In new era, winter doesn't choke

There was a time when every winter, as the heating season kicked off in Beijing, my olfactory senses would recoil from the hideous odor of burnt coal in the air, especially during the night.

My post-dinner strolls would turn into deep meditations on the masculine violence of technology-powered industry on Mother Nature, and the ghostly offspring they produced, the infamous smog.

Not this winter though. Surprise, surprise - the Beijing air no longer chokes as badly. The coal-fired power plants that help supply heat to the capital are making way for gas-based utilities.