Category Archives: Pollution

Day 565 OUT OF Beijing: Mornings in San Francisco.

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A cable car making a stop on Nob Hill.

A cable car making a stop on Nob Hill.

 

Jill and I went to meet some of my co-workers for lunch this morning.

We had forgotten, after 1.5 years in Beijing, how gorgeous San Francisco is each and every day.

The Christmas tree at The Fairmont Hotel.

The Christmas tree at The Fairmont Hotel.

Especially today.

It was a balmy day and we didn’t even need jackets or sweaters.

It was a short sleeve day on December 22nd.

Just amazing.

We had a wonderful lunch with my co-workers and then decided to just walk around and breathe in the clean air and take in the sites.

It is really hard to explain how luckily we feel to be out of Beijing and free of the pollution, the crowds and the constant pressure of living under regime that we were always worried about in regards to our own safety.

It was interesting, to ride the buses and walk the streets of San Francisco, and see how many homeless, and mentally ill, are out and about.

Christmas at the Fairmont Hotel

Christmas at the Fairmont Hotel

We almost never saw any mentally ill, and only a few homeless, out in Beijing.

This is probably because the government wouldn’t allow them to be out and made sure they were not in public view but I’m not sure.  Just my guess from what I’ve seen their government do to people they don’t want seen or heard from over the last 1.5 years.

The USA has problems, no question, but we are free and happy compared to what we lived under in Beijing.

We don’t take it lightly how lucky we are to have been born in the USA and the choices that gives us in our lives.

 

 

Day 559 OUT OF Beijing: The Flight Home.

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The clouds above Seattle.

The clouds above Seattle.

 

Jill and I finished up saying goodbye to our friends and did the last bit of packing up.

We ended up giving away a lot of stuff and have decided to be as minimalist as possible.

We never really had much so it was a pretty easy decision.

We both came here with 2 check ins and our 2 carry on.

We are leaving with 1 check in and our 2 carry on.

Yep, after 1.5 years we only have 1 check in bag (less than 50 lbs) and one carry on.

I’m actually writing an ebook on how to minimize what you own and maximize your life and it should be out within the next two months.

It will be self-published and our the new site we are working on currently.

However, at this moment, we were focusing on getting to the airport, checking in, flying home, and starting our new life.

Our friend, Sarah Ting Ting Hou, set up a driver for us and it cost about $32 USD to drive us to the airport in a van door to door.  It takes about 45 minutes to get there so it was a great deal.

We then checked our bags, went through customs, and immigration and had our bags searched at three different locations (hey, I guess it is a good way to keep employment high in China if you have 10 people to do one person’s job).

After all that, we went to the vending machines and bought a few semi-cold beers.

We brought along our new gift from Peter and Gabrielle.  He is a statue that they bought us and we decided he would be out “gnome” that we’d go everywhere with and photograph him as if he is a real person. We decided to name him “Niubi Geme’r” (which means “Awesome Homey” in Chinese), and our two teddy bears, who were a wonderful surprise gift that the administrative assistant at my company, Emily, gave to us when we flew to Singapore.  We’ve named them “Pijiu” (which means “beer”) and “Bing” (which means “cold”) so we always have a “Cold beer” with us when we travel!

 

As you can see, Niubi Geme’r also likes cold beer so it is a perfect fit.

The flight took about 11 hours and it was a short lay over in Seattle.

Well, it was supposed to be a short lay over in Seattle.

However, the storms that have been pounding the West Coast made sure that our lay over was longer than anticipated.

It ended up being a 4.5 hour lay over and we had time to grab some nachos and beer.  It was perfect actually.

Our flight was then diverted into Oakland, into of San Francisco, because of the storms.

Our friend, Alethea, said she didn’t mind and would pick us up there instead of SFO and we just relaxed and flew on down.  We happened to sit by a very nice young man named Rafael who had just spent 6 months in China and had flown on the same flight as we did from Beijing.  We had a bit of conversation and then we all passed out for a a bit.

