Battle against pollution likely a long one

We were getting closer to the days when residents of Beijing would have to worry less about nausea, coughs, sore throat, watery eyes, poor daytime visibility and bad moods.

We were moving toward full weeks without having to wear face masks - not the cosmetic variety - but the ones used for tackling smog. Some of us living in the city had already started to wonder why some others were keeping their masks on even on days when the Air Quality Index gave us little reason to do so. Old habits die hard.

There were fewer "airpocalypse" jokes on Chinese social media, too.