Air Pollution 空氣污染

We’ve been enjoying good old-fashioned sooty air pollution on both sides of the Pacific this year. Living in Beijing, we get day after day of air pollution that is common in a big city in a valley surrounded by mountains in a developing economy. Sounds similar to Southern California, doesn’t it? Actually, it isn’t too bad, a lot better than capital cities of some nations, but it could be improved. Some days are a little gray, but I have even seen beautiful blue sky 北京有時候也有藍藍的天空 on occasion as when we were at 潘家园 the wholesale tea marketplace. They are worried about pollution affecting the Olympics in 2008會影響奧運 and so have moved a lot of heavy industry out of the city, but the pollution comes mainly from automobiles at this point. …another similarity to Southern California which I’ll talk about in coming weeks so stick around.

Southern California is now also enjoying major air pollution because of an especially serious round of brush fires 火災. There are fires all around the LA basin, Orange County and especially serious in San Diego….our cell group at church has been praying for the people who have lost their homes. And now that the worst of the fires have died down, I can see in the media that finger-pointing season has begun 責備的時間到了.