Saturday, January 12, 2008

Prelude to a Storm


Yesterday the media checked out the just completed Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium.

While the inside is pretty much spic and span -- with plastic still covering most of the upper seats -- the outside surroundings aren't quite finished yet.

When the wind blew, it kicked up fine dust into the air, creating a mini sand storm. Beijing is victim to giant sand storms in early spring, when sand from the Gobi desert finds its way to the capital.

People have to wear masks, hats and scarves to protect themselves. Some even walk backwards to prevent sand from getting into their eyes.

It's something I have yet to experience.

But in the meantime, seeing the amount of dust on the construction site and the thousands of migrant workers exposing themselves to these polluting conditions can't be good for their lungs.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

china suffers from the consequences of neglect to the environment for many decades . the deforestation has resulted in this disastrous sand storms. it is bad for the lungs causing silicosis, or miner's lung and chronic bronchitis. be sure to wear a mask during one of this type of storms.