Originally Posted by
The Chemist
Air quality here has improved significantly over the last few years, particularly in the summer, so nice clear days have become much more common.
This is good to hear! I worked during the winter of 2015/16 in the industrial suburb of Jiading (nominally part of Shanghai), commuting by bike from the center. I thought it was the closest you could get to hell outside of a war zone. It was common for the smog to be so dense that you could not see the other side of the 2-lane road that led to my workplace. The smog had a sulfuric acidic taste. When going back in the evening, I moved in a complete overwhelming darkness with an occasional penetrating light glow. Most often that glow turned into flames when up close, from leaves and branches burnt by the side of the road by people cleaning the road shoulders!. Then the light disappeared and the darkness was going down on you again. Certainly it was not good for health, but I thought I could afford that first-hand experience during the time I was there.