Smog in China - Is it as bad as they say?

There has been a lot of news about the smog in China these days so is it as bad as they say?  In one word, Yes.  The smog this year since about November has been as bad as they say.  It seems to be worse in the winter as the winds are typically from the north or north-west.  This is due to the factories in that part of China.  Beijing is known as being worse than Shanghai but it is felt we live.  Instead of having snow days in the northern part of America we have had smog days here.  

There is an index that is kept by the local government and by the US Consolate that ranges from 0 - 500 AQI (Air Quality Index).  The scale is something like:

• 0-100 is fine, 
• 100-150 is poor so limit outside activities, 
• 150 - 200 is unhealthy so avoid outdoor activities, 
• 200 - 300 is very unhealthy, masks recommended, avoid outdoor actitivities,
• over 300 is severely polluted with the same recommendations.

We have had school closings when it is over 300.  There was a week in December that it was over 300 so the kids were home for a few days...

This is about a 200 level day

Visibility is less than 1 km.

Walking on the streets you can see the haziness.

Especially highlighted by the night lights.

This was a 300+ day.  You could even see
this in the corridors of work.

That building is about 500 meters away.

Here is the iPhone app.  This was a 500+
reading that shows it as 'Beyond Index'.

Yes, we do have a couple of masks that we
have stylishly worn.

Not all bad though

A good AQI day!  

There are many good days though that clean out our lungs, thank God!  The AQI is also a great excuse for going on vacations to get out of China.

Chongming Island Wetland 3rd Grade Field Trip

For Yan Yuan's (Mark) 3rd Grade field trip from Concordia they went to a bird sanctuary, or at least a stop over point for birds migrating between Russia and Southeast Asia/Australia, at least somewhere hot.  They were just resting here.

The bus ride to the island was fun.  EJ, Cole and I talked a lot about Minecraft.  When we got to the wetlands we started out walking on this path with this purple cabbage stuff (Kale) around the outside of the walkway.  Then we crossed the bridge to place where we were going to have lunch a little later.  We went to the bathroom and then we went outside and had a few group pictures.  Then we went on this pathway, I saw a few birds.  There was a lot of tall grass around the pathway - it looked kinda like wheat.  Then after the big walk we came to this place where there was a lot of stuffed birds, dead fish, skeletons in one spot.  Mostly fish skeletons.  

Look out tower

After that we went on this big hike around the park and we saw a few interesting things.  Well we really didn't see that much since we were too busy talking.  After the walk we went back to the buses and rode about 10 minutes to a different part of the park.  Then we rode on a boat and saw a lot of wheat-type plants.  Then we got off the boat and walked to where we were going to have lunch and ate lunch.  Then we got on the bus right after lunch and went home.

Purple Cabbage - tons of this

Cole, EJ and Daniel getting on the boat

Not sure what I'm thinking here

The boat hadn't left yet

The whole boat - full of windows

Chinese flag off the back.

Cool landscape

Stuff alligator in this mini-room with a lot of other
stuffed birds

More friends

Funny picture

Cool bird

Shanghai Superbowl XLVIII @ the Kerry

There is a 13 hour time difference between EST and China time.  We woke the family up early during the Chinese New Year break to go to the Superbowl at the Kerry Parkside center.  This is an executive, full-service residence with many Western restaurants, shopping, a brewery and a bunch of other memories of home.  They also sponsor a Superbowl party with a massive screen, breakfast buffet and all you can drink beer and mamosas.  

Kickoff was at 7:25 am. We arrived at 7:25 but the hallway before the banquet hall was empty so we thought we were early.  So we gave our tickets, got our table assignment and walked into a hall full of Americans ready for the game, 350 of them.  We were right on time and expecting to see a descent game...  

Ice sculpture and all!

Wall size TV with the game streamed over the internet
NFL gamepass.

We ended up knowing many people from the boys football
and other friends from school.  We sat at our assigned table
for about 5 minutes.

We wore our blue garb since we didn't have any Seattle Seahawks shirts.

For a football game the people sat much more behaved than
you would expect.  

Face painting for Dagny.

Football games in the open parts of the hall.  The kids had a
blast, especially since the game wasn't very exciting.

There was a jugs machine throwing passes.

This is another GE family, the Doerrs - 4 kids.

It was a blowout! 

Els walking across the front.

A very dark Tom Brady mannequin.  

The winning quartback from Seattle!

The end of the Payton era!

But one fan remaining...  

Shanghai Insect Museum

The first day of Chinese New Year was a lazy day after a night of fun.  So we decided with a group of friends to go to the Shanghai Insect Museum just behind the Oriental Pearl Tower in Liugaizui.  It turned out to be much more than just insects...

But first we ate lunch at TGI Fridays behind the Superbrand mall.  Yes, you heard it right, Friday's is in Shanghai (and if you look carefully behind the kids, there is a Hooters).  Not quite the same shapely girls in Hooters but the same outfits and wings.  

3 families with 8 total kids - we received many looks.

Insect museum was behind the Pearl Tower.

 I heard it was a bad translation of Chinese to say that this was only an insect museum.  But for about $10 for adults it was worth a couple hours of time.

Here is the entrance to the insect museum.

Ok, so the insect museum had a bit more things
than insects.  This was a cute little monkey.

There were a bunch of snakes and other reptiles.

These were cool stick bugs covering this plant.

Monster-sized frog.

A savannah monitor lizard.

Long-necked turtle.

You could also catch fish in this pond.  It was $2.50 for a bucket
and a net.  Whatever you can catch you can keep. 

There was an area of butterflies in frames and on the walls.

These were neon blue butterflies.

2014 Chinese New Year Company Party

The annual Chinese new year party is a great event that includes dinner and entertainment.  The entertainment is from the employees doing singing, dancing, tai-ji and more singing.  There are also many drawings for prizes, called "Lucky Draw" for massage machines, air purifiers, juicers, etc.

The company spends a lot of money on this event and I think it is the best event of the year.  Colleagues seeing their other colleagues doing performances outside of work is very enjoyable.   It takes a lot of guts to get up on stage in front of all your peers and do something that could be a little embarrassing.

Here a few photos.  I'll probably upload more when they are available from the photographers.

Party preparation, including changing the words on a song.

This was the Tai-Ji show.  It was very artistic and the audience
enjoyed it very much.

During the Tai-Ji there was a guy doing calligraphy.

This was a Chinese folk dance from Western China.  It was
very close to a middle-eastern/Russian style.

This is a couple of our leaders.  The CEO direct-reports
had to all dress in super hero costumes.  Superman is my
boss...

This is from the stage.  There were about 300 people but the
spouses were not allowed.  A disappointment for us.

This was a song called "What does the Contract Say?"  I
changed the words from What does the Fox Say?

This year I was asked to return as one of the four MCs.  I was quite honored to be asked again but I think that they just wanted to see "James Bond" again.  So a week before the event I sent out a request for people to send in videos for if they have seen James Bond.  I had a strong feeling the response would be weak, which it was, so Ziad (a work friend), Will and I went out around Shanghai to capture some video.  I also got a few great videos from a friend in the UK who did some fancy green-screen work with his son.

At the beginning of the dinner the other MCs asked where is James Bond and then this video was played.  At the end of the video I ran along the side of the audience and jumped up on the stage.  It was fun entrance.  The video can be seen on youtube.