We landed without event and grabbed our baggage.  Alethea picked us up and we bought some wine, and a fantastic carnitas burrito at El Pueblo in Petaluma (where they live) and celebrated with her, her husband and my dear friend, Randy and their son, Cyrus.

It was, in my humble opinion, a perfect way to end our time in China and start our new lives here in SF.

Soon we are onto the rest of the USA, and after that, the rest of the world.

 

 

Day 558 OUT OF Beijing: The Last Supper (and breakfast).

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Austin, Alex and Patrick and the rest of us doing a final cheers at Jing A Taproom.

Austin, Alex and Patrick and the rest of us doing a final cheers at Jing A Taproom.

 

Jill and I made so many friends during our 1.5 years in China that it is still hard for us to fathom it.

We were really lucky to be around such amazing people and have such a fantastic support system.

Living in Beijing is really difficult and it can be quite overwhelming.

The company I worked for has one psychotherapy department and it is in Beijing.

That says it all for me and Jill.

We were able to have a few goodbye dinners, and parties, and I am grateful for everyone that came.

I’ve decided to post a few pictures of them and our friends.

FYI, I gained about 20 lbs in the 1.5 years were we there.  I believe this happened because we ate and drank, a lot, with a lot of friends.  We also chose not to join a gym because we didn’t want to deal with going through the pollution to workout and then have to deal with it again to get home.  I stopped running because, after a day or two of nice weather, we’d have horrible pollution and it would basically set me back to the beginning and I just gave up.  These were our choices, and we own that, but it was a very difficult place to live.  If not for our friends, both at work and outside of work, it would have been even tougher and I doubt we would have stayed as long as we did.

 

Day 545 In Beijing: Narli Gol in Cappadocia, Turkey.

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Jill and me at Narli Gol.

Jill and me at Narli Gol.

 

Jill, the rest of our group, and I hopped back into the van and headed off for the next stop on our tour.

It was the amazing Narli Gol and I was very surprised to see such a magnificent lake in the middle of this incredibly dry land.

It is a volcanic crater lake and there is a hotel, just down the hill, where people come and stay so they can be refreshed in the hot springs and relax in the beautiful setting beside the lake.

We were the only people there, and guessed that it is mostly a place people visit during the winter as the hot springs would be too hot in the summer weather, and we loved the peace and solitude.

Being away from the 25,000,000 people in Beijing allows us to remember how much we love the quiet, the calm, and the ease of a less busy land and people.

Istanbul still had 13,000,000 people but it is very different.

We weren’t bumped into constantly, weren’t worried about getting run over while crossing the street, and things were very clean.

Our driver and the rest of our tour group.

Our driver and the rest of our tour group.

I know people that are originally from Istanbul probably think that the “new” Istanbul is too busy and too dirty but, to our eyes, it was perfect.

As we are staying in a town of 4,000, in Goreme, it is even more quiet and peaceful.  We can hear the sounds of the truck tires against the pavement as they drive by, miles away, and it is barely noticeable.

We hear birds singing and chirping, which we almost never hear or see in Beijing, unless they are in cages.

It is just a different way of life and we look forward to finding a way to have that peace and calm in our lives more as we spend time in beautiful Turkey and remember what nature is like in all its glory.

 

 

 

Day 540 In Beijing: El Luchador de Esmog!

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Baijiu is the local hard alcohol drink here. In general, it is horrible.

Baijiu is the local hard alcohol drink here. In general, it is horrible.

 

Jill and I wake up every morning and the first thing we do is check the AQI.

For those that don’t live in China, and most of you don’t, AQI stands for Air Quality Index.

This is of supreme importance in Beijing because there are days when we won’t leave the house.

We had planned to go to the German Embassy today, as they are having their annual massive faire, but we stayed in instead.

There are a lot of apps, which rate the AQI, and I just found this new one called “Airpocalypse.”  It is one of the few that doesn’t have the US Embassy’s numbers blocked, as the Chinese government has now blocked the numbers on many of the apps that are available, and their writers have the best sense of humor.

