The smog is bad this morning in Beijing. These are views from the 14th floor balcony of my office looking across Beijing's principal avenue.

To the southeast, I can see the twin LG towers across Jianguomen Wai Street and the street lights on the corner, but not much further.

To the southeast, everything fades out into murkiness after about a block, where the Friendship Store is located.

Actually, the smog seems to me to have improved somewhat this year. We had quite a pleasant autumn.

   
But there's no denying that days like today are terrible. I sometimes click here to see what actual pollution levels are. But if you look, note that authorities don't want to tell you how bad it is if levels arise above 500, which is dangerous to your health. The figures are updated once a day.

Sometimes it can be really bad in the morning, then a wind picks up and blows off the smog, leaving the afternoon lovely.

When we first arrived here three years ago, my throat was scratchy for the first four or five months. Now, I think I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me at all. Scary.