As required by law, all of Beijing's heating systems were required to be turned on by November 15. But since most of Beijing's heating systems are coal-fired, the air quality naturally suffers as soon as the systems are kicked on. This, along with the offshoot pollutions from the industry-heavy cities north of Beijing, often creates what seems like an impenetrable cloud of smog and pollution over Beijing.
Apparently, the air quality was so bad last week, the US Embassy in Beijing tweeted that the air quality was "crazy bad." Unfortunately the term "crazy bad" isn't a part of the US Embassy's official air quality rating, so the tweet was later taken down and replaced with a more scientific wording.
Click here to go to a NY Times blog post on the air quality in Beijing last week.
And in comparison, look at a clear air day in Beijing: http://livinginculturallimbo.blogspot.com/2010/10/ah-much-better.html
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