Smog and Haze over China

When my plane landed at Beijing Daxing International airport (PKX), the control tower at the airport was standing in a low hanging shroud, I could barely see anything beyond it.

low visibility at PKX airport

In the taxi to downtown, I saw the same low hanging shroud again along the wide expressway. Chatting with the taxi driver, I commented that it was a bad day for air quality, the taxi driver replied that it was like that every day. 

Highway out of PKX

Later that day, we walked in the community park by the hotel we stayed, haze and smog surrounded us as well.  Beijing's notorious smog was upon us.

CCTV tower in a haze

Lucky for us, we only experienced the haze and smog for only one day.  Overnight drizzle and wind swept away the gloomy smog that had shrouded the city, and we had beautiful sunny days during the rest of our stay at Beijing.

But the smog started its come back on the day I left Beijing from DPX.

Smog forming around Beijing

My flight from Beijing to Wuhan was a mid-day flight, and I had a window seat,  I saw the low hanging shrouds even far away from major cities. I was not sure if those were smog and haze, or just thin cloud until I saw clouds in the sky above the smog.

The smog and haze was not concentrated around a single major city, it stretched over thousands of kilometers from Beijing to Wuhan. 

The air quality and visibility was not as bad at Wuhan as my first day at Beijing. I was lucky again, the smog dissipated next day, and the weather and air quality remained good during my stay at Wuhan until my last day there. 

On my way to WHU for departure, it was drizzling, so the depressing shroud was more haze than smog.

 

The smog seen from Tianhe International Airport (WUH)

The haze on my way leaving Wuhan

According to Wikipedia, "Haze often occurs when suspended dust and smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air. When weather conditions block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form a usually low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a respiratory health threat if excessively inhaled. Industrial pollution can result in dense haze, which is known as smog."

Both Beijing and Wuhan have many cars, and are in constant traffic jam during day time. The smog and haze are mainly due to vehicle emissions. To combat the air quality issues, both cities have measures to control traffic such as limiting number of cars on the road by limiting road access to certain license plate numbers 

Both cities also have good public transportation, subways and buses. 

Despite all the efforts, the severe air pollution persists, the curse of industrialization and modernization.

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A contrast 

heavy smog

light haze

Beijing's Rare Blue Sky

On the second day of our stay at Beijing, China, the sky turned brilliant blue after the drizzle and wind previous night had swept away the gloomy haze/smog that had shrouded the city.

We went to Tiananmen Square that morning and had to go through layer after layer of security checks - first check at the exit of the subway station, and then the security check at make-shift entrances to Tiananmen Square. It was depressing!

The progression of the clearing up of the sky lifted my spirit. The northwest sky was cleared up first, revealing the blue sky. The clouds continued to move in southeast direction, and eventually the sky was all clear.

Although we couldn't access some of the main landmarks at Tiananmen Square, like the Tiananmen Tower, the Palace Museum, and the National Museums, due to reservation requirements, we enjoyed our extensive walk around the square and its surroundings, covering approximately 12 kilometers. Beijing's local cuisine added to the delight of our day.

Tiananmen

Corner of Forbidden City

Monument for People's Heroes

Street lights and surveillance camera

Returning to our hotel early in the afternoon, we decided to remain outdoors to savor the rarity of a blue sky and high air quality in Beijing. We settled in a community park adjacent to the hotel, sat on a bench beneath the shade of trees. There, we listened to the sweet chirps of birds, watched fluffy white clouds drift across the blue sky, and relished the tranquility of our surroundings.

CCTV Tower

The sky over the community park

On the third day, the favorable weather and air quality continued, prompting us to visit Yuan Ming Yuan, the Old Summer Palace. The park was a sight to behold with blue sky, lotus ponds, willow trees, and various waterfowl, including the elegant black swans. Since it was a weekday, the park was relatively uncrowded, enhancing our overall experience.

Lily Pond

Fu Hai (The Blessed Lake)

Black Swans

Foliage

Flock of Bird

As the sunny days persisted, a hint of haze began to loom on the horizon, a reminder that the vast city was not immune to its grasp.

In moments of clear skies and pristine air, we reveled in the present, savoring every bit of the goodness that came our way.

Wuhan's Early Autumn

I enjoyed my brief visit to Wuhan, China earlier this week. The refreshing crispness of the morning air, coupled with early glimpses of autumn foliage, added to the joy of reuniting with family and friends. I was fortunate that the weather and air quality cooperated during my stay.

What was most delightful was that I didn't have to journey far to experience autumn's beauty; it was right outside my doorstep along the Shunshi River, where residential apartment buildings line the banks. Each morning, I indulged in the visual and auditory delights of nature by strolling along the community park trail beside the river.

The air was invigorating, carrying the promise of fall.

The early foliage painted a vivid tapestry of colors in the landscape.

