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Q: Are you really affected by the pollution?
I'm gonna go out on a limb here, am I the only one that doesn't feel affected by the pollution? To be fair I live in Shenzhen where it's almost always blue skies, and I'll even run outside sometimes. But I can definitely see the pollution on my car because a layer of dust will appear on it after about a week of not driving. I've also spent several months in Beijing and I never felt any difference in my breathing and never had to spit out anything. I don't know maybe my body is just absorbing all the pollution instead of making me react to it. So could people who claim to be affected by the pollution describe how exactly it has affected you?
It's because of the bacon http://www.ecns.cn/2015/01-15/150905.shtml
I play soccer/football every Saturday, and some days your lungs burn. One really bad day, I had a shortness of breath, like I was at altitude. I've never experienced such a thing before.
Are you a smoker? Maybe if you are you'd notice the pollution less.
For me (non smoker but I did smoke infrequently in the past, mostly when drinking on the weekends back in my bar hopping days) a bad air day makes me feel like I did after a night smoking, and being around a lot of other smokers. Being a non smoker the rest of the week I really noticed it but I guess if you smoke every day it would just feel normal.
It feels like there's something heavy in your chest that shouldn't be there. I cough up nasty looking phlem and when I run ( I run about 4-5 times a week) I feel like I only have part of my lung capacity working on a bad air day. I get shortness of breath.Sometimes you can feel the grime on your face and if you wash with a white towel you will literally see it smeared on the towel.
Ever been in a taxi or elevator with a smoker? I find it very uncomfortable, you find yourself taking half breaths and trying not to breathe until you get out. Sometimes just walking around outside makes me feel like that.
hi2u:
I've never smoked in my life, so that's not the reason. However I did notice last time I went back to America that the air smelled sweeter. I never noticed that before I came to China. But it was just a difference in smell. I didn't notice a difference in breathing.
Stiggs:
Maybe the air is cleaner there. 150 AQI is about average where I am.
I'm the same as you. I feel just the same as when I'm at home. I live In Wuhan, the pollution is pretty bad (not as bad as Beijing), I don't smoke and exercise semi regularly.
No shortness of breath, no coughing etc... I guess it just affects some more than others. Although I cant feel it I always figured it was still damaging my health and may come back to bite me later on.
Living in Suzhou, for more than 3 years... I stopped smocking 3 years ago, I used to smock twice or thrice a day before that. 150 AQI is norm since a year, with regular excursion at 250 AQI (most evenings, those days). The horizon can be gray, brown or just greyish white.
I run twice to thrice a week for 30 to 45 mn, at 11km/h to 13 km/h, with a bit of exercising after. I experienced shortness of breath after running, it became systematic in 2014. If it was a day of brown horizon, the shortness of breath would be really painful, and the air would smell like ozone and burnt coal. You try to breath deeply, but it just hurts, like if the air causes chemical burns by contact inside your lungs. The day after, I wake up spitting some really thick green flegm. The really bad days (>250 AQI), just riding a bike for 20 minutes is enough to feel shortness of breath and the taste of burnt coal.
It's because of the bacon http://www.ecns.cn/2015/01-15/150905.shtml
Most days I don't feel any different but I have experienced chest tightness on smoggy days and have had difficulty breathing on really bad days. The effect is more psychological when I think about the damage I'm doing to my health.
considering the fact am a chain smoker i never complain or worry about it
You feel fine now, but give it 20-30 years before the cancer kicks in. :(
Maybe you're just young, like in your early 20s. I dunno, that's a pretty wild guess but it's my best one. I'm young too and am pretty physically active - but as soon as I got here I started noticing adverse effects that took place in regards to mental clarity at least. It seemed I wa having a bad case of mental fog. Youth covers up a lot of issues. You can eat like crap and still look and feel like a million bucks. Five years of aging makes a world of difference though! I'm not 19 anymore and I never run in polluted weather, but I still have to cough every few days in the winter.
DrMonkey:
The "mental fog" can be just chronic lack of sleep and mild depression/anxiety. Typically, if you are not very happy about your life here but have to stay for various reasons (family situation for example), it can create a bit of anxiety.
jetfire9000:
I suppose so, but none of those things are relative to me! I came here because I wanted to, and I was readily enjoying my life here when I noticed the onset of mental fog taking place. Trust me, I didn't like that feeling. Living away from family is something I've become very used to - I did high school and college away from family, and I have been used to different family members always being out and about for long periods of time. It's a complete non-issue. My only explanation was the pollution - and I had heard the same from others as well.
when your eyes burn every evening, and you are tasting the grit in the air, i don't want to know what is happening to my lungs.
maybe an IV and some TCM will help me 
or i could just drink some hot water
Stiggs:
Oh the TCM and hot water will definitely help, but only AFTER you have the lobotomy 
