Beijing Poem - Intoxicated by a toxic city

The air quality index measuring the PM2.5 pollutant particles in the air has recently risen above 200 for the first time in quite a while. This, coupled with a number of friends leaving Beijing very soon has made me think about how the smog can have a huge impact on your life here.

On good days, Beijing is such a beautiful and exciting place to be.
On bad days, you can feel suffocated by the pollution and forced to stay indoors.
Below are two photographs of Sanlitun Tai Koo Li area. One is taken on a clear day, the other on a high pollution day.

I found a poem that I wrote last year and it sums up my feelings, so I wanted to post it on my blog.

Intoxicated by a toxic city

The Jekyll and Hyde emotions of life in Beijing,

Respect, love and wonder for the treasures within.

History, people, culture enthralling,

All is forgotten when the grey curtain is falling.

The venomous fumes envelop this place,

Choking and leaving a taste of disgrace.

A chorus of suffocating lungs complaining,

But beauty is surrounding and forever remaining.

Charmed by the capital’s enchanting scenes,

Whilst listening to the hum of air filter machines.

The rose-tinted glasses angrily thrown away,

A colourful city, now a cold shade of grey.

Unannounced, the poison cloud returns,

The furnace of progress; forever it burns.

What price to pay for this growth and wealth?

Be confined like caged birds or damage your health.

Why choose to live in this city you ask,

To live a life trapped in a mask?

Polluted days are dark, dirty and daunting,

But the power of Beijing is eternally haunting.