Beijing or not Beijing: That is the question

From the pall of pollution, issues of survival and lifestyle arise

"Get out of this place as fast as you can." The idea flashed through my mind as I opened the curtains of my bedroom on Dec 1. It was 8 am, the sky was hazy, and just by opening the window I knew there was something in the air - and it was not the smell of roses.

On my walk to work I wore a top-of-the-range facemark, yet the chemicals in the air seeped through every pore. The only distraction to this was the lurid show on Beijing's Fourth Ring Road: flashing red and yellow lights filtered through the smog.