Two Days Till Heating Season

It is Fall in Beijing, which means the leaves are yellow, the sky is (occassionally) blue, ...and houses and buildings are really cold.

(The picture on the right shows the Fall leaves at the Western Academy of Beijing. Thomas (in black on the left) is playing soccer with his friends during recess.)

Most buildings in Beijing use central heating, which means that your heat comes from a centralized point, with heat probably supplied by coal fired power plants. So for you to have heat in your house, this central heating needs to be switched on. Where we live -- in the "Beijing Riviera" compound -- heating got switched on about two weeks ago, but that is an exception. In most other places the heating will be turned on only on November 15.

So for the last two weeks, I've been dragging my winter coat everywhere. Not to wear it outside (though that is necessary too some days), but mostly to wear it inside. The building where I take my Chinese classes for example has been super cold. If it wasn't for the small space heaters and my thick coat, I wouldn't have survived.

Here's an article from last year about this issue: "Chinese Freeze Before Gov't Turns on the Heat."

Today, we have only two more days to go till the heat goes on. I think I can make it!

In het nederlands: Beijing en veel andere plaatsen in China hebben centrale verwarming. Ons huis is in een aparte wijk (met veel buitenlanders) en gelukkig kunnen we hier nu al zo'n twee weken de verwarming aanzetten. Maar de rest van China wacht nog met smart op 15 november. Dan zet de overheid de centrale verwarming aan.

Beijing Meteorologists

Recently I already reported on the weather forecasting magic that happens in Beijing (see this blog post). A few quotes from the boys this week just cracked me up (in a sad way) about the pollution in this place.

Simon: "Ah, I can see it is a field day, we can play outside today!"

(After seeing blue sky in the morning).

Thomas: "Let's go see if it rained. If it rained, it is going to be a nice day."
(When opening the curtains in the morning. If it rains, the pollution is washed away.)

We see how clear it is on the way to the bus stop. (If you look carefully, you can see Simon park his bike, just behind the tree.)

Amazing sky above the bus stop. If you see clouds (instead of a haze) you know it is going to be a great, great day.

School bus and blue sky.

Beijing meteorologists on the bus.

In het nederlands: Er is toch veel vervuiling in Beijing. Het is niet altijd even erg en er zijn veel mooie dagen, maar het feit dat je kinderen erover nadenken of ze wel of niet buiten mogen spelen op school - iets wat niks met regen maar alles met vervuiling te maken heeft - geeft toch te denken.

Only Happy When it Rains

There is so little rain in Beijing that when it rains just a drop, Thomas gets out all the good gear:

We're all always very happy when it rains. Not just because it doesn't happen a whole lot--though in Summer quite a bit more than in the Fall and Winter--but also because it cleans up the sky and usually means the next day will be nice and non-polluted.

Rain is also generated artificially here. I can't really tell how often the rain is induced or just natural, but it is quite a common thing here. Just the fact that there is a Beijing Weather Modification Office shows how serious the approach is. Apparently China is in the lead with using silver iodide, loaded on rockets, to seed clouds and create rain. (See for example this BBC article or this article in How Stuff Works.)

The technique is used apparently to fight droughts, decrease bad dust storms and pollution, and lower summer temperatures (to decrease energy consumption for air conditioning), but it also seems to me it is used a lot to create nice weather and reduce pollution for important national holidays. (You can for example reliably plan an outdoor event on October 1, China's National Day.)

Because I don't have any picturs of cloud seeding (though this Wikipedia page shows some), I'll just show a few more pictures of the guy who is so happy in the rain...

Busy in the play ground behind our house.

Very fast with the chop sticks.

Putting up his best smile for a picture.

At the art show.

Too tired to read!