The eyes have had it
My eyes were filled with tears over the weekend — and no, it had nothing at all to do with a dead president (or the fact that Cecil and I lost to Rick and Luis in beer pong). No, my eyes were watery because I decided to go for a walk.
The pollution is particularly potent right now in Shanghai. And a simple 10-minute stroll from my new apartment to Huaihai Lu had my eyes burning. I imagine it has something to due with the humidity, which has the city in a stranglehold it won’t release until sometime in November. The humidity has Shanghai — and its pollution — trapped. And it’s early June. This is just the beginning.
That Shanghai is polluted obviously is no surprise. It’s the biggest city in the country with the world’s worst environmental record. But Shanghai’s pollution had never made my eyes burn before. Perhaps this is because I used to live 20 minutes from downtown. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never lived in Shanghai during the summer. I don’t know.
06.14.2004, 4:25 AM · Observations · Comments (3)