the last day.....

13:29
i'm off to mongolia tomorrow! trying to find someone to take this blog over. let me know if you can. i may start one from ub. peace - benj

sunny skies for andrea!!

08:55

a hint of blue wednesday

09:59

tuesday skies

08:52

yeah there's smog in bejing, but at least it's weekday smog!

18:12

sunday sun

16:14

it wont happen overnight......well, it might!

09:00

hows the serenity...

09:53

ready for the games?

09:40

and again...

09:07

grim tuesdays

10:50

and you thought your mondays were grim...

14:15

sunny beijing weekends

15:59

24 hours of torrential rain can do wonders....

18:59

less sun, more smog!

08:59

sun'n'smog

08:54

the morning after

08:16

tuesday's northern smog

07:35
ok. i've decided to have only one shot a day and i think the north is a better option as there a building lurking in the distance that comes and goes with the weather.

monday mornings in beijing

08:51 + 08:53

sunday smog

17:54 + 17:56

sunny saturdays

09:34 + 09:35

not such a perfect day for a run

08:25 + 08:26

perfect day for a run

11:40 + 11:41

spot the building lurking to the north. scary shit eh.

looking south, looking north

10:15 + 10:17

thought i'd try taking one to the north - you'll see why on the next clear day!

dash of rain, dash of sun, dash of smog.....

16:55

an evening shot

19:31

then back to the smog....

12:35

and in just 24 hours!!

08:15
get a bit of rain and some winds and viola!

WELCOME TO BEIJING!!!!

08:15
What a sexy soupy day to start this blog on. So, a few days ago the Australian athletic team announced that they weren’t going to appear in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games due to health reasons. Beijing is getting a lot of bad press about the quality of the air and is being pressured to do something about it to enable athletes to perform at peak performance.

The government claim to be on top of the situation. Here in Beijing, rumours are rampant - they’re going to shut down all industry 3 months prior to the games (hasn't happened), they’re going to take millions of vehicles off the roads for the duration of the games, they’re going to fire rockets into the pollution to disperse the clouds. As with the mysterious date of July 1st surrounding many ex-pat’s visa’s, it’s largely a case of waiting to see what happens when the clock clicks over 8:08pm, 08/08/08.

And while I agree with the Australians that the point of the games is winning medals, not appearing in the opening ceremony, I think they're being pansies if they think one night in Beijing is going to dash their Olympic medal hopes. The Chinese LIVE here, and manage to take home a larger and larger haul of medals each games. Even though Kevin is the poster boy of international polly’s in China due to his fluency in Mandarin, I cant help but feel that this move is somewhat political due to the Australian public’s (rightly justified) concerns regarding the oppression and human rights abuses in Tibet. And Xinjiang.

But back in the smog. Beijing does certainly have some shocking days, and this time of the year is notorious for it - along with the great sandstorms that blow off the Gobi. So, as western media is largely going to show the smoggy days here in the middle kingdom, and the Chinese are going to frantically try to convince the world otherwise, I figure the best way is to have a daily photo from Beijing posted here so you can see exactly what's going down.

So, take a deep breath or fresh air, and get ready for an adventure into Beijing’s atmosphere....

(Click on any photo to enlarge it)