ChTTay]

As someone who currently lives in Beijing and has done so the past 4 years, there has been a definite improvement in the levels of pollution. It can still be high some days and there are still horrific days or small stretches (2-4 days) but overall there has a noticeable improvement from last year to this one. Also, when I compare this year to my first or second, it's a lot better. One thing that really irks me is Western media stories about pollution almost always just use "stock images" of pollution, rather than an image from that day.

That said, the average levels of pollution in winter are higher than most places and would even cause news reports if somewhere like London had the same levels. The bad stretches of pollution can be really bad. You don't really want to go outside when it happens.

As above, people who live here cope by using masks and air purifiers in the most part. Air purifiers are increasingly affordable as more brands have entered the market to meet the demand from Chinese consumers - not just a few expats who were paying out the nose for an imported European machine. Also worth looking into air purifying plants.

This summer has so far been glorious and the AQI has stayed mostly at low levels, bright blue skies. You can tell pollution days pretty easily as there is an obvious haze in the sky, then just back that up by looking at a pollution APP.

Overall, I can't not agree that pollution is a problem in Beijing but it does seem like it's one they're working on and with noticeable results. If you make a few investments to keep your home clean, it's definitely something that shouldn't stop you trying to live here for a couple of years.

[ChTTay]

A small number of people I know also suffer sinus problems when they first arrive in Beijing and a few consistently (such as myself!). Lu's example is the worst I've head though.

Mostly I think it's down to the extreme dry weather and then pollution makes even it worse.

Flickserve is on the money there, a lot of us use nasel rinse devices. It definitely helps deal with the dryness and hopefully it does "flush out" your nasel passages. You can buy refillable ones or you can buy one use sprays too. Some of the expat pharmacies have the one use ones. The refillable ones can be found on taobao.

[imron]

did you try this?

Discussed previously here and here.

[Flickserve]

Discussed previously here and here.

before I joined the forum and Lu doesn't seem to have read them either. Hehe.

Just from the medical point of view, the little saline can with a probe which sprays saline into the nose is ineffectual for washing debris out of your nose but good enough to moisten the nasal mucosa.

You really need to have the bottle with a large enough volume of the salt solution to irrigate and wash the nasal passages thoroughly.

ChTTay, interesting what you think about the Beijing pollution improving. I spent a week there last Christmas and we did have a bad week. Luckily, our day to Badaling coincided with some great weather and low pollution. But on the return going past the tombs in the afternoon, it got really bad.

I would have to say that week in Beijing was worse compared to my week in Zhengzhou/Nanjing just after Chinese New Year of 2015. But then again Zhengzhou/Nanjing had a lot of rain that time and a lot of factories were probably closed.

I would agree with one thing though, and that it is best to check the situation out in person without too many preconceptions.

[fernandorte]

It seems the pollution is much worse now than before? I went to Beijing for three days 4 years ago and I did not experience anything bad in relation to the pollution. Perhaps, I did not spend enough time there or it was just a coincidence that the weather and the levels of pollution were good at that time. 

 

For those who have been using masks in Beijing, does it really helps?

[ChTTay]

I think the pollution has statistically improved , not just my feeling. I'm on my phone and can't find the link/stats. I'm sure the Beijinger ran something on it though.

Blue blue skies this week so far

[stapler]

I've never found Beijing too bad. Might just be luck. In fact I'd say the worse cities I've been in are Suzhou and Jinan. But even when the sky and air was dark with low visibility (in any city) thanks to air pollution I never found it uncomfortable in terms of breathing or skin or anything like that.

/2cents

[艾墨本]

Regarding face masks. I just want to recommend the one I have. It is a "totobobo口罩" which you can search on amazon.cn. It fits comfortable and the filters are very easy to replace. The plastic material can get uncomfortable after long durations if you are breathing hard since the inside can build up with moisture. But a quick wipe with some paper and all way good again. 

 

If you get it, it does take time to form fit to your face. The nose bit need to be squeezed and held for a solid amount of time (10+ minutes). Doing this on a hot day can speed up the process since essentially you are forming the mask to your face. Once I got mine properly fitted (maybe a total of a week of little adjustments), I found that it consistently wore comfortably. One year in and it has had no breaking issues. 

 

While I am usually only spending a week or two at a time in Beijing, I find this mask indispensable while I am there. I am much pickier than most with regards to pollution but it is quick to cause me lung agitation if I go without a mask for even a short time. I could see myself living in Beijing as long as I had a quality air purifier and windows that sealed properly at home as well as a face mask. I could not see myself doing it for two years. I think I could be comfortable for six months, and one year at most. These numbers are based off of two 3-month stints in Tianjin, where the pollution is also bad. 

 

I guess I liken the pollution in Beijing to heavy humidity in other places; you need a dehumidifier in your home to prevent mold and a rain coat with you at all times.

[Lu]

@Flickserve, thanks, I'll look into that.

 

Not saying my problem is typical, by the way. Most people won't have it that bad. Also, this kind of thing shouldn't stop you from living in Beijing if you wish to. It's a city with a lot to offer, so if you don't have asthma and/or small children, it can certainly be worth it.

[ChTTay]

Check out the "my health Beijing" website for decent info on pollution and the different things for coping with it. This includes independent tests on air purifiers and masks.

[onebir]

Re Totobobo masks, see

 

http://totobobo.com/

https://totobobochina.world.taobao.com

 

Apparently they can be reshaped with heat &/ trimmed with scissors.

 

Chinese (gongfu) teapots work fine for nasal irrigation at a pinch.

[Flickserve]

@Flickserve, thanks, I'll look into that.

Not saying my problem is typical, by the way. Most people won't have it that bad. Also, this kind of thing shouldn't stop you from living in Beijing if you wish to. It's a city with a lot to offer, so if you don't have asthma and/or small children, it can certainly be worth it.

Certainly agree with you. The air is also really dry up there so this dries up the nose too much making things worse for someone with your condition.

[Lumbering Ox]

Never been however.

 

I don't understand the need if you can go elsewhere where the air is just bad instead of toxic.

 

Some people seem to cope with it OK in the short term, but others don't and I've read too many stories of people finding out after they get there that they are one of the sensitive ones.

 

Even the cleanest of the top 70 odd cities have pretty bad PM2.5 ratings and have people who complain about health problems.

 

You also have to wonder how safe local farm products are even ignoring things like gutter oil.

 

One thing I wonder, how bad are the smaller cities. I remember it being said 20 years ago at least that half of Toronto's air pollution came from the Ohio River Valley so I am guessing the smaller cities like Tier 4 and 5 would still be pretty bad. When one looks at maps you get those solid areas but I assume they just connect the nearest cities of similar value.

[ChTTay]

When I lived in Yinchuan (Capital of Ningxia province) the skies were always blue, sunsets every day. Didn't see anything resembling pollution. I think they do have the very odd day now though due to some kind of heavy industry that moved in.

As for food, you can buy organic produce in Beijing but it's fairly expensive. It's certainly something that's on my mind when/if I have children.