The view from the apartment in China

To cap off a month of travels, I am currently sitting in my grandmother's apartment in China writing this newsletter. I'll be here for the next 6 weeks visiting family, and it's always a culture shock whenever I come back. 

Of course, with my jetlag, I go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 4am. The above photo was taken just before sunrise this morning around 6am, and even without sunlight, you can see the thick smog hanging over the city. I've actually never seen China with clear blue skies.. I'm not quite sure there's anywhere in the country where you'd find that! 

I came across an interesting article that showed the difference it makes on air quality when you ban cars and therefore eliminate car exhaust. With so many people and cars in China, that scene of the city is a very rare sight! 

Before and after cars were banned for 2 weeks in Beijing