"Charming Beijin" ?

(Originally posted in NTUMC68 class website August 6, 2008)

These days, everybody talks about the poor air quality in Beijing.
The US Olympic cyclists caused a stir when they arrived in
Beijing wearing masks to protect themselves from the notorious
air pollution around the city.

But, a former Chinese scholar, the late Chiang Meng-Lin, had
found Beijing very charming. In his Chinese autobiography,
"Xi Trau", or "Tides from the West", there was an essay with
the title " Charming Beijing ". He indicated that he had lived in
Beijing for 15 years and he missed very much the "wind", "sand"
and "dust".

A century ago, there should be only few cars running around
there and not many industrial factories with the burning
chimneys. So, I presume, without all those modern industrial
toxic byproducts, the air pollutes were mainly the sandy dusts
blowing from the north beyond the Great Wall. Therefore the
"pollutes" must be quite natural and should not do too much harm
to the humans, noting it has been existing for thousands of years,
if not millions.


P.S.

The sandstorm struck on March 20, 2002, Beijing was swathed
in ghostly light as the sky turned from gray to yellow to orange.
About 45,000 tons of sand and dust were dumped on the city by
high winds.