A front
came through Friday and we could see the blue sky as the breeze swept the smog
away. Our Air Quality Index dropped to the Moderate level of
81! Big deal you say? The AQI shows the level of the
pollution in the air, and any time it gets to 100 or more it hits unhealthy,
and over 200 is Extremely Unhealthy. Tianjin has been over 200 the
majority of the time we are here which shows in the perpetual haze that hangs
over the city. You don’t see any joggers outside here and many of
the people walking or biking wear masks due to the pollution.
To put
that 200+ number in perspective here are a few numbers from your neck of
the woods:
New York City 68
Melbourne, FL: 27
Sydney Australia: 18
Bennington VT: 12
Los Angeles: 74
The smog
just made us appreciate the sunny breezy weekend even more. A
meandering walk had us going down a local street with vendors, butchers and
handymen out for business. Huge meat slabs sit on counters as
they wave a swatter back and forth to keep the flies away. At one butcher
there was a 2-3 foot tail sitting out to be purchased. We couldn’t
figure out what the tail belonged to- horse maybe? Next to
that butcher was a variety of smoked parts with a very large brain cut in
half. We moved on – no brains or tails for us
today but we stopped at a small shop and purchased some wonderful steamed buns
filled with pork and ginger.
The town
is filled with traffic, scooters and bikes but then every once in awhile you
turn a corner and see a serene shady grassy spot with someone practicing tai
chi. Yesterday we came upon a group of elderly gentlemen sitting in the
shade with one of them playing a traditional Chinese instrument that
sounded like something between a cello and bag pipes. Another local was
singing along and everyone was enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Good Travel!
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