2007 Jun 27 Blue Skies
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.
2010 Jan 11 World Wide Weird Weather as Snow Kills BJ Street Cleaners
It seems north China isn’t the only region experiencing extreme weather conditions. As Beijing deals with the aftermath of the heaviest snowfalls in more than half a century, parts of Europe and the US are also buried under unusually thick layers of snow, while Greece and Israel enjoy unseasonably warm conditions.
Read more...2011 Feb 23 Clear Skies & Possibly More Snow on the Way
It’s been a foggy (and unusually damp) week in Beijing, which has had the unfortunate effect of locking in all that lovely air pollution, pushing the US Embassy’s air particle index up past the 400 (dangerous) mark for the past three days. State news agency Xinhua, however, says relief is on the way.
Read more...2011 Mar 13 The Heat is Off
The weather is warming up which means it’s time for the heating to shut off. Last November, we were counting the days for some warmth, but with temperatures almost balmy heating is the last thing one people’s minds.
Read more...2011 Aug 04 Will Typhoon Muifa Wreak Havoc on Beijing?
It's been a summer of sudden downpours and heavy flooding – and it's not over yet. Get ready for more extreme weather. Typhoon Muifa is on track to hit Beijing as a tropical storm on Monday evening. If it does, what do you need to know and how should you prepare?
Read more...2008 Jul 22 Splash! Where to cool off in Beijing
by Paul Pennay, Luan Jing Jing and Victoria Yang
Although it's not quite the hottest day that Beijing's seen this summer (it already reached 39.4 deg. earlier this month) still, temperatures today are likely to push past 35 degrees (95 to Americans). With this in mind, we've put together an up-dated list of outdoor swimming pools and water fun parks that Beijingers can splash around and cool off in. Given that we're now in the "Olympic Period" some of the cheap outdoor pools located in universities or close to Olympic venues are not open to the public. This means that the Workers' Stadium Pool, Chaoyang Park Pool and Tsinghua University Pool are all closed. Also, although they're having trouble enforcing the regulations, city authorities are encouraging people not to swim in any of lakes that dot Beijing's parks and tourist sites. Finally, bad news for those beach-starved residents who are dying to dive into some salty water, a plan to construct a saltwater pool in Beijing back in 2005 does not seem to have made it past the planning stages. Keep reading below for a list of the best places to cool off this summer: Read more...
2011 Aug 05 Swing and a Miss: Typhoon Muifa Tracks Out to Sea
Judging from the latest forecast for Typhoon Muifa, it looks like Beijing may miss the storm this time. The updated storm path has the edge of the typhoon just brushing the coastline. But we're not off the hook just yet. Anyone with travel plans along the coast or towards Shanghai may still encounter delays or cancellations.
Read more...2008 Aug 01 The First Solar Eclipse of the Century (but not for Beijing!)
Folks in the western and central parts of China will be looking skywards this evening as the first solar eclipse of the century happens tonight at around 6:20pm local time. The rare astronomical event will be visible in some parts of the country, beginning in Xinjiang and ending in Henan, and the best views of a total eclipse should be from the city of Xi’an, in Sha’anxi province. Other cities, including Nanjing, should be able to view a partial eclipse, but unfortunately it looks as though Beijingers will miss out on the show because the eclipse is not expected to be visible from the capital.
Read more...2009 Feb 16 Rain Makers
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.
