Pollution, Tibet & Strange Happenings

There are less than 150 days until the Olympics and Beijing just experienced it's first sandstorm of the year a couple of days ago. The pollution index must have been through the roof (although I could not figure out where to find out the actual number). The skies look menacing, a grayish-white that blanketed the city and obscured even buildings close by. The pollution hasn't improved these past two days either. Is Beijing ready for the Olympics? Sure, there are good days, but it's completely unpredictable. And on days like today and the past couple of days, I am almost hesitant to walk outdoors, much less run, and some athletes are refusing to participate in the Beijing Olympics for fear of jeopardizing their health.

And then there's the riots and protests in Tibet. I still haven't figured out if Tibet should technically be considered a part of China. However, mfriends and I had been planning, and looking forward to, a trip to Tibet/Nepal at the end of May/early June, but if the unrest continues, it's unlikely the Chinese government will let any foreigners close to Tibet. They've kicked all the tourists out already and journalists too. They're not issuing any permits to foreigners to visit Tibet right now, and I'm not sure when they will start again. In retaliation, the journalists have focused their energies on writing about the pollution. It's a huge sore spot for the Chinese government and they can't even claim it's political.

And truly bizarre things have happened in my apartment complex recently. A newspaper article wrote that 60 security guards from my complex were arrested a few days ago for, of all random things, stealing fire hydrants. Why fire hydrants? Scrap metal has gotten so expensive that they could make money off of selling them. As a result of the roundup, they've started to harass residents and their visitors. A cop gave a friend of mine a hard time last night for not carrying her temporary resident permit for foreigners when she tried to visit me at my apartment, and interrogated me about my own permit and citizenship status. And they've started asking for swipe cards to get into the buildings. As an expat, it is sometimes easy to forget that China is still a police state. Now I am fully reminded. They keep tabs on people.