The melodious symphony of birds filled the atmosphere. Sparrows, magpies, and long-tailed shrikes gracefully danced through the clear blue sky.

a long tailed shrike

wooded area in a community park

foliage by Shunsi river

a flock of bids on top of foliage

Morning Sun

Another sure sign of early autumn presented itself at Da Shan Li, near Niushan Lake, where a golden expanse of ripe rice fields stretched out before me. The sight of these golden grains transported me back to the distant memories of my childhood, visiting my grandfather in the countryside. Nostalgia washed over me like a gentle tide. I couldn't resist the urge to walk into the field, running my fingers through the rice ears, and capturing the breathtaking aerial view with a drone from above.

Amidst this serenity, I found comfort in the changing seasons, a reminder of the enduring circle of life.

Aerial view of the rice field patches

Wallace Trail at Diary Farm Nature Park

Wallace Trail is a well shaded trail with varied terrain at Diary Farm Nature Park. The last time we hiked on this trail was about three month ago. We went there again today (Oct 8, 2023).

Starting from car park B, we went south in the direction of Wallace education center, to hike on the portion of Wallace trail we missed last time. The dense woods provided the shade we needed from the burning Sun, and the uneven rough trail provided the feel of hiking in the wild :). 

I heard the bird calls from white headed laughingthrushes, but did not spot them, and later I saw some small monkeys in the trees, jumping up and down. Apparently, a few them were playing. Turing around the corner, I spotted two monkeys breast feeding their babies on the trunk of a leaning tree, and a few more monkeys were nearby. A young monkey was foraging from one tree branch to another.

We went on to Singapore quarry, hopping for some more exciting bird watching there. There were no kingfishers around this time, but there was still a crowd of photographers on the observation deck! I saw no other birds. A couple minutes later, a big bird flew in, and landed on a high tree branch - a grey headed fish eagle. While all the photographers were waiting for the eagle to hunt, another eagle took off from the tree top behind dense leaves with a large stick in its beak. I did not notice this one earlier. But I saw it to the south of the quarry, and following its flight I saw a giant nest.

A photographer threw biscuits into the water to bait fishes, in hope that the eagle would dive for the jumping fishes.  The baits not only attracted fishes, it also attracted a monitor lizard! Free food was too appealing.

The eagle eventually flew away to its nest at the far end of the quarry. The hope of seeing the eagle diving for fishes was gone for now. 

southern tip of Singapore Quarry

a grey headed fish eagle

Eagle nest

In addition to fauna, flora was plentiful as well. We saw fig trees many times before, the last time on Wallace trail as well as other places. What somewhat surprised us was the amount of figs on this tree, then we saw another fig tree with different figs. There are a variety of trees and flowers, just hard for to tell what is what even with help from Google lens.

yellow stem fig?

ivy leaved morning glory

Costus

We completed the 4 miles hike in leisure pace in 2 hours, and enjoyed it.

 

River Wonders

River wonder is an aquatic park in Singapore, located at northwest corner of upper Seletar reservoir. It is clustered with Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. I went there with a few co workers Friday last week.

entrance to River Wonders

Despite being Asia's only river themed wild life park, it is felt just like any other aquarium. The park started with printed exhibits only about river Nile, Yangtze river and Amazon flooded forests, no river or river animals are associated with the exhibits. The exhibits are dull.  Later there is a boat ride along "amazon" forest. The boat floats fast, and I felt hurried through the forest, and did not feel the serene nature, or have time to appreciate animals along the river bank.

There are quite a few river animals at the park, such as Indian Gharial from Indian's river Ganges, Capybara (Amazon forest), giant freshwater stingrays, and giant freshwater salamander. 

The Indian Gharial refused a fish placed near its mouth by a zoo keeper! 

A more interesting observation was that saw giant freshwater stingrays' big camouflaged eyes! 

The the giant salamander is so well camouflaged with the log, I dd not see it until it moved. 

Indian Gharial (crocodile)

Capybara

Giant freshwater sting rays

giraffe catfish

Giant Salamander

There are also some water fowls. Black faced spoonbills reminded me of the pink spoonbills at Lettuce Lake in Tampa, Pennsylvania. The toucan and violet curacao are new species for me.  

Black faced spoonbills

violet turaco

toucan

It seems that there are many land animals at the aquatic park: wild boar, lion tailed macaque, red panda and giant panada. I wondered why the giant panda is part of the river wonder. According to river wonders website, the giant pandas live in Yangtze river basin. There are two giant pandas in separate enclosures. One was asleep and did not come out at all, another was walking in circles in bamboos. Right before I was about to leave the panda place, the circling panda walked into the open and I got a good picture of it.

wild boar

lion tailed macaque

red panda

giant panda

A most interesting sighting was the playful acts of two river otters - they chased each other, nibbled at each other and a bit tug of war.

This is a decent park, and I enjoyed it. 

Note

The clustered parks  - Singapore zoo, night safari, river wonders and a recent addition Bird paradise, form the Mandai Wildlife reserve. They claim to preserve wildlife and nature. But right at the place marked Mandai Wildlife reserve, there is a huge destruction of natural habitat ongoing,  trees were down, huge concretes are being erected. A resort is being built.  What a hypocrite!