El Luchador de Esmog is ready to save your lungs!

El Luchador de Esmog is ready to save your lungs!

They constantly have hilarious comments about the pollution and what you should do to stay safe.

Today it said, “Find a Mask” and had a picture of a Luchador mask on it.

Strangely enough, I stayed with my cousin Michelle, and her husband John, in Mexico a few months before I came to China.

I decided to buy a Luchador mask there and bring it to China.

Yes, I’m a weird dude.

So, just to make a miserable air day a bit better, I put the mask on and Jill took a picture of me in it.

I then posted it on my WeChat (sort of like Facebook/Twitter/Instagram here in China.  By the way, those are all blocked by the government here just like the U.S. Embassy’s Air Quality Index).

One of my friends, who is a writer and a true vato from Los Angeles, named me “El Luchador de Esmog!”

This roughly translates to “The Wrestler of Smog!”

Esmog will not defeat me ever!

Esmog will not defeat me ever!

A number of other people stated, “Your mask looks just like the one from the app!”

I think it is a pretty good representation of their Luchador mask and actually emailed the developers my pictures.

I hope they laugh as hard at my pictures as I do at their comments about the weather.

Honestly, when the pollution is this horrible, it takes creative people, like the Airpocalypse developers, to make this city seems somewhat sane.

By the way, our friends at Jing A Brewing have a beer called The Airpocalypse.  As the AQI gets worse, they give larger discounts. The discounts start at 200 AQI and go all the way up to 400 AQI (after that it stays the same).

I wonder if they’d be willing to do a home delivery?

 

 

 

Day 539 In Beijing: Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

 

This is Jill’s and my second Thanksgiving in Beijing, China.

It is a little weird.

All kinds of expats go out, party it up, and have fun.

Many of them aren’t from the USA but they enjoy having the community setting and just having another reason to have a nice time with others.

We decided to go to Shunjing Spa, near our apartment, with our friends Dorota and Francois.

They are both doctors where I work and wonderful people.

We’ve spent many a night sharing wine, cheese and Francois’ amazing home made bread.

The air quality was pretty decent, even though it was very overcast, so it seemed like a good day to venture out.

Both Francois and I decided to wear the silly little outfits they give to the spa members so we wouldn’t look out of place (sarcasm intended).

We noticed that when the four of us went into at spa pool, almost all the people in it would get out, and we’d be left alone in the pool.

Usually, that kind of thing would annoy me but it was sort of nice having all the different spa pools to ourselves and not have to deal with a crowded pool all day long.

After the spa, Jill and I met up with some other friends, from all over the world, for Thanksgiving at The Big Smoke.

Jill had her first meal in Beijing at The Big Smoke, and we did Thanksgiving there last year, and we thought it would be a nice way to celebrate.

It definitely was and the food, friendship, and conversation was fantastic.

Sadly, we forgot to get a picture of all of us together but there is always next year!

 

 

Day 494 In Beijing: Trip To Prince Islands, Part 3.

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One of my favorite houses on Buyukada.

One of my favorite houses on Buyukada.

Jill and I decided to walk around the town and get a bit of exercise.

When I say a bit, I mean a lot.

Buyukada is mostly hills and some of them are quite steep.

It was also July in the Mediterranean and you can guess what the heat and humidity felt like.

We got nice and sweaty and it was worth every drop.

The houses, and the views, were amazing.

We actually stopped, many times, just to watch the horse drawn carriages, and their owners, cruising past us.

Some were at full gallop and others were just leisurely cruising and taking their time.

We were a bit jealous of the people that were sitting in the carriages because we were sweating away but not too much because it gave us time to look at the houses, and the flora, as we took our time and rested.

At one point, we crested the top of the hill and started going down.

It was also quite steep and we thought it would be nice to go for a swim.

Sadly, we didn’t have our swimsuits but we noticed a man made beach at the bottom of the hill and roadway.

We went in, asked if we could wade in the sea in our shorts, and they realized we didn’t have suits so they offered to sell us suits.

