The rain that finally broke Beijing's 110-day dry spell fell harder and longer than it would have, thanks to the local government adopting cloud-seeding and other artificial precipitation measures. Given the favorable conditions (the meteorological bureau was predicting light rain) the local government decided to launch a land and air offensive on Feb 12 to try increase the amount of rain that would fall over Beijing. According to a report placed on the meteorological bureau's website, one plane from the Chinese air force was called into offer air support to 7 ground teams who blasted 49 rockets into the low lying clouds and another 31 teams who were busy burning 875 sticks of Silver iodide atop various mountains around suburban and rural Beijing.

Spring is right around the corner, and with that comes the annual spring sandstorm season. For newbies to Beijing, this means a few months of dust and dirt blowing through town like a vacuum cleaner on reverse, and when it gets bad, conditions can be downright apocalyptic.

2008 is looking especially grim, according to the Beijing Meteorological Station, which is predicting as many as 11 days of dust storms this year due to a warm winter and less rainfall in the desert areas surrounding the capital.

Xinhua reports that recent years have seen an average of 9.7 days of dust storms, though last year saw only three blow through town. But because 2007 saw 11 percent less precipitation than the average levels of previous years, spring is indeed looking like gritty.

Better dust off those facemasks now.

Break out the masks, folks!

According to the State Environmental Protection Administration, the brown haze that descended on our fair city hit a whopping 421 on the Air Pollution Index today. To put that in perspective, on a good day it hovers between 50-150. On a bad day, we're looking at 200 or so.

In fact, today's smog is so bad that the American Environmental Protection Agency rates it as Condition Maroon - or Hazardous. They even go so far as to advise "AQI values over 300 trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected." Doctors recommend not undertaking physical exercise outside, and limiting exposure to the pollution.

Not a day to be leaving the house, if you can avoid it. And if you do, make sure you mask up!

With slopes mushrooming up around the city these past few years, skiing has become the bai ling winter sport of choice – a trend that heretofore had developers gleefully plotting plans and land for bigger, better and even newer resorts.

But according to skirebel.com this will all soon grind to a halt: the National Reform and Development Committee and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of State and Land Resources have jointly decided to put a stop to further ski area development within municipal boundaries, which may complicate things for developers like Melco International, a Hong Kong listed company controlled by the son of Macau gambling magnate Stanley Ho that has plans to acquire the Lianhuashan ski resort in Beijing’s Shunyi District.

As the sky looms gray and depressing over Beijing and even the shortest bike rides result in sore throats and suspicious coughs, rest assured that there’s a reason for it all: those peasants are at it again! The Beijing Environmental Protection Agency issued a statement last week that seasonal straw burning in rural areas was in part responsible for the visible recent increase in pollution in the capital. Burning excess straw, a low-cost alternative to tilling it into the soil, is done in preparation for a second planting. Although burning straw was prohibited in Beijing in 2000, the practice continues in neighboring provinces, and occurs annually at this time of year.