China and pollution...

splendid
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:39 am

China and pollution...

Post by splendid »

Would the pollution in China stop you from taking on great teaching/international opportunities/experiences for you and your family? I am especially curious about Macao, Hong Kong, and Quingdao. Would appreciate any feedback from those of you who have lived or visited these cities. Thanks.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

The air quality in HK and Macao is fine assuming you can handle "city air" and you arent sensitive. Quingdao is far better than Beijing, but everything is better than Beijing (except parts of India).
These are very different places though, HK is like living in Manhattan or London or Tokyo. Macao is like living in Vegas, whereas living in Quingdao is like living in Seattle or Manchester. Its also important to differentiate that some basic and important levels of lifestyle and living differ. HK and Macao are SARs (Special Administrative Areas) life is about as western as you can get in China, access an open internet, media, etc. Quingdao is mainland and all the Chinese politics that comes with it, such as the GFW (Great Fire Wall), etc.
If you want to live in one of the great financial and business cities of the world with an Asian ethos, HK is that. If you want to live more on the seedier side where entertainment is everything than thats Macao. If you want the "China" experience, and dont want to suffer too much to get it than Quingdao is a pretty decent slice of it.
eion_padraig
Posts: 408
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm

Re: China and pollution...

Post by eion_padraig »

Macao and Hong Kong tend to have much better air quality than areas of Mainland China. It helps that they are in the south where there is more frequent rain, which can help with clearing things out, and they are both right on the ocean. It's worth noting that both get frequent typhoon warnings given their location, but both cities manage that issue quite well.

Qingdao is right on the coast, which means the air quality tends to be better than locations inland in Shandong, but but Shandong is one of the areas that uses a lot of coal for heating and electricity. It gets a lot worse in the cold months when they need energy for heating. When the conditions are nice in Qingdao, it's a beautiful city, but it will have pretty frequent air quality issues by contrast. I'd be a lot more cautious of Qingdao than HK or Macau. I wouldn't recommend it for people who are sensitive to pollution or have asthma already. See the website below for readings and some recent air quality data.

http://www.thatsqingdao.com/air-quality-qingdao/
reisgio
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:17 am

Re: China and pollution...

Post by reisgio »

Yes.
852gal
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:09 am

Re: China and pollution...

Post by 852gal »

There are pollution days here in Beijing and the AQI can go as high as 300-400 but it's not like this every day. We have air purifiers at home and at work and we wear good masks when we're outside. It's been fine for us.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Comment

Post by PsyGuy »

@852gal

Just the fact you have to wear a mask says a lot about the issue to many ITs.
senator
Posts: 384
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:53 am

Re: China and pollution...

Post by senator »

And the health problems may not show up for years.

Think about this: You're in bed sucking on an oxygen mask. And you can't help wondering if it is all because you wanted to teach in China.

And we haven't even talked about the food and water pollution.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Comment

Post by PsyGuy »

@senator

Lets not forget the general prevalence of everyone spitting their bodily fluids everywhere (hepatitis anyone).
jschott
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 4:31 pm

Re: China and pollution...

Post by jschott »

splendid wrote:
> Would the pollution in China stop you from taking on great
> teaching/international opportunities/experiences for you and your family? I
> am especially curious about Macao, Hong Kong, and Quingdao. Would
> appreciate any feedback from those of you who have lived or visited these
> cities. Thanks.

Hell, yes. There's nothing so important as your health.

Maybe you've never been somewhere where the pollution is so bad you're afraid to breathe and want to retreat to the inside as soon as possible. I have. It is NOT fun.
Last edited by jschott on Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
jschott
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 4:31 pm

Re: China and pollution...

Post by jschott »

senator wrote:
> And the health problems may not show up for years.
>
> Think about this: You're in bed sucking on an oxygen mask. And you can't
> help wondering if it is all because you wanted to teach in China.
>
> And we haven't even talked about the food and water pollution.

My best friend is Chinese. Food safety is a real issue.
senator
Posts: 384
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:53 am

Re: China and pollution...

Post by senator »

Right.

I have a lot of Chinese friends and they all are concerned about the health/safety of their food.

Those heavy metals and poisons that all those Chinese factories spew 24 hours a day have to land somewhere, like in the soil.

But the question is: Why in hell do people still want to work in China now? Aside from ISB or SAS or Wab and a couple of others, the salary/benefits are not exceptional. And if they want culture, they can just visit on vacation rather than risk the long term exposure to poisons.

Anyone who still teaches in China care to answer this question? And I did work in China for 8 years - left in the late 2000's when things were still good.
jschott
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 4:31 pm

Re: China and pollution...

Post by jschott »

senator wrote:
> Right.
>
> I have a lot of Chinese friends and they all are concerned about the
> health/safety of their food.
>
> Those heavy metals and poisons that all those Chinese factories spew 24
> hours a day have to land somewhere, like in the soil.
>
> But the question is: Why in hell do people still want to work in China now?
> Aside from ISB or SAS or Wab and a couple of others, the salary/benefits
> are not exceptional. And if they want culture, they can just visit on
> vacation rather than risk the long term exposure to poisons.
>
> Anyone who still teaches in China care to answer this question? And I did
> work in China for 8 years - left in the late 2000's when things were still
> good.


I don't get it, either. My Chinese friend that I mentioned, for example, refuses to go back, even though she could take any number of prestigious positions in the university.
grdwdgrrrl
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: China and pollution...

Post by grdwdgrrrl »

Not just China.....
'Filthy air' prompts 'very high' pollution alert for London
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38716498
jschott
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 4:31 pm

Re: China and pollution...

Post by jschott »

grdwdgrrrl wrote:
> Not just China.....
> 'Filthy air' prompts 'very high' pollution alert for London
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38716498

Yeah. Paris, too.

But that's not comparable to China.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

Everywhere has pollution (even some in Northern Europe) but China and India is orders of magnitude above what most westerners can comprehend as environmental quality.
Post Reply