And you thought America was polluted?

The first thing I noticed about China was the dirt. Or maybe it was the smell.

They were both there, right from the beginning.  At least during the summer it rained and

cleaned things off every week or so.  During this winter we've not had much moisture and

the grime is growing.  The air smells sooty.  Dusty.  Tinged with something that doesn't smell healthy.  

On the bad days, pregnant women, children and old people are warned to stay indoors.  The rest of us are warned to not exercise heavily.

 The landscape seems monochromatic--everything is some shade of brownish-gray

as the murk from the air coats everything.

 Even when the skies are blue and fairly clear, there is the low-lying murk.  

These two smokestacks are silhouetted by the setting sun as I was watching from my 

apartment.  And that's not just steam.  

Coal-burning power plants dot the land.  I've counted about a dozen on the drive

in to where we go to church.  Some of them are in less-populated areas,

 but others are right in the middle of apartment buildings.  I don't know if the

idea of zoning laws has taken hold here.

 People say that it is SO much better than it was 15 years ago.  It was 

impossible to see the sky back then.  Still, as I'm breathing this murk,

I wonder what it's doing to my lungs.

 Yes, China exports a lot to the US and other nations, but they are paying

the price for all this industry in the polluting of their land and people, 

and any of the rest of us who happen to be here!