Pollution

Hiding the pollution doesn’t make it go away.

A major shift has occurred in China, as blissful ignorance has been replaced by outrage over the country’s air quality.

There are many ways to travel the world that go beyond backpacking to tourist sites or teaching English. The Atypical Travel series on Vagabond Journey features individuals who are living lives on the road but typically fall off the radar of what we think of when we say “world traveler.” This week’s installment features Adam Williams, an international smokestack tester.

I looked out my window and said, “Oh no, not again . . . oh wait, maybe . . . . just maybe . . . could this really be fog? It was, and it was beautiful. Check out these photos of the almost mystical fog that covered Xiamen a couple of evenings ago.

There are no clean air cities in China, regardless of the optimism. I came to Xiamen island for the clear skies, and the smog followed.

Wind and solar powered street lights are becoming more popular in China, but this is one “green” technology that makes me cringe.

The most insane thing about modern China may be the fact that it’s not out of the ordinary, strange, or conspicuous to walk through city streets wearing a mask. The Chinese wear these masks for many reasons, one is to filter out pollution. 2013 has so far been a record year for air pollution in [...]

I got out of bed this morning after a sleepless night of coughing, wheezing, and going through the rounds of some kind of head cold/ respiratory infection nightmare. China’s air pollution is taking another hit at me. This is an ongoing affair for just about anybody who lives in this country. Among other hazardous chemicals [...]

Air pollution in China has gotten so bad that it’s become an element of weather. You get up in the morning, sit down with a cup of coffee, check the weather, check the smog. Like weather reports, the air pollution report changes by the day. The strange thing is that the two are not coordinated, [...]