Skirt Season

Apparently the dust storm [see last blog title, "It Snowed Dust"] made
the NYTimes! I hope this isn't the first time they thought that
Beijing's climate might adversely affect the Olympics. And although it
won't come at the time of the Dust Storm filled Spring, it will be in
the dead heat of the summer stagnant air time.

NYT, April 23, 2006
Also Made in China: The Big Dust Storm
As President Hu Jintao left China for the United States last week,
something was sweeping into Beijing behind him. A large dust storm hit
the capital, turning skies a murky yellow and coating buildings and
streets in fine powder.
While dust storms are not unusual in China, particularly in the
spring, "this one was quite a bit more extreme than they've had in
recent years," said Thomas E. Gill, an associate professor of geology
and environmental science at the University of Texas at El Paso who
studies dust storms. The storm's intensity may have been due to
drought in China's extensive deserts, or to land clearing and other
agricultural practices that leave soil exposed.
The Olympics will be in Beijing in August 2008, and a major dust storm
could wreak havoc. Most storms occur in the spring, Professor Gill
said, "but if conditions are right, dust storms can happen any time of
year."
The government is spending a lot to replant eroded areas, create wind
breaks and use other soil conservation techniques to cut down on the
intensity of storms, Professor Gill said. "The Chinese are very
concerned about this," he said. "But it's too early to tell whether
those efforts have worked."

May 8th marks the official beginning of the skirt season- that means
our female dominated office will be retiring our pleated front pants
for the much summer preferable skirts. My skirt is in the process of
being made, and I am wondering if my company will be passing out pantie
hose or do we just get to wear the short pantyhose material ankle
socks [that they have already given me]??

The May Holiday has officially begun- I am, of course, at work, as
this weekend is still an official work weekend, as the Chinese holiday
scheduling goes. I don't really mind considering my vacation to the
US of A begins soon, and I'll get some time off this weekend as well.

My major adventure race is May 13th, so I am almost done training for
that... I think it will be fun, actually, despite fears of exhaustion
and blisters. I'm looking forward to it. And for those who missed it, I will be in the CT/ NYC area starting May
16th until June 6th. I look forward to seeing anyone who is in the
area...

It snowed Dirt

I woke up Monday morning, after returning from Huang Shan late in the night to a layer of orange dust covering everything, like a blanket of snow. It’s the dust season, so that means in addition to the pollution we have this ‘dust’ [it could be from the Gobi desert] blowing in the wind, sometimes strong enough to stop the construction next to my house.

Two weeks ago I ran in part of a marathon, there are five team members that run a leg of the marathon, so I ran the last 7.2 km bit. I started on the western second ring road, which had been cut off of all vehicle traffic, so it was just little me listening to Michael Jackson’s hits from the 80s slowly jogging along this totally empty road. Imagine the BQE totally empty, reserved just for you. By the time my teammate got to me most runners had already gone so that's why I was the only one on the road. Fortunately for my lungs, this day was heavily polluted [yes we have days that are worse than others] and the blocking off of this road caused serious traffic buildup, so as I ran, next to me where virtual parking lots of cars just sitting, exhaust fuming out. I decided to up the challenge I would smoke four packs of cigarettes while running. Boy did my lungs feel great when I finished! The lesson here is: don’t run in this city. Duh.

This weekend I managed to escape to a lush green paradise, filled with unpolluted clean crisp air, just near the famed Chinese mountain Huang Shan [literally yellow mountain]. On Friday we [the MOB- Mountain Bikers of Beijing, a mostly foreign crowd of biking nuts] rode from our hotel to the old village of Xi Di to arrive only to be accosted by hired photographers and other young tourists wanting their photos with us. We actually took away from the limelight of the mayor who was giving a speech about how excited they all were to have us there for the bike race. We walked through the town posing for photos, knowing that one day someone would come up to us and say, hey I saw your photo in a toothpaste ad or hanging in a random restaurant…

Saturday morning was the race. It was a fun course, two 22 km loops up and down the mountain, beautiful views, through villages, pretty difficult but still fun. I only managed to come in fourth [argh], 8 minutes behind 1st place, and it was a bit annoying because I lined up for the race in the very back because the information we had said that the women would get a separate start from the men, but we didn’t, and most of the women were lined up at the start of the line! So most of my race involved trying to pass [useless] men. One passing incident ended up with me falling into a paddy field [literally getting knocked over into a giant pile of sludge] which made the race a bit muddier but still fun.

On Sunday the rest of the MOB went to the actually Yellow Mountain, to be met with 10,000 Chinese tourists ‘climbing’ [walking up the cement staircase] the mountain, I [having been to the mountain before] knew it would be like that and opted to find somewhere else to bike. I ended up biking up a tractor trail to some very small mountain villages where life hasn't changed, outside of electricity and TVs [which they all had, despite the fact that only motorbikes could actually make it up to them]. I biked through everyone working in the farms, picking tea leaves, babies hanging out, really really old people still working, young people who somehow haven't figured out that moving to the city might provide a better life.

Back in Beijing now, I have three weeks left to train for the major adventure race, where I think it will be about 6 hours of mountain biking and 2 hours of running, plus all the other activities [see last blog for the list]. That’s about it for now…