I’ve never liked Jill’s swimsuit (she can tell you more about it) and she found a super cute blue one and I bought some decent shorts.

All in all, it cost us about 20 bucks for two nice swim suits.

And then we jumped in the water and it was like jumping into perfection.

 

 

Day 492 In Beijing: Trip To Prince Islands, Part 1.

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I love capturing peoples' emotions and personalities.

I love capturing peoples’ emotions and personalities.

 

After leaving the funicular, Jill and I hopped on the ferry to Princes’ Island.

Buyukada was the specific island we wanted to visit and it was a about a two hour ferry ride.

We were hoping to get a good seat, outside, and be able to enjoy the trip.

For the first few minutes, since it was so hot, we decided to stay inside and watched through the windows.

However, we love the fresh air (something that is desperately missed living in Beijing) and decided to go out in the sunshine and do some real people, and scenery, watching.

We absolutely made the right choice and we are very thankful we did.

Each step in life is a step towards adventure or a step towards complacency.

We choose adventure.

 

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Day 488 In Beijing: Trip To Tianjin, Part 5.

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A "view" of the fireworks. And of the pollution.

A “view” of the fireworks. And of the pollution.

Fireworks.

Jill, Nuria and I love fireworks.

So do the Chinese people.

Fireworks actually started in China and they know what they are doing.

Strangely enough, there is a fireworks factory near Nuria’s apartment.

The zoning regulations in China are a bit different than in the USA.

They go off, from what we can tell, about every 2 hours, without a specific reason or time, and last for about 1 minute or so.

We think they are just testing them, but we can’t see them, and we aren’t sure why they would need to test them that often.

We are guessing someone at the factory just likes blowing stuff up and realized they can fire them off, whenever they want, as long as they made up a darn good reason, like “We need to test them every 2.33 hours of the day.”

This includes at night when they are still working.

Luckily, the windows are thick enough that we don’t really hear them while we are trying to sleep.

I do feel bad for the people that live closer to the factory and don’t live in a modern apartment building like the one Nuria lives in.

That would be a bit tiresome to hear these explosions throughout the night.

 

 

Day 485 In Beijing: Trip To Tianjin, Part 2.

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The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in TIanjin.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Tianjin.

Jill, Nuria, and I decided to cruise around Tianjin and check out the sites.

Again, this is a city of 15,000,000 people and there are lots of high rises, just like in Beijing, and we were ready for the same old mega-city yuck of sprawl and “progress.”

Nuria had told us that there are certain areas of Tianjin, since it had been a trading post and had different rules than much of China in the early 1900s, and we would be in for a surprise.

She was right.

We walked around the “British” section and could have sworn we were back in London or a British city.

The buildings definitely did not resemble anything we’d seen in China and we enjoy the quiet and serene walk through Tianjin’s financial district.  The district was pretty dead, since it is the National Holiday, and everyone was off seeing their family but, even so, it was a stark contrast to the constant noise and drama of Beijing.

We absolutely loved the architecture and that these buildings are historical and will be protected instead of being torn down to make room for more skyscrapers.

We then went to lunch and had a nice authentic Chinese meal and the manager of the restaurant came over and started speaking to us in perfect English.

He was super friendly and very kind.

Nuria has lived in China for 6 years and speaks incredible Mandarin but being able to speak to someone in English makes it easier for all of us because she doesn’t have to translate everything.

I have to admit, her translations are hilarious for this one reason: Her native tongue is Spanish and she then, because of her own history, usually translates the Mandarin to me in Spanish.

Now, I know some Spanish, from living in California and being an avid salsa dancer, but I definitely am not fluent.

I am usually able to catch the gist of what she is saying and then say, “Uh, English for Jill, please.”

Nuria, who has the most positive attitude of anyone I’ve ever met, just starts laughing and translates quickly into English.

We then decided to head home and took the subway, which was fairly empty, and bought some fruit off a street merchant and started to get ready to out to the Italian Quarter later that night.

 

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