I felt like I was in a 1930s movie yesterday in Hong Kong. Mainly, because the haze and visibility were so bad that colors were simply removed from my visual spectrum. Surprisingly, the API for Sunday was only "high", despite the fact that Lantau and Lamma Islands had disappeared from my apartment window in Pokfulam, and, while I was in Tung Chung for the afternoon, a vaguely plasticine odor hung in the air. 'High', according to the Environmental Protection Department, means that there is no immediate harmful effect on health. You may only find yourself coughing up blood a few years from now after prolonged exposure (or something to that effect). Perhaps they are not putting the sensors in the right place (i.e. buried 20 feet underground).

Given my smoggy, sepia-toned palette yesterday, I was very surprised to see this article about the ban on electric bicycles in Guangzhou. I assume there must be some traffic-related reason for this, but in an age of blanket smog, surely people riding electric bicycles can't be such a bad thing? Granted, the electricity used by bikes may very well come from a coal-fired plant (but maybe it's Daya Bay). The article unfortunately, did not shed light on why the bikes were banned. Anyone out there know why?