Heavy Smog Reveals Generation Gap

Young pedestrians slapped on protective face masks while senior citizens carried on with their regular outdoor exercises as hazardous smog choked Beijing for a fourth consecutive day.

Beijing on Monday continued to issue air pollution warnings as readings of PM2.5 hit 300 to 400 micrograms per cubic meter in many parts of the city, or 12 to 16 times the level considered safe by the World Health Organization.

Officials and experts have advised residents, especially children and the elderly, to stay indoors. But on Monday, it was busy as usual on Beijing's streets, with people walking dogs and doing morning exercises.

Dozens of senior citizens did their morning exercises in a small park with exercise equipment near Xicheng District's Baiwanzhuang Avenue, and none of them were aware of the pollution readings or wore protective masks.

"I do have some coughing today, but I just don't want to be cooped up in my house or bother myself with an uncomfortable mask," said 63-year-old Peng Fuqiang, who regularly visits the park.

Like Peng, several middle-aged and elderly residents interviewed were nonchalant about the pollution. Many said they had gotten used to the city's many smoggy winter days, while others voiced suspicion over the severe health problems the pollution is said to trigger.

Doctors and health experts agree that excessive inhalation of PM2.5, or airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, raises people's risks for cardiac and respiratory diseases, with children and the elderly being the most at-risk groups.

In Xuanwu Park, located in a heavily populated part of Beijing, crowds of elderly residents played shadow boxing, jogged or participated in aerobic exercises.

Shao Xuexian, an 81-year-old asthmatic, was the only person there with a protective mask. He said he believes kicking the shuttlecock around is good for his health, so he does it even on smoggy days.

Other exercisers and park management staff said fewer people over 70 have visited the park in the previous three days, but residents in their 50s or 60s seemed largely undeterred by the smog.

Older Beijingers' apathy toward the unhealthy air runs a stark contrast to the conversation happening online. It seems like all Chinese netizens have turned to the Internet to complain about the choking air and criticize the slow progress the government is making in pollution control.

Young Beijing residents have reacted quickly to the smoggy weather, pushing up sales of protective masks and air purifiers on China's major B2C online portals. On Beijing's streets, most people in protective masks appear to be in their 20s and 30s.

Guokr, a website committed to popularizing science, on Sunday posted a guide on how to select pollutant-proof masks and wear them correctly. It was forwarded over 1,100 times on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging site, on Monday.

"Everyone, wear a mask when going out, unless you wish to be a walking vacuum cleaner," commented one blogger.

The amount of attention given to the pollution online points to the younger generation's growing awareness of health and environmental issues. Detailed hourly updates of air quality monitoring data, which began in Beijing early last year, have also helped spread the information among netizens.

Young people new to Beijing are among those feeling particularly distressed, as they find it difficult to live with the city's air pollution.

"Last night, I received a call from my mom, who asked me to seriously consider leaving Beijing and finding a job back home. Apparently, the news freaked her out," said Yang Weiran, who left her home in Zhejiang Province to work as an accountant in Beijing in 2010.

Yang said she also panicked. She stayed inside her apartment over the weekend with the windows closed, eating take-out and snacks purchased online.

"These days are hard times for us 'north drifters,' who had hoped to pursue our dreams in Beijing but found the new life here difficult due to surging housing prices, high living costs and severe pollution," Yang said.

Air pollution has been a prolonged headache for Beijing, as experts said the metropolis' explosive car ownership rates, massive winter heating demands and terrain factors have made it difficult to achieve satisfying results in efforts to purify the air.

The current smog shrouding Beijing started Friday, with PM2.5 readings surpassing 700 over the weekend. Cities in other northern Chinese provinces, including Hebei, Henan and Shandong, also reported dangerously high PM2.5 readings on Monday.

Zhang Dawei, director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center of the city's Environmental Protection Bureau, said the smog would continue into Tuesday before it would likely be dispersed by an approaching cold front.