One of the many reasons that I decided to come to Kunming, rather than head straight for Beijing, was its reputation for better air quality than other large Chinese cities. I was mostly trusting rumor, because I had trouble tracking down a good source of information to confirm.
Today I found this site, which sheds a little light.
A quick look at the numbers for April 2007 show that Kunming averaged a pollution index of 68.5, with a high of 92. For the same month, Beijing averaged 93.7, with a peak of 190. Both cities' primary pollutant is particulate matter, but Kunming has some days where the primary pollutant is sulfur dioxide. I don't know much about this, but I sulfur dioxide is used in the production of bleaching agents, paper and pulp, flotation agents and heat transferring agents, according to pollution information site Scorecard.org
I don't know a good way to compare this to New York, but I can say that we do see blue skies pretty regularly here. And the streets in many parts of town are cleaner than NY's.
2 comments:
i've lived in beijing for 8 years. i can't stand the pollution anymore and i'm planning to move to kunming in two months. i, like you, am mostly trusting to rumor that kunming has better air quality. i've been to kunming three times, but each time just in passing on my way to other destinations, so i don't have a good idea of what the air quality was like.
please, can you give me some more insight into the pollution there. is it something you notice? do you do any outdoor sports? have you noticed getting more colds and coughs since moving there? anything you have to say on the subject would be very much appreciated.
thanks,
doc
http://dancewithsunflowers.blogspot.com/
I was there last week ( offering viagra online products ) and its amazing, you can breathe fresh air there.There is not any environmental pollution. I would like all places will be like that one.
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