"In Chinese cities, the evaluation of air quality is usually based on the concentration of 10-micrometer particulate matter (PM10). In Beijing, the American Embassy has been releasing its evaluation of the city's air quality based on PM2.5 for an extended period of time. This data and Beijing government's data usually showed large disparities, causing outcry and prompting the city authority to adopt the new standard."
A look at this contentious "disparity":
- According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, today's air quality in Beijing was "slight [sic] polluted".
- According to the US Embassy's Beijing Air Quality Monitor webpage, it was "Very Unhealthy", verging on "Hazardous (Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors)".
- Today's been one of the days when you can stare directly into the mid-afternoon sun. (You probably shouldn't; you probably shouldn't live in Beijing.) It appears flat and featureless, like a full moon behind thick cloud. Opaque pale pink. I went jogging today, which was basically taking bong rips off a muffler. Still can't bring myself to buy one of the insect-like filtration masks you sometimes see rich foreigners wearing in the streets.
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